Publications by authors named "L G Puskas"
Brain signaling of calcineurin (CN) and nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) transcription factor increases in Alzheimer disease (AD) and is associated with synaptic loss, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, amyloid-β (Aβ) production, and cognitive decline. CN/NFAT inhibitors ameliorate these neuropathologies in mouse models of AD. Further, chronic use of tacrolimus in transplant patients reduces risk of AD.
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- The study investigates cardioprotective microRNAs (protectomiRs) in a pig model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to find potential therapeutic options for heart protection.
- Researchers analyzed changes in miRNA expression in cardiac tissues and validated candidates in lab models using rat and human heart cells.
- The findings highlight miR-450a as a significant protectomiR, linked to protection during ischemic conditions and having common pathways and targets across species, making it a strong candidate for future heart therapies.
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- Obesity is linked to chronic diseases and is characterized by systemic inflammation due to fat tissue release of inflammatory proteins; this study aimed to understand these processes in mice models with different diets.
- Male mice were fed high-fat diets (with or without fructose) or a normal diet for 21 weeks, with various tests conducted to assess weight gain, insulin resistance, and inflammation.
- Results showed that the high-fat/high-fructose diet led to greater obesity symptoms and inflammation compared to the other diets, suggesting that this combination exacerbates metabolic syndrome.
One of the major functions of programmed cell death (apoptosis) is the removal of cells that suffered oncogenic mutations, thereby preventing cancerous transformation. By making use of a Double-Headed-EP (DEP) transposon, a P element derivative made in our laboratory, we made an insertional mutagenesis screen in Drosophila melanogaster to identify genes that, when overexpressed, suppress the p53-activated apoptosis. The DEP element has Gal4-activatable, outward-directed UAS promoters at both ends, which can be deleted separately in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need for remote patient monitoring to deliver and provide access to patient care and education. A mobile-based app providing interactive tools for patient education and monitoring was piloted at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) in November 2020. We aimed to examine the platform's impact on postoperative length of stay, hospital readmissions, and emergency department (ED) visits 60 days postsurgery in total hip and knee arthroplasty patients in Northwestern Ontario.
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