Publications by authors named "K-L Son"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how common ankle osteoarthritis is in patients with achondroplasia and how surgical adjustments to lower limb alignment affect this.
- The research included 134 patients over a period of nearly nine years, assessing various angles and scores to evaluate ankle health.
- Findings show a moderate prevalence of ankle osteoarthritis (29%), with a strong link to the talar tilt angle, suggesting the importance of monitoring this angle in achondroplasia patients to manage potential osteoarthritis.
Article Synopsis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease where hyper-activated B cells produce autoantibodies, causing symptoms.
- Research found that naïve mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) inhibit T cell activity but not B cell IgM production, leading to a study on how to enhance MSC function.
- Treatment with ingenol-3-angelate (I3A) primes MSCs to inhibit B cells through the secretion of TGF-β1, showing improved effectiveness in alleviating SLE symptoms in mice.
Article Synopsis
- A study assessed the 1-year treatment of nilotinib in patients with autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (ADSCA), focusing on treatment efficacy and safety.
- Although the average ataxia severity, measured by the SARA score, did not significantly improve for the overall group, 62.5% of participants were considered 'responsive' based on score improvements.
- Serum proteomic analysis identified specific proteins that may help predict which patients are likely to respond to nilotinib, suggesting potential pathways for improving treatment strategies for ADSCA.
Article Synopsis
- Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients often undergo neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) to improve treatment outcomes.
- A study analyzed multiparametric MRI scans from 163 TNBC patients at different stages of NAST to see if radiomic models could predict the likelihood of achieving a pathologic complete response (pCR).
- The best predictive model, based on changes in MRI features after two cycles of treatment, showed a strong ability to forecast pCR with high accuracy, indicating that MRI could be useful for early treatment response assessments in TNBC.
Docking domains (DDs) located at the C- and N-termini of polypeptides play a crucial role in directing the assembly of polyketide synthases (PKSs), which are multienzyme complexes. Here, we determined the crystal structure of a complex comprising the C-terminal DD (DD) and N-terminal DD (DD) of macrolactin trans-acyltransferase (AT) PKS that were fused to a functional enzyme, AmpC EC2 β-lactamase. Interface analyses of the DD/DD complex revealed the molecular intricacies in the core section underpinning the precise DD assembly.
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- Accurate tumor segmentation is essential for analyzing tumors in quantitative imaging studies, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer.
- A new automated deep learning model was developed that uses a comprehensive set of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI images taken at different stages of treatment.
- This advanced model achieved a high Dice similarity coefficient of 93% and sensitivity of 96%, demonstrating its effectiveness in producing precise tumor measurements for clinical use.
Article Synopsis
- * The study identifies the cell surface protein Lrig1 as a key factor in enhancing the suppressive abilities of Tregs, particularly in T helper (Th) 17 cells.
- * Lrig1 deficiency leads to weakened suppressive functions but does not stop the differentiation of naïve T cells; targeting Lrig1 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for autoimmune diseases, as shown by improved outcomes in mouse models.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate if a radiomics model using synthetic MRI (SyMRI) can predict responses to neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) in women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
- It involved 181 women who underwent SyMRI scans at the start and mid-treatment, analyzing tumor features extracted from the imaging to identify differences between patients who achieved pathologic complete response (pCR) and those who did not.
- Results indicated that the radiomic features from mid-treatment scans were better at predicting pCR, with the model achieving an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of up to 0.78 in training and 0.72 in testing cohorts, suggesting potential usefulness
Assessment of Response to Neoadjuvant Systemic Treatment in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Using Functional Tumor Volumes from Longitudinal Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI.
Cancers (Basel)
February 2023
Article Synopsis
- Early assessment of neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) response is important for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients to prevent harmful side effects from ineffective treatments.
- The study evaluated functional tumor volumes (FTVs) using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI after the 2nd and 4th cycles of NAST in 100 patients, finding FTVs at these points could indicate treatment response.
- Results showed that 49% of patients achieved a pathologic complete response (pCR), with FTV at the 4th cycle having the best predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.84), while baseline FTV did not distinguish between pCR and non-pCR.
Lyme disease is on the rise. Caused by a spirochete Borreliella burgdorferi, it affects an estimated 500,000 people in the United States alone. The antibiotics currently used to treat Lyme disease are broad spectrum, damage the microbiome, and select for resistance in non-target bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnrestricted integration of single-crystal oxide films on arbitrary substrates has been of great interest to exploit emerging phenomena from transition metal oxides for practical applications. Here, we demonstrate the release and transfer of a freestanding single-crystalline rutile oxide nanomembranes to serve as an epitaxial template for heterogeneous integration of correlated oxides on dissimilar substrates. By selective oxidation and dissolution of sacrificial VO buffer layers from TiO/VO/TiO by HO, millimeter-size TiO single-crystalline layers are integrated on silicon without any deterioration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Understanding the epidemiology and clinical course of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and its temporal association with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is important, given the clinical and public health implications of the syndrome.
Methods: We conducted targeted surveillance for MIS-C from March 15 to May 20, 2020, in pediatric health centers across the United States. The case definition included six criteria: serious illness leading to hospitalization, an age of less than 21 years, fever that lasted for at least 24 hours, laboratory evidence of inflammation, multisystem organ involvement, and evidence of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) based on reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), antibody testing, or exposure to persons with Covid-19 in the past month.
Synaptic connections undergo activity-dependent plasticity during development and learning, as well as homeostatic re-adjustment to ensure stability. Little is known about the relationship between these processes, particularly in vivo. We addressed this with novel quantal resolution imaging of transmission during locomotive behavior at glutamatergic synapses of the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction.
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