Publications by authors named "K Fowke"
The injectable contraceptive, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), is associated with compromised cervical mucosal barriers. High-resolution spatial transcriptomics is applied here to reveal the spatial localization of these altered molecular markers. Ectocervical tissue samples from Kenyan sex workers using DMPA, or non-hormonal contraceptives, underwent spatial transcriptomics and gene set enrichment analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Chronic immune activation is a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection that significantly impacts disease pathogenesis. However, in-depth studies characterizing the immunological landscape of the ectocervix during chronic HIV infection remain scarce despite the importance of this tissue site for HIV transmission.
Methods: Ectocervical tissue samples were obtained from antiretroviral-naïve HIV-seropositive and -seronegative Kenyan female sex workers.
Chronic systemic immune activation significantly influences human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression. Despite evidence of a pro-inflammatory environment in the genital tract of HIV-infected women, comprehensive investigations into cervical tissue from this region remain limited. Similarly, the consequences of chronic HIV infection on the integrity of the female genital epithelium are poorly understood, despite its importance in HIV transmission and replication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The cervicovaginal epithelial barrier is vital for protecting the female reproductive tract from sexually transmitted infections, and its function is influenced by hormones like estradiol and progesterone.
- A study involved collecting mucosal and blood samples from Kenyan female sex workers, analyzing them at different menstrual cycle phases to assess the hormones' impact on gene and protein expression in the ectocervical mucosa.
- Findings indicated that during the follicular phase, higher estradiol levels were linked to better epithelial structure and increased barrier integrity, but there were no significant correlations involving progesterone or during the luteal phase.
Background: LAG3 is an immune checkpoint molecule with emerging therapeutic use. Expression of LAG3 is well studied on T cells, but the proportion of LAG3-expressing cells varies greatly by study and its comparative expression between non-T cells is lacking.
Methods/objectives: This study uses flow cytometry to compare surface LAG3 expression between T cells, NK cells, B cells, pDCs and monocytes of healthy donors.