Publications by authors named "J W Mak"

In brain activity mapping with optogenetics, patterned illumination is crucial for targeted neural stimulation. However, due to optical scattering in brain tissue, light-emitting implants are needed to bring patterned illumination to deep brain regions. A promising solution is silicon neural probes with integrated nanophotonic circuits that form tailored beam patterns without lenses.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are known for their rapid effector functions and antibacterial immune protection. Here, we define the plasticity of interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-producing MAIT1 and interleukin-17A (IL-17A)-producing MAIT17 cell subsets in vivo. Whereas T-bet MAIT1 cells remained stable in all experimental settings, after adoptive transfer or acute or infection, RORγt MAIT17 cells could undergo phenotypic and functional conversion into both RORγtT-bet MAIT1/17 and RORγtT-bet MAIT1 cells.

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Purpose: ATM germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) are associated with a moderately increased risk of female breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. Resources for managing ATM heterozygotes in clinical practice are limited.

Methods: An international workgroup developed a clinical practice resource to guide management of ATM heterozygotes using peer-reviewed publications and expert opinion.

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The major histocompatibility complex class I related protein (MR1) presents microbially derived vitamin B2 precursors to mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. MR1 can also present other metabolites to activate MR1-restricted T cells expressing more diverse T cell receptors (TCRs), some with anti-tumor reactivity. However, knowledge of the range of the antigen(s) that can activate diverse MR1-reactive T cells remains incomplete.

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Article Synopsis
  • White blood cells (WBCs) are essential for monitoring health and diagnosing diseases, but isolating them from blood is challenging due to their low concentration compared to red blood cells (RBCs).
  • Researchers developed a cascaded inertial microfluidic chip that improves WBC separation purity by using two sinusoidal channels and embedded micro-obstacles to control flow rate during processing.
  • The method significantly enhanced WBC purity, achieving a 307-fold increase in WBC concentration from diluted whole blood and a dramatic reduction in RBC presence, making it promising for clinical diagnostics.
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