Publications by authors named "Austin Lui"

Objective: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) has been proposed as a prognostic biomarker in patients with metastatic cancer, as well as in patients who receive immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. However, the role of TMB as a biomarker for progression after resection of brain metastases, as well as perioperative ICI treatment response, is less defined. This study examined the impact of TMB on local CNS progression events in patients who underwent resection of a brain metastasis, as well as in those who received postoperative ICI treatment.

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To identify new therapeutic targets that limit glioblastoma (GBM) invasion, we applied druggable-genome CRISPR screens to patient-derived GBM cells in micro-dissectible biomimetic 3D hydrogel platforms that permit separation and independent analysis of core vs. invasive fractions. We identified 12 targets whose suppression limited invasion, of which ACP1 (LMW-PTP) and Aurora Kinase B (AURKB) were validated in neurosphere assays.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to compare the motor examinations done by the clinical neurosurgery team with the ISNCSCI assessments, since the latter can be time-consuming and impractical during acute spinal cord injuries.
  • - Researchers analyzed data from the TRACK-SCI registry, which included 72 pairs of motor examinations from 63 patients, and found strong correlations between the two methods, indicating that neurosurgery motor examinations can effectively substitute for ISNCSCI exams.
  • - The results showed a very high agreement between the scores from both types of examinations with low bias, suggesting that clinical neurosurgery evaluations are reliable for assessing neurological function after spinal cord injuries.
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Tumor-associated neutrophil (TAN) effects on glioblastoma (GBM) biology remain under-characterized. We show here that neutrophils with dendritic features-including morphological complexity, expression of antigen presentation genes, and the ability to process exogenous peptide and stimulate major histocompatibility complex (MHC)II-dependent T cell activation-accumulate intratumorally and suppress tumor growth in vivo. Trajectory analysis of patient TAN scRNA-seq identifies this "hybrid" dendritic-neutrophil phenotype as a polarization state that is distinct from canonical cytotoxic TANs, and which differentiates from local precursors.

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Cancers and neurological disorders are two major types of diseases in humans. We developed the concept called the "Aberrant Cell Cycle Disease (ACCD)" due to the accumulating evidence that shows that two different diseases share the common mechanism of aberrant cell cycle re-entry. The aberrant cell cycle re-entry is manifested as kinase/oncoprotein activation and tumor suppressor (TS) inactivation, which are associated with both tumor growth in cancers and neuronal death in neurological disorders.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Kaplan-Meier method can overestimate the risk of cancer coming back, especially when other events like death happen first, but the Aalen-Johansen method can give a more accurate picture by considering these events.
  • A study looked at research articles about meningiomas (a type of brain tumor) since 2020 and found that only a few used the better method.
  • It showed that not using the Aalen-Johansen method mostly led to overestimating the recurrence risk, especially in older patients with more serious tumors.
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Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a significant clinical concern. This study sought to determine the incidence of VTE and hemorrhagic complications among patients with SCI who received low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) within 24 hours of injury or surgery and identify variables that predict VTE using the prospective Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in SCI (TRACK-SCI) database.

Methods: The TRACK-SCI database was queried for individuals with traumatic SCI from 2015 to 2022.

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Tumor-associated neutrophil (TAN) effects on glioblastoma biology remain under-characterized. We show here that 'hybrid' neutrophils with dendritic features - including morphological complexity, expression of antigen presentation genes, and the ability to process exogenous peptide and stimulate MHCII-dependent T cell activation - accumulate intratumorally and suppress tumor growth . Trajectory analysis of patient TAN scRNA-seq identifies this phenotype as a polarization state which is distinct from canonical cytotoxic TANs and differentiates intratumorally from immature precursors absent in circulation.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study utilized the TRACK-SCI database to assess complications and outcomes in elderly patients (≥ 65 years) following spinal cord injuries between 2015 and 2019 at UCSF.
  • - Results revealed a high complication rate, with 100% of patients experiencing at least one complication—averaging about 6.6 each—primarily from cardiovascular and pulmonary issues, and a 10% in-hospital mortality rate.
  • - The use of vasopressors for maintaining blood pressure was prevalent, notably correlating with higher cardiovascular complications, and only a small percentage (7.5%) showed neurological improvement by discharge.
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Cancers and neurological disorders are two major types of diseases. We previously developed a new concept termed "Aberrant Cell Cycle Diseases" (ACCD), revealing that these two diseases share a common mechanism of aberrant cell cycle re-entry. The aberrant cell cycle re-entry is manifested as kinase/oncogene activation and tumor suppressor inactivation, which are hallmarks of tumor growth in cancers and neuronal death in neurological disorders.

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Study Design: Literature review.

Objective: The aim of this review is to summarize recent literature on adult spinal deformity (ASD) treatment failure as well as prevention strategies for these failure modes.

Summary Of Background Data: There is substantial evidence that ASD surgery can provide significant clinical benefits to patients.

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The optimal management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the pediatric population has not been well studied. There are a limited number of research articles studying the management of TBI in children. Given the prevalence of severe TBI in the pediatric population, it is crucial to develop a reference TBI management plan for this vulnerable population.

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Our previous studies demonstrated that traumatic brain injury (TBI) and ventricular administration of thrombin caused hippocampal neuron loss and cognitive dysfunction via activation of Src family kinases (SFKs). Based on SFK localization in brain, we hypothesized SFK subtypes Fyn and c-Src, as well as SFK downstream molecule Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK), contribute to cell death and cognitive dysfunction after TBI. We administered nanoparticle wrapped small interfering RNA (siRNA)-Fyn and siRNA-c-Src, or ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 to adult rats subjected to moderate lateral fluid percussion (LFP)-induced TBI.

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Previous studies show that the main cannabinoid receptor in the brain-cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R)-is required for establishment of axonal projections in developing neurons but questions remain regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms, especially in neurons developing in their native environment. We assessed the effects of CB1R signalling on growth cone filopodia and axonal projections of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in whole mount brains from Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Our results indicate that growth cones of RGC axons in brains from tadpoles exposed to a CB1R agonist had fewer filopodial protrusions, whereas growth cones from tadpoles exposed to a CB1R inverse agonist had more filopodia than growth cones of RGC axons in whole brains from control tadpoles.

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Objectives: The net oncogenic effect of β2-adrenergic receptor ADRB2, whose downstream elements induce neuroendocrine differentiation and whose expression is regulated by EZH2, is unclear. ADRB2 expression and associated clinical outcomes in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) are unknown.

Methods And Materials: This was a retrospective analysis of a multi-center, prospectively enrolled cohort of mCRPC patients.

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