Publications by authors named "C J Amato"

Background: Trochleoplasty is a surgical consideration for the treatment of high-grade trochlear dysplasia. The safety profile of this procedure remains particularly unclear in the skeletally immature population where concerns exist regarding physeal arrest and the development of premature patellofemoral arthritis. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature to evaluate trochleoplasty use, outcomes and complications observed among pediatric patients.

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The penis, the organ that bears reproductive and psychological importance, is susceptible to birth defects such as hypospadias or incomplete closure of urethra along the penis shaft. We discover that proper urethral closure in mouse embryos requires a unique mesenchymal cell population originated from outside of the penis. These "extragenital" cells, marked by a lineage marker , migrate from the inguinal region into the embryonic penis and facilitate urethra closure by interacting with adjacent periurethral cells via the epidermal growth factor pathway.

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Effective antitumor T cell activity relies on the expression and MHC presentation of tumor neoantigens. Tumor cells can evade T cell detection by silencing the transcription of antigens or by altering MHC machinery, resulting in inadequate neoantigen-specific T cell activation. We identified the DNA-protein kinase inhibitor (DNA-PKi) NU7441 as a promising immunomodulator that reduced immunosuppressive proteins, while increasing MHC-I expression in a panel of human melanoma cell lines.

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Accurate specification of female and male germ cells during embryonic development is critical for sexual reproduction. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the bipotential precursors of mature gametes that commit to an oogenic or spermatogenic fate in response to sex-determining cues from the fetal gonad. The critical processes required for PGCs to integrate and respond to signals from the somatic environment in gonads are not understood.

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