Publications by authors named "Emma Belcher"
Plasma cell-free RNA signatures of inflammatory syndromes in children.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2024
Inflammatory syndromes, including those caused by infection, are a major cause of hospital admissions among children and are often misdiagnosed because of a lack of advanced molecular diagnostic tools. In this study, we explored the utility of circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) in plasma as an analyte for the differential diagnosis and characterization of pediatric inflammatory syndromes. We profiled cfRNA in 370 plasma samples from pediatric patients with a range of inflammatory conditions, including Kawasaki disease (KD), multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), viral infections, and bacterial infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) is one of the oldest and most successful immunotherapies. Yet, despite long-standing success in the use of HSCT for the treatment of blood cancers and severe immune disorders, monitoring post-transplant complications remains a challenge due to a lack of informative diagnostic tests. Here, we investigate the utility of cell-free RNA (cfRNA) in plasma as a liquid biopsy to monitor allogeneic HSCT recipients during and after treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Inflammatory syndromes in children often lead to hospital admissions and are frequently misdiagnosed due to the lack of advanced diagnostic tools.
- The study analyzed circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) in plasma from 370 pediatric patients to differentiate between inflammatory conditions like Kawasaki disease (KD) and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).
- Machine learning models based on cfRNA profiles successfully distinguished KD from MIS-C with high accuracy and also classified other conditions, while quantifying tissue injury in affected organs.
Article Synopsis
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is crucial for regulating blood pressure and has two distinct catalytic domains (N- and C-domain) with different functions.
- Researchers studied the bradykinin-potentiating peptide b (BPPb) from pit viper venom and determined its selective inhibition of the C-domain using site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray crystallography.
- The findings revealed that specific residues and structural differences between the domains play a significant role in C-domain selectivity, suggesting more complex factors influence peptide binding and the potential for designing targeted ACE inhibitors.