Identification of Rare Antigen-Specific T Cells from Mouse Lungs with Peptide:Major Histocompatibility Complex Tetramers.

The identification and characterization of antigen-specific T cells during health and disease remains a key to improving our understanding of immune pathophysiology. The technical challenges of tracking antigen-specific T cell populations within the endogenous T cell repertoire have been greatly advanced by the development of peptide:MHC tetramer reagents. These fluorescently labeled soluble multimers of MHC class I or class II molecules complexed to antigenic peptide epitopes bind directly to T cells with corresponding T cell receptor (TCR) specificity and can, therefore, identify antigen-specific T cell populations in their native state without a requirement for a functional response induced by ex vivo stimulation.

Perceptual thresholds for differences in CT noise texture.

Purpose: The average () or peak () noise power spectrum (NPS) frequency is often used as a one-parameter descriptor of the CT noise texture. Our study develops a more complete two-parameter model of the CT NPS and investigates the sensitivity of human observers to changes in it.

Approach: A model of CT NPS was created based on its and a half-Gaussian fit () to the downslope.

Enhanced CTLA-4 blockade anti-tumor immunity with APG-157 combination in a murine head and neck cancer.

Background: A phase I clinical study for patients with locally advanced H&N cancer with a new class of botanical drug APG-157 provided hints of potential synergy with immunotherapy. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of APG-157 and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Methods: CCL23, UM-SCC1 (human), and SCCVII (HPV-), MEER (HPV+) (murine) H&N cancer cell lines were utilized for in vitro and in vivo studies.

Race, Ethnicity, and Other Patient and Clinical Encounter Characteristics Associated with Patient Experiences of Access to Care.

The Press Ganey (PG) Outpatient Medical Practice Survey measures patients' experiences of healthcare access in the U.S. We aimed to identify differences in experiences of access to care by patient race, ethnicity, and other sociodemographic characteristics, an important first step in informing health policy and ensuring equitable healthcare delivery.

Gigaxonin Suppresses Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition of Human Cancer Through Downregulation of Snail.

Unlabelled: Gigaxonin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that plays a role in cytoskeletal stability. Its role in cancer is not yet clearly understood. Our previous studies of head and neck cancer had identified gigaxonin interacting with p16 for NFκB ubiquitination.

Patient-Reported Outcomes and Mortality in Cutaneous Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease.

Importance: Chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) is associated with impaired quality of life and symptom burden. The independent association of skin involvement with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and their utility as a clinical prognostic marker remain unknown. Identification of patients with cutaneous chronic GVHD and impaired PROs could assist in initial risk stratification and treatment selection.

CAR-T cell therapy targeting surface expression of TYRP1 to treat cutaneous and rare melanoma subtypes.

A major limitation to developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies for solid tumors is identifying surface proteins highly expressed in tumors but not in normal tissues. Here, we identify Tyrosinase Related Protein 1 (TYRP1) as a CAR-T cell therapy target to treat patients with cutaneous and rare melanoma subtypes unresponsive to immune checkpoint blockade. TYRP1 is primarily located intracellularly in the melanosomes, with a small fraction being trafficked to the cell surface via vesicular transport.

Feasibility of Utilizing Electronic Dental Record Data and Periodontitis Case Definition to Automate Diagnosis.

Periodontitis is an irreversible disease leading to tooth loss, and 42% U.S. population suffers from periodontitis.

Risk of atopic dermatitis and the atopic march paradigm in children of mothers with atopic illnesses: A birth cohort study from the United Kingdom.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is thought to precede the onset of other allergic illness (OAI) in a temporal progression (ie, atopic march), yet the timing and progression has been questioned. It is also unclear how parental allergic illness impacts the development of these illnesses in offspring.

Objective: (1) Explore risk of incident AD and (2) timing of allergic disease onset in children of mothers with AD compared with mothers without AD from the United Kingdom.

Incident Asthma, Asthma Exacerbations, and Asthma-Related Hospitalizations in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is thought to induce asthma via the "atopic march," but the effects of AD on incident asthma and asthma severity have not been fully characterized.

Objective: To determine risk of asthma, asthma exacerbations, and asthma-related hospitalizations among patients fwith AD.

Methods: A cohort study was conducted using electronic health records data from UK general practices from 1994 to 2015.

Comparing gingivitis diagnoses by bleeding on probing (BOP) exclusively versus BOP combined with visual signs using large electronic dental records.

The major significance of the 2018 gingivitis classification criteria is utilizing a simple, objective, and reliable clinical sign, bleeding on probing score (BOP%), to diagnose gingivitis. However, studies report variations in gingivitis diagnoses with the potential to under- or over-estimating disease occurrence. This study determined the agreement between gingivitis diagnoses generated using the 2018 criteria (BOP%) versus diagnoses using BOP% and other gingival visual assessments.

Neuropsychiatric disorders in adults with atopic dermatitis: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) may be associated with an increased burden of neuropsychiatric outcomes such as anxiety and depression, but longitudinal data on the impact of AD severity is lacking, and a comprehensive assessment of neuropsychiatric disease in adults with AD is needed.

Objectives: Determine risk of incident neuropsychiatric disease among adults with AD by severity.

Methods: A cohort study using electronic health records data from UK general practices from 1994 to 2015.

Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis.

Importance: Data on the association between atopic dermatitis (AD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are inconsistent. Few studies have examined the association of AD or AD severity with risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD) separately.

Objectives: To examine the risk of new-onset IBD, UC, and CD in children and adults with AD.

Targeted and Logical Discovery of Piperazic Acid-Bearing Natural Products Based on Genomic and Spectroscopic Signatures.

A targeted and logical discovery method was devised for natural products containing piperazic acid (Piz), which is biosynthesized from ornithine by l-ornithine -hydroxylase (KtzI) and - bond formation enzyme (KtzT). Genomic signature-based screening of a bacterial DNA library (2020 strains) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers targeting identified 62 strains (3.1%).

Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease and Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) may increase risk for atherothrombotic and cardiovascular (CV) disease.

Objective: Determine CV disease and venous thromboembolism risk among patients with AD.

Methods: Cohort study using electronic health data from U.

Lung injury induces a polarized immune response by self-antigen-specific CD4 Foxp3 regulatory T cells.

Self-antigen-specific T cells are prevalent in the mature adaptive immune system but are regulated through multiple mechanisms of tolerance. However, inflammatory conditions such as tissue injury may allow these T cells to break tolerance and trigger autoimmunity. To understand how the T cell repertoire responds to the presentation of self-antigen under highly stimulatory conditions, we use peptide:major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II tetramers to track the behavior of endogenous CD4 T cells with specificity to a lung-expressed self-antigen in mouse models of immune-mediated lung injury.