Selective Adipose Cryolysis for Reduction of Lingual Tissue in a Porcine Model.

Objectives: Oropharyngeal fat volume is associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity. Selective adipose cryolysis may produce cold-induced adipose cell death while sparing surrounding tissues. This study explored (1) similarities in tongue fat between porcine and human models and (2) the feasibility and potential reduction of lingual fat using selective adipose cryolysis.

Immunization but not natural infection of horses results in antibody activity against the S protein of Streptococcus equi subsp equi.

Objective: Evaluate the immunogenicity of a vaccine targeting the S protein (Ssee) of Streptococcus equi subsp equi and determine antibody activity against Ssee in horses with strangles.

Methods: The study was designed as a prospective experiment using 20 university-owned Quarter Horses and a cross-sectional serosurvey of 78 privately owned horses with strangles. Horses were immunized IM with 0 (n = 4), 200 (n = 8), or 400 (n = 8) μg of recombinant Ssee at weeks 0, 4, and 12.

TGR5 receptors in SF1-expressing neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamus regulate glucose homeostasis.

Objective: Steroidogenic factor-1 (SF1) neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamus play key roles in the regulation of food intake, body weight and glucose metabolism. The bile acid receptor Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) is expressed in the hypothalamus, where it determines some of the actions of bile acids on food intake and body weight through still poorly defined neuronal mechanisms. Here, we examined the role of TGR5 in SF1 neurons in the regulation of energy balance and glucose metabolism.

Design of a Cereblon construct for crystallographic and biophysical studies of protein degraders.

The ubiquitin E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN) is the target of therapeutic drugs thalidomide and lenalidomide and is recruited by most targeted protein degraders (PROTACs and molecular glues) in clinical development. Biophysical and structural investigation of CRBN has been limited by current constructs that either require co-expression with the adaptor DDB1 or inadequately represent full-length protein, with high-resolution structures of degrader ternary complexes remaining rare. We present the design of CRBN, a construct that readily expresses from E.

Evaluation of Self-collected Saliva Samples Without Viral Transport Media for SARS-CoV-2 Testing via RT-PCR and Comparison of Amplicon Sequences Against Commonly Used Primers in Diagnostic Assays.

Introduction: Mass screening for SARS-CoV-2 using nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) is costly, uncomfortable for patients, and increases the chance of virus exposure to health care workers. Therefore, this study focused on determining if self-collected unpreserved saliva can be an effective alternative to NPS collection in COVID-19 surveillance.

Materials And Methods: In this study, patients being tested for SARS-CoV-2 using NPS were asked to provide a saliva sample to compare their results.

A Translaminar Spacetime Code Supports Touch-Evoked Traveling Waves.

Unlabelled: Linking sensory-evoked traveling waves to underlying circuit patterns is critical to understanding the neural basis of sensory perception. To form this link, we performed simultaneous electrophysiology and two-photon calcium imaging through transparent NeuroGrids and mapped touch-evoked cortical traveling waves and their underlying microcircuit dynamics. In awake mice, both passive and active whisker touch elicited traveling waves within and across barrels, with a fast early component followed by a variable late wave that lasted hundreds of milliseconds post-stimulus.

Updates in the treatment of eating disorders in 2023: a year in review in .

Empirical evidence is unequivocal in illustrating that the majority of patients with eating disorders will not fully recover during treatment. To that end, the need for optimized treatment approaches and improved patient outcomes cannot be overstated. While empirical efforts are underway to optimize outcomes, this article reviews treatment-related research findings published in on during 2023.

Design and Evaluation of Chimeric Circumsporozoite Protein-Based Malaria Vaccines.

Efficacy data on two malaria vaccines, RTS,S and R21, targeting circumsporozoite protein (CSP), are encouraging. Efficacy may be improved by induction of additional antibodies to neutralizing epitopes outside of the central immunodominant repeat domain of CSP. We designed four rCSP-based vaccines in an effort to improve the diversity of the antibody response.

Enhancing chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy by modulating the p53 signaling network with Δ133p53α.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell dysfunction is a major barrier to achieving lasting remission in hematologic cancers, especially in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We have shown previously that Δ133p53α, an endogenous isoform of the human TP53 gene, decreases in expression with age in human T cells, and that reconstitution of Δ133p53α in poorly functional T cells can rescue proliferation [A. M.

Quantifying single-cell diacylglycerol signaling kinetics after uncaging.

Studying the role of molecularly distinct lipid species in cell signaling remains challenging due to a scarcity of methods for performing quantitative lipid biochemistry in living cells. We have recently used lipid uncaging to quantify lipid-protein affinities and rates of lipid trans-bilayer movement and turnover in the diacylglycerol signaling pathway. This approach is based on acquiring live-cell dose-response curves requiring light dose titrations and experimental determination of uncaging photoreaction efficiency.

Epitope base editing CD45 in hematopoietic cells enables universal blood cancer immune therapy.

In the absence of cell surface cancer-specific antigens, immunotherapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, monoclonal antibodies, or bispecific T cell engagers typically target lineage antigens. Currently, such immunotherapies are individually designed and tested for each disease. This approach is inefficient and limited to a few lineage antigens for which the on-target/off-tumor toxicities are clinically tolerated.

Compartmentalized Cell-Free Expression Systems for Building Synthetic Cells.

One of the grand challenges in bottom-up synthetic biology is the design and construction of synthetic cellular systems. One strategy toward this goal is the systematic reconstitution of biological processes using purified or non-living molecular components to recreate specific cellular functions such as metabolism, intercellular communication, signal transduction, and growth and division. Cell-free expression systems (CFES) are in vitro reconstitutions of the transcription and translation machinery found in cells and are a key technology for bottom-up synthetic biology.

Effects of neonatal fentanyl on late adolescent opioid-mediated behavior.

Introduction: Because of the steady increase in the use of synthetic opioids in women of childbearing age, a large number of children are at risk of exposure to these drugs prenatally or postnatally through breast milk. While there is older literature looking at the effects of morphine and heroin, there are relatively few studies looking at the long-term effects of high-potency synthetic opioid compounds like fentanyl. Thus, in the present study, we assessed whether brief exposure to fentanyl in male and female rat pups during a period roughly equivalent to the third trimester of CNS development altered adolescent oral fentanyl self-administration and opioid-mediated thermal antinociception.

Effect of Vitamin C Supplementation for Pregnant Smokers on Offspring Airway Function and Wheeze at Age 5 Years: Follow-up of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Vitamin C supplementation (500 mg/d) for pregnant smokers has been reported to increase offspring airway function as measured by forced expiratory flow (FEF) through age 12 months; however, its effects on airway function at age 5 years remain to be assessed.

Objective: To assess whether vitamin C supplementation in pregnant smokers is associated with increased and/or improved airway function in their offspring at age 5 years and whether vitamin C decreases the occurrence of wheeze.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study followed up the Vitamin C to Decrease the Effects of Smoking in Pregnancy on Infant Lung Function (VCSIP) double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial conducted at 3 centers in the US (in Oregon, Washington, and Indiana) between 2012 and 2016.

Aerosolized aqueous dust extracts collected near a drying lake trigger acute neutrophilic pulmonary inflammation reminiscent of microbial innate immune ligands.

Background: A high incidence of asthma is prevalent among residents near the Salton Sea, a large inland terminal lake in southern California. This arid region has high levels of ambient particulate matter (PM); yet while high PM levels are often associated with asthma in many environments, it is possible that the rapidly retreating lake, and exposed playa or lakebed, may contribute components with a specific role in promoting asthma symptoms.

Objectives: Our hypothesis is that asthma may be higher in residents closest to the Salton Sea due to chronic exposures to playa dust.