Localized inflammation in dengue vaccine-induced skin rash is not associated with continuous presence of dengue virus genome.

Vaccination with the tetravalent live attenuated dengue virus (DENV) vaccines TV003 and TV005 causes a mild, relatively localized erythematous maculopapular skin rash in most dengue-naïve vaccinees. Human challenge model DENV strains, DENV2Δ30 and DENV3Δ30, trigger a confluent skin rash over most of the body in most unvaccinated participants. To determine the etiology of these rashes we performed in situ hybridization for DENV genome and assessed cellular infiltration by hematoxylin/eosin staining in skin biopsies from humans infected with live attenuated dengue vaccine DENV2Δ30 or DENV3Δ30 challenge strains.

The impact of APOE4 on neurological symptoms after exposure to K. brevis neurotoxin.

Introduction: The harmful alga Karenia brevis (K. brevis) releases brevetoxins (PbTx) that cause respiratory and neurological symptoms. The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele has been linked to poor neurological outcomes after exposure to environmental toxicants.

Photodegradable polyacrylamide tanglemers enable spatiotemporal control over chain lengthening in high-strength and low-hysteresis hydrogels.

Covalent hydrogel networks suffer from a stiffness-toughness conflict, where increased crosslinking density enhances the modulus of the material but also leads to embrittlement and diminished extensibility. Recently, strategies have been developed to form highly entangled hydrogels, colloquially referred to as tanglemers, by optimizing polymerization conditions to maximize the density and length of polymer chains and minimize the crosslinker concentration. It is challenging to assess entanglements in crosslinked networks beyond approximating their theoretical contribution to mechanical properties; thus, in this work, we synthesize and characterize polyacrylamide tanglemers using a photolabile crosslinker, which allows for direct assessment of covalent trapping of entanglements under tension.

2D co-culture model reveals a biophysical interplay between activated fibroblasts and cancer cells.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises diverse cell types within an altered extracellular matrix (ECM) and plays a pivotal role in metastasis through intricate cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions. Fibroblasts, as key constituents of the TME, contribute significantly to cancer metastasis through their involvement in matrix deposition and remodeling mechanisms, modulated by their quiescent or activated states. Despite their recognized importance, the precise role of fibroblasts in cancer cell invasion remains incompletely understood.