Objective: Loss of function of the phospholipid scramblase (PLS) TMEM16F results in Scott Syndrome, a hereditary bleeding disorder generally attributed to intrinsic platelet dysfunction. The role of TMEM16F in endothelial cells, however, is not well understood. We sought to test the hypothesis that endothelial TMEM16F contributes to hemostasis by measuring bleeding time and venous clotting in endothelial-specific knockout (ECKO) mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as novel blood-based biomarkers for various pathologies. The development of methods to enrich cell-specific EVs from biofluids has enabled us to monitor difficult-to-access organs, such as the brain, in real time without disrupting their function, thus serving as liquid biopsy. Burgeoning evidence indicates that the contents of neuron-derived EVs (NDEs) in blood reveal dynamic alterations that occur during neurodegenerative pathogenesis, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), reflecting a disease-specific molecular signature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDysregulated epigenetic programs that restrict differentiation, reactivate fetal genes, and confer phenotypic plasticity are critical to colorectal cancer (CRC) development. By screening a small molecule library targeting epigenetic regulators using our dual reporter system, we found that inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) 1/2 promotes CRC differentiation and anti-tumor activity. Comprehensive biochemical, chemical, and genetic experiments revealed that on-target blockade of the HDAC1/2 catalytic domain mediated the differentiated phenotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a genetically heterogeneous group of rare dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive ataxia. The most common mutation seen across the SCAs is a CAG repeat expansion, causative for SCA1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12 and 17. We recently identified dysregulation of alternative splicing as a novel, presymptomatic transcriptomic hallmark in mouse models of SCAs 1, 3 and 7.
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