Publications by authors named "Jesse Barnes"

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) transport biomolecules that mediate intercellular communication. We previously showed that EVs contain DNA (EV-DNA) representing the entire genome. However, the mechanism of genomic EV-DNA packaging and its role in cancer remain elusive.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Identifying high-risk patients is possible through TP53 and RB1 mutations, but there are currently no strategies to prevent this transformation.
  • * Targeting the CDC7 kinase with the inhibitor simurosertib may block NE transformation and improve responses to both targeted and standard chemotherapy in experimental models, indicating a potential new treatment approach for these cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Jansen de Vries Syndrome (JdVS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) caused by gain-of-function (GOF) truncating mutations in exons 5 or 6. PPM1D is a serine/threonine phosphatase that plays an important role in the DNA damage response (DDR) by negatively regulating TP53 (P53). JdVS-associated mutations lead to the formation of a truncated PPM1D protein that retains catalytic activity and has a GOF effect because of reduced degradation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Linking clinical services to community-based resources is a promising strategy for assisting patients with chronic disease prevention and management. However, there remains a gap in understanding how to effectively develop and implement community-clinical linkages (CCLs), especially in communities of color. The Healthy Here initiative used Stage Theory of organizational change to implement a centralized wellness referral system, linking primary care clinics to community organizations in majority Hispanic/Latinx and Native American communities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The endocannabinoid system is vital for brain development, particularly in coordinating interactions within neural networks, but existing studies have mostly targeted neuronal differentiation and other isolated processes.
  • In developing rodents, the CB1 cannabinoid receptor is primarily found on afferent terminals rather than on output neuron synapses, influencing how synaptic transmission works in the granule cells of the cerebellum.
  • Understanding the role of CB1 receptors in the developing cerebellum is crucial, especially with growing discussions around cannabis use, as these receptors affect synaptic strength and network signaling, which has implications for neurodevelopmental disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Lowe syndrome (LS) results from mutations in the OCRL gene, leading to symptoms like cataracts, intellectual disabilities, and renal issues, with patients also at risk for glaucoma and seizures.
  • The study utilized RNA sequencing on neural progenitor cells from LS patients and their neurotypical brothers, identifying a small number of differentially expressed genes that correlate with the known effects of the OCRL protein and LS symptoms.
  • Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that these differentially expressed genes are tied to critical developmental processes in the brain, linking the findings to the intellectual and psychiatric challenges faced by individuals with Lowe syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Lowe syndrome (LS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in an X-linked gene, leading to symptoms like congenital cataracts, neurodevelopmental impairments, and kidney dysfunction.
  • Research indicates that these mutations negatively impact cellular processes, particularly in kidney and brain cells, affecting the recycling of essential proteins and the formation of actin structures.
  • The study leverages induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from LS patients to explore how these genetic issues manifest in neurons, revealing deficiencies in actin production and abnormal WAVE-1 expression crucial for neuron function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are aggregates of extracellular matrix that form structures surrounding a subset of GABAergic interneurons. The staining intensity of PNNs appears to be related to plasticity. Environmental enrichment (EE) influences plasticity during adulthood: EE decreases the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse and diminishes both drug- and sucrose-seeking behavior.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Conditioned cues can elicit drug- and sucrose-seeking behaviors that have been shown to depend on dopamine (DA) D1 receptors. If DAD1 receptors are also involved in seeking behavior in general, blocking these receptors should reduce seeking behavior for a non-caloric, non-drug of abuse reinforcer such as saccharin. Forty-six male Long-Evans rats lever pressed for 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exposure to environmental enrichment (EE) reduces sucrose seeking by rats with a history of sucrose self-administration. The present experiment examined whether acute or chronic EE also reduces brain Fos levels, a protein marker indicative of neuronal activation. Fos levels were also examined after either 1 or 30 days of forced abstinence to examine whether Fos levels vary with the incubation of sucrose craving.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dopamine receptors are implicated in the reinforcing effects of food and drug reinforcement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether blocking D2 dopamine receptors during extinction (secondary reinforcement) would affect reacquisition of responding for food pellets (primary reinforcement). Food-restricted rats self-administered (fixed-ratio 1) food pellets in 1-h daily sessions for 7 days.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Environmental enrichment (EE) reduces drug and sucrose cue-reactivity in rats. In a previous study we reported that 1 month of EE (large cage, toys, and social cohorts) significantly reduced sucrose cue-reactivity. In the present study, we examined whether overnight (22 h) EE would be as effective.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Associations between nicotine in cigarettes and food consumption may alter the incentive value of food such that food cue-reactivity is exaggerated during abstinence from smoking. This effect may contribute to the weight gain associated with cessation of smoking. We examined the effects of nicotine (0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

For someone on a food-restricted diet, food craving in response to food-paired cues may serve as a key behavioral transition point between abstinence and relapse to food taking. Food craving conceptualized in this way is akin to drug craving in response to drug-paired cues. A rich literature has been developed around understanding the behavioral and neurobiological determinants of drug craving; we and others have been focusing recently on translating techniques from basic addiction research to better understand addiction-like behaviors related to food.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Conditioned cues can elicit relapse to drug- and food-seeking behavior over prolonged periods of abstinence. If seeking behavior depends on mesolimbic dopamine D1 receptors, blocking these receptors should reduce seeking behavior.

Objectives: We examined the effects of either systemic or intra-nucleus accumbens administration of the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 on extinction responding (sucrose seeking) by rats either 1 or 30 days into forced abstinence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aggregation of partially folded intermediates populated during protein folding processes has been described for many proteins. Likewise, partially unfolded chains, generated by perturbation of numerous proteins by heat or chemical denaturants, have also been shown to aggregate readily. However, the process of protein aggregation from native-state conditions is less well understood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF