The Parkinson's disease (PD)-linked protein Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) consists of seven domains, including a kinase and a Roc G domain. Despite the availability of several high-resolution structures, the dynamic regulation of its unique intramolecular domain stack is nevertheless still not well understood. By in-depth biochemical analysis, assessing the Michaelis-Menten kinetics of the Roc G domain, we have confirmed that LRRK2 has, similar to other Roco protein family members, a K value of LRRK2 that lies within the range of the physiological GTP concentrations within the cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrob Agents Chemother
December 2024
Thiamine is metabolized into thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), an essential enzyme cofactor. Previous work has shown that oxythiamine, a thiamine analog, is metabolized by thiamine pyrophosphokinase (TPK) into oxythiamine pyrophosphate within the malaria parasite and then inhibits TPP-dependent enzymes, killing the parasite and . To identify a more potent antiplasmodial thiamine analog, 11 commercially available compounds were tested against and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Elevated intracardiac pressures and myocyte stretch in heart failure trigger the release of counter-regulatory natriuretic peptides, which act through their receptor (NPR1) to affect vasodilation, diuresis and natriuresis, lowering venous pressures and relieving venous congestion. Recombinant natriuretic peptide infusions were developed to treat heart failure but have been limited by a short duration of effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with heart failure (HF) overestimate survival compared with model-predicted estimates, but the reasons for this discrepancy are poorly understood. We characterized how patients with end-stage HF and their care partners understand prognosis and elicited their preferences around prognosis communication.
Methods: We conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with patients with end-stage HF and their care partners between 2021 and 2022 at a tertiary care center in Michigan.
Combination of waning immunity and lower effectiveness against new SARS-CoV-2 variants of approved COVID-19 vaccines necessitates new vaccines. We evaluated two doses, 28 days apart, of ARCT-154, a self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, compared with saline placebo in an integrated phase 1/2/3a/3b controlled, observer-blind trial in Vietnamese adults (ClinicalTrial.gov identifier: NCT05012943).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe recently reported that resistance to PD-1 blockade in a refractory lung cancer-derived model involved increased collagen deposition and the collagen-binding inhibitory receptor leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor 1 (LAIR1). Thus, we hypothesized that LAIR1 and collagen cooperated to suppress therapeutic response. In this study, we report that LAIR1 is associated with tumor stroma and is highly expressed by intratumoral myeloid cells in both human tumors and mouse models of cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDysraphic malformations of the spine and spinal cord (DMSSC) represent a spectrum of common congenital anomalies typically (though not exclusively) affecting the lower spinal segments. These may be responsible for varying degrees of neurologic, orthopedic, and urologic morbidity. With advances in neuroimaging, it is now possible to better diagnose and evaluate these disorders both prenatally and postnatally.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOncogene-induced replication stress generates endogenous DNA damage that activates cGAS-STING-mediated signalling and tumour suppression. However, the precise mechanism of cGAS activation by endogenous DNA damage remains enigmatic, particularly given that high-affinity histone acidic patch (AP) binding constitutively inhibits cGAS by sterically hindering its activation by double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Here we report that the DNA double-strand break sensor MRE11 suppresses mammary tumorigenesis through a pivotal role in regulating cGAS activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe primary analysis of MAGNOLIA, an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, phase 2 study, demonstrated that the next-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor zanubrutinib provided a high overall response rate (ORR) in patients with relapsed/refractory marginal zone lymphoma (R/R MZL), with a favorable safety/tolerability profile. Presented here, is the final analysis of MAGNOLIA, performed to characterize the durability of response and longer-term safety and tolerability. Zanubrutinib (160 mg twice daily) was evaluated in 68 patients with R/R MZL who had received at least 1 anti-CD20-directed regimen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Basic science medical educators (BSME) play a vital role in the training of medical students, yet little is known about the factors that shape their professional identities. This multi-institutional qualitative study investigated factors that support and threaten the professional identity formation (PIF) of these medical educators.
Method: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with a purposive sample of 58 BSME from 7 allopathic medical schools in the U.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are widely used for glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and are primarily indicated for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). GLP-1 receptor agonists have also been shown to have neuroprotective and antidepressant properties. Replicated evidence suggests that individuals with DM are significantly more likely to develop depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature
November 2022
Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke - the second leading cause of death worldwide - were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Radiogenomics of pediatric medulloblastoma (MB) offers an opportunity for MB risk stratification, which may aid therapeutic decision making, family counseling, and selection of patient groups suitable for targeted genetic analysis. Purpose To develop machine learning strategies that identify the four clinically significant MB molecular subgroups. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, consecutive pediatric patients with newly diagnosed MB at MRI at 12 international pediatric sites between July 1997 and May 2020 were identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn cystic fibrosis (CF), excessive furin activity plays a critical role in the activation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), dysregulation of which contributes to airway dehydration, ineffective mucociliary clearance (MCC), and mucus obstruction. Here, we report a highly selective, cell-permeable furin inhibitor, BOS-318, that derives selectivity by eliciting the formation of a new, unexpected binding pocket independent of the active site catalytic triad. Using human ex vivo models, BOS-318 showed significant suppression of ENaC, which led to enhanced airway hydration and an ∼30-fold increase in MCC rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Putative loss-of-function (pLOF) variants that increase Alzheimer disease (AD) risk were identified; however, deep phenotypic characterization of these variants in mutation carriers is limited. We aimed to obtain deep clinical phenotypes of pLOF mutation carriers from a large retrospectively reviewed series.
Methods: Genotypes were determined for 5,353 individuals evaluated at Mayo Clinic for 6 reported pLOF variants (p.
Emergence of novel variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) underscores the need for next-generation vaccines able to elicit broad and durable immunity. Here we report the evaluation of a ferritin nanoparticle vaccine displaying the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (RFN) adjuvanted with Army Liposomal Formulation QS-21 (ALFQ). RFN vaccination of macaques using a two-dose regimen resulted in robust, predominantly Th1 CD4+ T cell responses and reciprocal peak mean serum neutralizing antibody titers of 14,000 to 21,000.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the newly emerged human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2, it has infected more than 137 million individuals and caused more than 2.9 million deaths globally as of April 13, 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient-derived tumor organoids (TOs) are emerging as high-fidelity models to study cancer biology and develop novel precision medicine therapeutics. However, utilizing TOs for systems-biology-based approaches has been limited by a lack of scalable and reproducible methods to develop and profile these models. We describe a robust pan-cancer TO platform with chemically defined media optimized on cultures acquired from over 1,000 patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The glucocorticoid dexamethasone prevents nausea and vomiting after surgery, but there is concern that it may increase the risk of surgical-site infection.
Methods: In this pragmatic, international, noninferiority trial, we randomly assigned 8880 adult patients who were undergoing nonurgent, noncardiac surgery of at least 2 hours' duration, with a skin incision length longer than 5 cm and a postoperative overnight hospital stay, to receive 8 mg of intravenous dexamethasone or matching placebo while under anesthesia. Randomization was stratified according to diabetes status and trial center.