Publications by authors named "Hongzhe Lee"
Hematopoietic dysfunction has been associated with a reduction in the number of active precursors. However, precursor quantification at homeostasis and under diseased conditions is constrained by the scarcity of available methods. To address this issue, we optimized a method for quantifying a wide range of hematopoietic precursors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Incident heart failure (HF) among individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) incurs hospitalizations that burden patients and health care systems. There are few preventative therapies, and the Pooled Cohort equations to Prevent Heart Failure (PCP-HF) perform poorly in the setting of CKD. New drug targets and better risk stratification are urgently needed.
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- Hematopoietic dysfunction leads to fewer active precursors, but accurately measuring these precursors has been difficult due to limited methods available.
- The researchers created an optimized method to quantify a variety of hematopoietic precursors using a stable labeling technique based on a binomial distribution model, validated in mice.
- Their study found that a significant number of precursors arise during the transition from fetal to adult stages and highlighted repopulation deficits in a Fanconi Anemia mouse model, reinforcing the concept that hematopoiesis is highly diverse.
Objective: Relapses are frequent and difficult to predict in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV), resulting in long-term use of immunosuppression. Although sinonasal disease is associated with relapse of AAV, detailed characterization of sinonasal symptoms is lacking. Using a patient-reported outcome, the 22-item SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), we investigated the relationship between sinonasal symptoms and disease activity in AAV.
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- Cystic fibrosis (CF) significantly affects gastrointestinal health, which can impact lung function, and ivacaftor is known to improve pulmonary function and weight but its effects on the microbiome, lipidome, and bile acids are less understood.
- A study analyzed stool samples from 18 CF patients before and after 3 months of ivacaftor treatment, comparing results to a healthy reference group; no significant changes were observed in microbiome diversity, but seven lipids increased post-treatment.
- While the fecal microbiome remained unchanged, there were notable differences in lipid profiles and bile acids between pancreatic insufficient and sufficient CF patients, which were somewhat reduced after treatment.
Background: We carried out a study of the aptamer proteomic assay, SomaScan V4, to evaluate the analytical and biological variability of the assay in plasma samples of patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Methods: Plasma samples were selected from 2 sources: (a) 24 participants from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) and (b) 49 patients from the Brigham and Women's Hospital-Kidney/Renal Clinic. We calculated intra-assay variability from both sources and examined short-term biological variability in samples from the Brigham clinic.
Article Synopsis
- Significant progress has been made in understanding inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) since it was first reported in 1859, particularly regarding genetic and environmental factors influencing its development, although the immune system's role is still not fully clear.
- Researchers utilized imaging mass cytometry to analyze tissue samples from patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis compared to healthy controls, assigning over 300,000 cells to unique types and assessing various tissue characteristics.
- Findings revealed that IBD patients had higher rates of epithelial cell proliferation and inflammation severity, along with specific immune cell interactions that varied between the two forms of IBD, highlighting the potential of imaging mass cytometry in advancing the understanding of IBD.
Background: Proteomic profiling may allow identification of plasma proteins that associate with subsequent changesin kidney function, elucidating biologic processes underlying the development and progression of CKD.
Methods: We quantified the association between 4877 plasma proteins and a composite outcome of ESKD or decline in eGFR by ≥50% among 9406 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (visit 3; mean age, 60 years) who were followed for a median of 14.4 years.
Objective: Little is known about temporal changes in nasal bacteria in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). This study was undertaken to examine longitudinal changes in the nasal microbiome in association with relapse in GPA patients.
Methods: Bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was performed on nasal swabs from 19 patients with GPA who were followed up longitudinally for a total of 78 visits, including 9 patients who experienced a relapse and 10 patients who remained in remission.
Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, the process of immunoediting early in tumorigenesis remains obscure. Here, we employ a mathematical model that utilizes the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data to elucidate the contribution of individual mutations and HLA alleles to the immunoediting process. We find that common cancer mutations including BRAF-V600E and KRAS-G12D are predicted to bind none of the common HLA alleles, and are thus "immunogenically silent" in the human population.
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