Publications by authors named "Brandy Pinckney"

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a pivotal role in various biological pathways, such as immune responses and the progression of diseases, including cancer. However, it is challenging to isolate EVs at high purity from blood plasma and other biofluids due to their low abundance compared to more predominant biomolecular species such as lipoprotein particles and free protein complexes. Ultracentrifugation-based EV isolation, the current gold standard technique, cannot overcome this challenge due to the similar biophysical characteristics of such species.

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Purpose: Develop a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with subtypes of mature T-cell and NK-cell neoplasms.

Experimental Design: Primary specimens, cell lines, patient-derived xenograft models, commercially available, and proprietary anti-KLRG1 antibodies were used for screening, target, and functional validation.

Results: Here we demonstrate that surface KLRG1 is highly expressed on tumor cells in subsets of patients with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTCL), T-prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL), and gamma/delta T-cell lymphoma (G/D TCL).

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound structures released by cells and tissues into biofluids, involved in cell-cell communication. In humans, circulating red blood cells (RBCs), represent the most common cell-type in the body, generating daily large numbers of microvesicles. RBC vesiculation can be mimicked by stimulating RBCs with calcium ionophores, such as ionomycin and A23187.

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MicroRNAs are short, non-coding RNA sequences involved in gene expression regulation. Quantification of miRNAs in biological fluids involves time consuming and laborious methods such as Northern blotting or PCR-based techniques. Molecular beacons (MB) are an attractive means for rapid detection of miRNAs, although the need for sophisticated readout methods limits their use in research and clinical settings.

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The described method was developed based on the principles of magnetic levitation, which separates cells and particles based on their density and magnetic properties. Density is a cell type identifying property, directly related to its metabolic rate, differentiation, and activation status. Magnetic levitation allows a one-step approach to successfully separate, image and characterize circulating blood cells, and to detect anemia, sickle cell disease, and circulating tumor cells based on density and magnetic properties.

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