Publications by authors named "Jack Crouch"

Senescent cells accumulate in aging tissues, impairing their ability to undergo repair and regeneration following injury. Previous research has demonstrated that targeting tissue senescence with senolytics can enhance tissue regeneration and repair by selectively eliminating SnCs in specific aged tissues. In this study, we focused on eliminating senescent skin cells in aged mice to assess the effects on subsequent wound healing.

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Article Synopsis
  • Senescent cells accumulate in aging tissues and hinder the body's repair mechanisms, but using senolytics like ABT-263 can help improve tissue regeneration.
  • In this study, applying ABT-263 to the skin of older mice reduced markers of senescence and led to faster wound healing by activating genes related to healing processes.
  • While ABT-263 effectively cleared out senescent skin cells and improved wound closure, it also caused a temporary inflammatory response, indicating a complex balance in its effects.
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Transcriptional profiling demonstrated markedly reduced type I IFN gene expression in untreated mycosis fungoides (MF) skin lesions compared with that in healthy skin. Type I IFN expression in MF correlated with antigen-presenting cell-associated IRF5 before psoralen plus UVA therapy and epithelial ULBP2 after therapy, suggesting an enhancement of epithelial type I IFN. Immunostains confirmed reduced baseline type I IFN production in MF and increased levels after psoralen plus UVA treatment in responding patients.

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The circulating precursor cells that give rise to human resident memory T cells (T) are poorly characterized. We used an in vitro differentiation system and human skin-grafted mice to study T generation from circulating human memory T cell subsets. In vitro T differentiation was associated with functional changes, including enhanced IL-17A production and FOXP3 expression in CD4 T cells and granzyme B production in CD8 T cells, changes that mirrored the phenotype of T cells in healthy human skin.

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Article Synopsis
  • Elevated cellular senescence can influence wound healing, but its exact impact—whether helpful or harmful—is still not fully understood.
  • A study using irradiated fibroblasts in young mice created an elevated senescence model, resulting in increased levels of senescent cells in the skin.
  • This heightened senescence significantly delayed wound healing, mimicking the healing responses seen in older mice, suggesting that targeting senescent cells could improve wound healing outcomes.
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Article Synopsis
  • Senescence is a cellular response to stress that stops cell division and leads to a specific pattern of secretions linked to aging and related diseases.
  • The transition to a senescent state involves complex factors, particularly the regulation of multiple genes through transcription.
  • Epigenetic changes, such as alterations in chromatin structure, DNA methylation, and histone modifications, are key in initiating and sustaining cellular senescence and its secretory features.
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Psoralen plus UVA (PUVA) is an effective therapy for mycosis fungoides (MF), the skin-limited variant of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL). In low-burden patients, PUVA reduced or eradicated malignant T cells and induced clonal expansion of CD8+ T cells associated with malignant T cell depletion. High-burden patients appeared to clinically improve but large numbers of malignant T cells persisted in skin.

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Cells are under constant assault from reactive oxygen species that occur endogenously or arise from environmental agents. An important consequence of such stress is the generation of oxidatively damaged DNA, which is represented by a wide range of non-helix distorting and helix-distorting bulkier lesions that potentially affect a number of pathways including replication and transcription; consequently DNA damage tolerance and repair pathways are elicited to help cells cope with the lesions. The cellular consequences and metabolism of oxidatively damaged DNA can be quite complex with a number of DNA metabolic proteins and pathways involved.

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Mutations in the c10orf2 gene encoding the human mitochondrial DNA replicative helicase Twinkle are linked to several rare genetic diseases characterized by mitochondrial defects. In this study, we have examined the catalytic activity of Twinkle helicase on model replication fork and DNA repair structures. Although Twinkle behaves as a traditional 5' to 3' helicase on conventional forked duplex substrates, the enzyme efficiently dissociates D-loop DNA substrates irrespective of whether it possesses a 5' or 3' single-stranded tailed invading strand.

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