Publications by authors named "Jason Collins"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the relationship between home radon exposure and stroke risk in middle-aged and older women in the U.S., using data from the Women's Health Initiative cohort of postmenopausal women.
  • - Results show that women exposed to radon levels of 2-4 pCi/L and over 4 pCi/L had increased risks of stroke compared to those with lower exposures, with specific risks associated with different types of strokes.
  • - The findings suggest that even radon levels below the EPA's mitigation threshold can pose a health risk, highlighting the need for further evaluation of radon exposure and its potential effects on stroke.
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Most cellular ubiquitin signaling is initiated by UBA1, which activates and transfers ubiquitin to tens of E2 enzymes. Clonally acquired UBA1 missense mutations cause an inflammatory-hematologic overlap disease called VEXAS (vacuoles, E1, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic) syndrome. Despite extensive clinical investigation into this lethal disease, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the potential link between radon exposure and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which may increase the risk of blood cancers and heart diseases.
  • Researchers analyzed data from nearly 11,000 participants to assess the relationship between indoor radon levels and the presence of CHIP, noting varying risks based on radon concentration zones.
  • Results showed that higher radon exposure (in Zones 1 and 2) is associated with an increased risk of CHIP in individuals who have had ischemic strokes, whereas no significant risks were found in those with hemorrhagic strokes or those without stroke histories.
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Article Synopsis
  • Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) can lead to increased risks of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and mortality among individuals, particularly affecting postmenopausal women.
  • The study assessed the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) at both individual and neighborhood levels on the prevalence of CHIP, incorporating factors like education, income, and personal resources.
  • Results indicate that better neighborhood SES correlates with a slight increase in CHIP risk, but high levels of optimism among women appear to reduce this risk, suggesting that positive psychological factors may mitigate the effects of socio-economic disadvantage on health.
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Most cellular ubiquitin signaling is initiated by UBA1, which activates and transfers ubiquitin to tens of E2 enzymes. Clonally acquired missense mutations cause an inflammatory-hematologic overlap disease called VEXAS (vacuoles, E1, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic) syndrome. Despite extensive clinical investigation into this lethal disease, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms.

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Objective: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is an aging-related accumulation of somatic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells, leading to clonal expansion. CHIP presence has been implicated in atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality, but its association with incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) is unknown. We hypothesized that CHIP is associated with elevated risk of T2D.

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  • Researchers investigated the mechanisms that guide the differentiation of embryonic ectoderm into various structures like the nervous system and skin, focusing on the role of the CRL3-KLHL4 ubiquitin ligase.
  • This ligase regulates the signaling of the signaling molecule CDC42 by modifying the protein PAK1 through a process called monoubiquitylation, which unexpectedly turns PAK1 from a promoter of CDC42 activity into an inhibitor.
  • Disruption of this regulatory pathway, either by the loss of CRL3-KLHL4 or through genetic variants associated with disease, leads to excessive CDC42 activation, which interferes with proper ectodermal patterning and development of facial, brain, and skin structures.
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Objective: Somatic mutations in UBA1 have recently been causally linked to a severe adult-onset inflammatory condition referred to as VEXAS (vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic) syndrome. Ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 (UBA-1) is of fundamental importance to the modulation of ubiquitin homeostasis and to the majority of downstream ubiquitylation-dependent cellular processes. Direct sequencing analysis of exon 3 containing the prevalent variants p.

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Background: Studies of the association between aircraft noise and hypertension are complicated by inadequate control for potential confounders and a lack of longitudinal assessments, and existing evidence is inconclusive.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between long-term aircraft noise exposure and risk of hypertension among post-menopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative Clinical Trials, an ongoing prospective U.S.

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Somatic mutations in UBA1 cause vacuoles, E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory somatic (VEXAS) syndrome, an adult-onset inflammatory disease with an overlap of hematologic manifestations. VEXAS syndrome is characterized by a high mortality rate and significant clinical heterogeneity. We sought to determine independent predictors of survival in VEXAS and to understand the mechanistic basis for these factors.

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Advances in technologies to measure a broad set of exposures have led to a range of exposome research efforts. Yet, these efforts have insufficiently integrated methods that incorporate genetic data to strengthen causal inference, despite evidence that many exposome-associated phenotypes are heritable. Objective: We demonstrate how integration of methods and study designs that incorporate genetic data can strengthen causal inference in exposomics research by helping address six challenges: reverse causation and unmeasured confounding, comprehensive examination of phenotypic effects, low efficiency, replication, multilevel data integration, and characterization of tissue-specific effects.

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Familial hyperkalemic hypertension is caused by pathogenic variants in genes of the CUL3 (cullin-3)-KLHL3 (kelch-like-family-member-3)-WNK (with no-lysine [K] kinase) pathway, manifesting clinically as hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis, and high systolic blood pressure. The ubiquitin E3 ligase CUL3-KLHL3 targets WNK kinases for degradation to limit activation of the thiazide-sensitive NCC (Na-Cl cotransporter). All known variants in lead to exon 9 skipping (CUL3Δ9) and typically result in severe familial hyperkalemic hypertension and growth disturbances in patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is a new risk factor linked to higher chances of stroke, especially ischemic and hemorrhagic types, emphasizing its importance in understanding cardiovascular health.* -
  • This study analyzed data from over 78,000 individuals to explore the connection between CHIP and stroke, finding significant associations even after accounting for age, sex, and race.* -
  • The results indicated that certain mutated genes within CHIP were more strongly associated with different stroke types, suggesting that further research is necessary to understand these relationships better.*
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Poulter and colleagues describe a series from the United Kingdom of 10 male patients with VEXAS syndrome, including 2 with novel genetic changes affecting methionine 41 of E1.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adult-onset inflammatory syndromes can exhibit overlapping symptoms, and the study discovered that mutations in ubiquitin-related genes, particularly in UBA1, are linked to these disorders.
  • Researchers utilized various methodologies, including exome sequencing and CRISPR technology, to identify mutations in patients with severe inflammatory conditions that typically develop in late adulthood.
  • The findings indicate that these mutations lead to a significant change in immune response and could help define a new inflammatory disorder related to genetic abnormalities in UBA1.
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Importance: Describing potential mortality risk reduction associated with weight loss between early adulthood and midlife is important for informing primary and secondary prevention efforts for obesity.

Objective: To examine the risk of all-cause mortality among adults who lost weight between early adulthood and midlife compared with adults who were persistently obese over the same period.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Combined repeated cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) and continuous waves collected in 2-year cycles between 1999 and 2014.

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Objective: To examine the association between weight change from young adulthood to midlife and the risk of incident arthritis.

Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we categorized participants into weight-change categories based on their recalled weight during young adulthood and midlife. We estimated the association of weight change and developing an arthritis condition over 10 years using adjusted Cox models.

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Premature release of nascent ribosomes into the translating pool must be prevented because these do not support viability and may be prone to mistakes. Here, we show that the kinase Rio1, the nuclease Nob1, and its binding partner Pno1 cooperate to establish a checkpoint that prevents the escape of immature ribosomes into polysomes. Nob1 blocks mRNA recruitment, and rRNA cleavage is required for its dissociation from nascent 40S subunits, thereby setting up a checkpoint for maturation.

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Examining zebrafish populations for the presence of disease is an integral component of managing fish health in research facilities. Currently, many different strategies are used for zebrafish fish health inspections, which is a scenario that may result in subjective and biased diagnostic evaluations. The goal of this study was to compare the success of pathogen detection between a sample size of randomly selected fish ( = 60) that provides 95% confidence in pathogen detection based on a presumed pathogen prevalence level ≥5%, and other subpopulations and sample numbers commonly submitted for diagnostic testing within a 1000 tank, 30,000 fish, recirculating research system.

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The prevalence of obesity has grown rapidly over the past several decades and has been accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of chronic pain and prescription opioid use. Obesity, through its association with pain, may represent an important contributor to opioid use. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between obesity and prescription opioid use among adults aged 35 to 79 years using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2003-2016).

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The development and expansion of wind energy is considered a key global threat to bat populations. Bat carcasses are being found underneath wind turbines across North and South America, Eurasia, Africa, and the Austro-Pacific. However, relatively little is known about the comparative impacts of techniques designed to modify turbine operations in ways that reduce bat fatalities associated with wind energy facilities.

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The correct assembly of ribosomes from ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and ribosomal proteins (RPs) is critical, as indicated by the diseases caused by RP haploinsufficiency and loss of RP stoichiometry in cancer cells. Nevertheless, how assembly of each RP is ensured remains poorly understood. We use yeast genetics, biochemistry, and structure probing to show that the assembly factor Ltv1 facilitates the incorporation of Rps3, Rps10, and Asc1/RACK1 into the small ribosomal subunit head.

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