Fluorophore-coupled bile acids (BA) represent an important tool for intravital analysis of BA flux in animal models of cholestatic diseases. However, addition of a fluorophore to a BA may alter transport properties. We developed and validated a 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-coupled taurocholic acid (3β-NBD-TCA) as a probe for intravital analysis of BA homeostasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Short sleep and obstructive sleep apnea are underrecognized strains on the public health infrastructure. In the United States, over 35% of adults report short sleep and more than 80% of individuals with obstructive sleep apnea remain undiagnosed. The associations between inadequate sleep and cardiometabolic disease risk factors have garnered increased attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Vaccine hesitancy, especially related to COVID-19 vaccinations among Veterans, may limit uptake. Behaviorally informed text-based messages have the potential to improve uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of two different behaviorally informed text message nudges on COVID-19 vaccine scheduling and completion, compared to standard control message.
The intestinal bile acid carrier ASBT (), the hepatic bile acid carrier NTCP (), and the steroid sulfate carrier SOAT (), all members of the solute carrier family SLC10, are established drug targets. The ASBT inhibitors odevixibat, maralixibat, and elobixibat are used to treat intrahepatic cholestasis, cholestatic pruritus, and obstipation. The peptide drug bulevirtide blocks binding of the hepatitis B and D viruses to NTCP and thereby inhibits the virus's entry into hepatocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffective treatment of pediatric acute leukemia is dependent on accurate genomic classification, typically derived from a combination of multiple time-consuming and costly techniques such as flow cytometry, fluorescence hybridization (FISH), karyotype analysis, targeted PCR, and microarrays (Arber et al., 2016; Iacobucci & Mullighan, 2017; Narayanan & Weinberg, 2020). We investigated the feasibility of a comprehensive single-assay classification approach using long-read sequencing, with real-time genome target enrichment, to classify chromosomal abnormalities and structural variants characteristic of acute leukemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: We report a case of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) with an apparent lineage switch to an EBV-positive T-cell lymphoma. Although lineage switch is a well-documented phenomenon in some hematolymphoid diseases, such as acute leukemias or histiocytic/dendritic cell neoplasms, lineage switch from mature B-cell to T-cell lymphoma is exceedingly rare.
Case Presentation: A 55-year-old man with an established history of MCL presented to our institution.
The structure of the leaf microbiome can alter host fitness and change in response to abiotic and biotic factors, like seasonality, climate, and leaf age. However, relatively few studies consider the influence of host age on microbial communities at a time scale of a few days, a short time scale relevant to microbes. To understand how host age modulates changes in the fungal and bacterial leaf microbiome on a short time scale, we ran independent field and greenhouse-based studies and characterized phyllosphere communities using next-generation sequencing approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWHIM (warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis) syndrome is a rare primary immunodeficiency predominantly caused by heterozygous gain-of-function mutations in the C-terminus of the gene CXCR4. These CXCR4 variants display impaired receptor trafficking with persistence of the CXCR4 receptor on the surface, resulting in hyperactive downstream signaling after CXCL12 stimulation. In turn, this results in defective lymphoid differentiation, and reduced blood neutrophil and lymphocyte numbers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynthesis and secretion of bile acids (BA) is a key physiological function of the liver. In pathological conditions like portosystemic shunt, hepatic insufficiency, hepatitis, or cirrhosis BA metabolism and secretion are disturbed. Quantification of total serum BA is an established diagnostic method to assess the general liver function and allows early detection of abnormalities, liver disease progression and guidance of treatment decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCytometry B Clin Cytom
September 2024
Hematologic neoplasms with germline predisposition have been increasingly recognized as a distinct category of tumors over the last few years. As such, this category was added to the World Health Organization (WHO) 4th edition as well as maintained in the WHO 5th edition and International Consensus Classification (ICC) 2022 classification systems. In practice, these tumors require a high index of suspicion and confirmation by molecular testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDementia Care Nurses in the networked care of people with dementia: A qualitative evaluation study To coordinate networked dementia care counselling concepts with case management (CM) structures are recommended. This approach has been explored and evaluated within the Dementia Care Nurse project in Saxony-Anhalt. Studies on the implementation of CM are mostly limited to cooperation between case managers and medical and nursing professional groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The classic Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph (-) MPNs), have variable potential for progression to the blast phase (MPN-BP) of the disease. Except initiated by distinct driver mutations, MPN-BP frequently carry similar genetic abnormalities defining acute myeloid leukemia myelodysplasia-related (AML-MR). Because of dissimilar initial pathogenesis, MPN-BP and AML-MR are retained under different disease categories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable (MPN-U, revised to MPN, not otherwise specified in the fifth edition of the World Health Organization classification) is a heterogeneous category of primary marrow disorders with clinical, morphologic, and/or molecular features that preclude classification as a more specific MPN subtype due to stage at diagnosis, overlapping features between MPN subtypes, or the presence of coexisting disorders. Compared with other MPN subtypes, the contribution of the mutational landscape in MPN-U in conjunction with other clinical and morphologic biomarkers to prognosis has been less well investigated.
Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of MPN-U (94 cases) to better define the clinicopathologic features, genetic landscape, and clinical outcomes, including subgroups of early-stage, advanced-stage, and coexisting disorders.
Cellular entry of the hepatitis B and D viruses (HBV/HDV) requires binding of the viral surface polypeptide preS1 to the hepatobiliary transporter Na-taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP). This interaction can be blocked by bulevirtide (BLV, formerly Myrcludex B), a preS1 derivative and approved drug for treating HDV infection. Here, to elucidate the basis of this inhibitory function, we determined a cryo-EM structure of BLV-bound human NTCP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The ongoing risk of emerging infectious disease has renewed calls for understanding the origins of zoonoses and identifying future zoonotic disease threats. Given their close phylogenetic relatedness and geographic overlap with humans, non-human primates (NHPs) have been the source of many infectious diseases throughout human evolution. NHPs harbor diverse parasites, with some infecting only a single host species while others infect species from multiple families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFT cell dyscrasias that demonstrate a proclivity for the subcutaneous fat include atypical lymphocytic lobular panniculitis, lupus profundus, and primary subcutaneous T cell lymphoma, including subcutaneous panniculitis-like T cell lymphoma (SPTCL). We encountered two patients who developed fever and indurated abdominal erythema at their peginterferon alfa-2a injection sites. Biopsies showed an atypical CD8 positive, granzyme positive, CD5 negative, MXA negative lymphocytic lobular panniculitis, diagnostic of SPTCL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe spatial anatomy of hematopoiesis in the bone marrow (BM) has been extensively studied in mice and other preclinical models, but technical challenges have precluded a commensurate exploration in humans. Institutional pathology archives contain thousands of paraffinized BM core biopsy tissue specimens, providing a rich resource for studying the intact human BM topography in a variety of physiologic states. Thus, we developed an end-to-end pipeline involving multiparameter whole tissue staining, in situ imaging at single-cell resolution, and artificial intelligence-based digital whole slide image analysis and then applied it to a cohort of disease-free samples to survey alterations in the hematopoietic topography associated with aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Veterans Affairs (VHA) is working to establish a population-based colorectal cancer screening program for average-risk patients using mailed fecal immunochemical testing (FIT). However, low response rates to mailed FIT may hinder success. Key features of mailed FIT programs, including the use of reminders, differ among various national programs, with limited evidence among veterans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: A variety of gene rearrangements and molecular alterations are key drivers in the pathobiology of acute leukemia and myeloid disorders; current classification systems increasingly incorporate these findings in diagnostic algorithms. Therefore, clinical laboratories require versatile tools, which can detect an increasing number and variety of molecular and cytogenetic alterations of clinical significance.
Methods: We validated an RNA-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay that enables the detection of: (i) numerous hybrid fusion transcripts (including rare/novel gene partners), (ii) aberrantly expressed EVI1 (MECOM) and IKZF1 (Del exons 4-7) transcripts, and (iii) hotspot variants in KIT, ABL1, NPM1 (relevant in the context of gene rearrangement status).
The sodium-dependent organic anion transporter (SOAT, gene symbol ) specifically transports 3'- and 17'-monosulfated steroid hormones, such as estrone sulfate and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, into specific target cells. These biologically inactive sulfo-conjugated steroids occur in high concentrations in the blood circulation and serve as precursors for the intracrine formation of active estrogens and androgens that contribute to the overall regulation of steroids in many peripheral tissues. Although SOAT expression has been detected in several hormone-responsive peripheral tissues, its quantitative contribution to steroid sulfate uptake in different organs is still not completely clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatric hematologic malignancies often show genetic features distinct from their adult counterparts, which reflect the differences in their pathogenesis. Advances in the molecular diagnostics including the widespread use of next-generation sequencing technology have revolutionized the diagnostic workup for hematologic disorders and led to the identification of new disease subgroups as well as prognostic information that impacts the clinical treatment. The increasing recognition of the importance of germline predisposition in various hematologic malignancies also shapes the disease models and management.
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