Uptake of extracellular vesicles into immune cells is enhanced by the protein corona.

The influence of a protein corona on the uptake of nanoparticles in cells has been demonstrated in various publications over the last years. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), can be seen as natural nanoparticles. However, EVs are produced under different cell culture conditions and little is known about the protein corona forming on EVs and its influence on their uptake by target cells.

Developing a personalized self-care curriculum for graduate students in the health sciences.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Pitt Personal Wellness Program, three 1-hour workshops that were integrated into the first-semester curriculum of five health sciences graduate programs. The workshops were designed as a personalized education approach to promote self-care and well-being. Of the 156 graduate students who participated in the Pitt Personal Wellness Program, 99 (65%) completed online questionnaires regarding stress and coping at three time points across a 14 week period: before the program, and after the second and third workshops.

Assessing Aspects of Social Relationships in Youth Across Middle Childhood and Adolescence: The NIH Toolbox Pediatric Social Relationship Scales.

Objective: Social relationships are a critical context for children's socioemotional development and their quality is closely linked with concurrent and future physical and emotional wellbeing. However, brief self-report measures of social relationship quality that translate across middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood are lacking, limiting the ability to assess the impact of social relationships on health outcomes over time. To address this gap, this article describes the development and testing of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Pediatric Social Relationship Scales, which were developed in parallel with the previously-reported Adult Social Relationship Scales.

Neutralizing Antibody Evasion and Transduction with Purified Extracellular Vesicle-Enveloped Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is classified as a nonenveloped DNA virus. However, several years ago, we discovered that in media of packaging cells producing recombinant AAV vectors, AAV capsids can associate with the interior and surface of extracellular vesicles (EVs), sometimes referred to as exosomes. Since then, we and others have demonstrated that exosome-enveloped AAV, exo-AAV, can enhance transduction as well as evade neutralizing antibodies.

Family-Based Interpersonal Psychotherapy: An Intervention for Preadolescent Depression.

Family-based interpersonal psychotherapy (FB-IPT) is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention for depression in preadolescents (ages 8-12 years). Adapted from interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents with depression and modified for younger children, this therapy includes structured dyadic sessions with preadolescents and their parents, guidance for parents in supporting their children and decreasing negative parent-child interactions, and a focus on preadolescents' comorbid anxiety and peer relationships. This article reviews the conceptual foundations and risk factors related to preadolescent depression and the rationale for focusing on improving preadolescents' interpersonal relationships to decrease depressive symptoms and risk for depression during adolescence.

Immunomodulation in Oncolytic Measles Virotherapy.

With the recognition of oncolytic virotherapy as an immunotherapy, the distinct interactions between oncolytic agents and the immune system have come into focus. The role of the immune system in oncolytic virotherapy is somewhat ambiguous: While preexisting or arising immunity directed against viral antigens may preclude efficient viral replication and spread, immunity directed against tumor antigens is considered essential for long-term treatment success. Aside from the antiviral and antitumor immune status of the patient, the specific immunological microenvironment in a given tumor adds an additional layer of complexity.

Engineered anti-CRISPR proteins for optogenetic control of CRISPR-Cas9.

Anti-CRISPR proteins are powerful tools for CRISPR-Cas9 regulation; the ability to precisely modulate their activity could facilitate spatiotemporally confined genome perturbations and uncover fundamental aspects of CRISPR biology. We engineered optogenetic anti-CRISPR variants comprising hybrids of AcrIIA4, a potent Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 inhibitor, and the LOV2 photosensor from Avena sativa. Coexpression of these proteins with CRISPR-Cas9 effectors enabled light-mediated genome and epigenome editing, and revealed rapid Cas9 genome targeting in human cells.

Blood pressure recovery to social stress in parentally bereaved and non-bereaved youths.

Objective: To examine differences in blood pressure response and recovery in a sample of bereaved and non-bereaved youths during an acute stress task conducted 5 years after time of parental death.

Methods: One-hundred and ninety-two (n = 192) bereaved and non-bereaved offspring (ages 11-29) participated in an adaptation of the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) 5-years after the time of parental death. Blood pressure measurements were collected before, during, and after the laboratory stress protocol.

A randomized, comparative pilot trial of family-based interpersonal psychotherapy for reducing psychosocial symptoms, disordered-eating, and excess weight gain in at-risk preadolescents with loss-of-control-eating.

Objective: Preadolescent loss-of-control-eating (LOC-eating) is a risk factor for excess weight gain and binge-eating-disorder. We evaluated feasibility and acceptability of a preventive family-based interpersonal psychotherapy (FB-IPT) program. FB-IPT was compared to family-based health education (FB-HE) to evaluate changes in children's psychosocial functioning, LOC-eating, and body mass.

Family-based interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed preadolescents: examining efficacy and potential treatment mechanisms.

Objective: To conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of family-based interpersonal psychotherapy (FB-IPT) for treating depression in preadolescents (aged 7-12 years) as compared to child-centered therapy (CCT), a supportive and nondirective treatment that closely approximates the standard of care for pediatric depression in community mental health.

Method: Preadolescents with depression (N = 42) were randomly assigned FB-IPT or CCT. Pre- and posttreatment assessments included clinician-administered measures of depression, parent- and child-reported depression and anxiety symptoms, and parent-child conflict and interpersonal impairment with peers.

Social problem solving among depressed adolescents is enhanced by structured psychotherapies.

Objective: Changes in adolescent interpersonal behavior before and after an acute course of psychotherapy were investigated as outcomes and mediators of remission status in a previously described treatment study of depressed adolescents. Maternal depressive symptoms were examined as moderators of the association between psychotherapy condition and changes in adolescents' interpersonal behavior.

Method: Adolescents (n = 63, mean age = 15.

A prospective study of parentally bereaved youth, caregiver depression, and body mass index.

Objective: To examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) in bereaved youth and nonbereaved controls 5 years after a parent's death. The study was conducted from August 9, 2002, through December 31, 2013.

Design: A prospective, longitudinal, controlled study of the effects of sudden parental death on youth.

A pilot study of yoga as self-care for arthritis in minority communities.

Background: While arthritis is the most common cause of disability, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics experience worse arthritis impact despite having the same or lower prevalence of arthritis compared to non-Hispanic whites. People with arthritis who exercise regularly have less pain, more energy, and improved sleep, yet arthritis is one of the most common reasons for limiting physical activity. Mind-body interventions, such as yoga, that teach stress management along with physical activity may be well suited for investigation in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Cortisol response to social stress in parentally bereaved youth.

Background: Parental bereavement is associated with increased risk for psychiatric illness and functional impairment in youth. Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning may be one pathway through which bereaved children experience increased risk for poor outcomes. However, few studies have prospectively examined the association between parental bereavement and cortisol response while accounting for psychiatric disorders in both youth and their caregivers.

Anhedonia predicts poorer recovery among youth with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment-resistant depression.

Objective: To identify symptom dimensions of depression that predict recovery among selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment-resistant adolescents undergoing second-step treatment.

Method: The Treatment of Resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA) trial included 334 SSRI treatment-resistant youth randomized to a medication switch, or a medication switch plus CBT. This study examined five established symptom dimensions (Child Depression Rating Scale-Revised) at baseline as they predicted recovery over 24 weeks of acute and continuation treatment.

Depressive symptoms and subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease in adolescents.

Purpose: To examine the association between depressive symptoms and subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD), specifically arterial stiffness, as indexed by pulse wave velocity (PWV), and carotid artery intima media thickening (IMT), in a sample of healthy adolescents, and to explore adolescent hostility as a potential moderator of depression on subclinical markers of CVD.

Methods: One hundred fifty-seven (n = 157) black and white adolescents between the ages of 16-21 completed a follow-up study of psychosocial stress and cardiovascular risk factors that included measures of PWV and carotid IMT. Psychosocial measures included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (divided into tertiles), and the Cook-Medley Hostility Inventory subscales.

Inferring functional modules of protein families with probabilistic topic models.

Background: Genome and metagenome studies have identified thousands of protein families whose functions are poorly understood and for which techniques for functional characterization provide only partial information. For such proteins, the genome context can give further information about their functional context.

Results: We describe a Bayesian method, based on a probabilistic topic model, which directly identifies functional modules of protein families.

Maternal depression, paternal psychopathology, and toddlers' behavior problems.

This article examined the effects of maternal depression during the postpartum period (Time 1) on the later behavior problems of toddlers (Time 3) and tested if this relationship was moderated by paternal psychopathology during toddlers' lives and/or mediated by maternal parenting behavior observed during mother-child interaction (Time 2). Of the 101 mothers who participated in this longitudinal study with their toddlers, 51 had never experienced an episode of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 50 had experienced an episode of MDD during the first 18 months of their toddlers' lives. Maternal depression at Time 1 was significantly associated with toddlers' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems only when paternal psychopathology was present.

Expressed emotion in mothers of currently depressed, remitted, high-risk, and low-risk youth: links to child depression status and longitudinal course.

This study examined expressed emotion in the families of children and adolescents who were (a) in a current episode of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), (b) in remission from a past episode of MDD, (c) at high familial risk for developing MDD, and (d) low-risk controls. Participants were 109 mother-child dyads (children ages 8-19). Expressed emotion was assessed using the Five Minute Speech Sample, and psychiatric follow-ups were conducted annually.

Family-based interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed preadolescents: an open-treatment trial.

Aim: To conduct an open-treatment trial to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and clinical outcomes of using a family-based adaptation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents with a sample of preadolescents (ages 9-12) presenting for outpatient treatment for depression.

Methods: Sixteen preadolescents who met criteria for a depressive disorder according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition participated in this open-treatment trial of family-based interpersonal psychotherapy (FB-IPT). Parents chose whether their preadolescents should receive FB-IPT only (n = 10) or FB-IPT with antidepressant medication (n = 6).

Mother-child interactions in depressed children and children at high risk and low risk for future depression.

Objective: To compare mother-child interactions and parenting styles in families of children with major depressive disorder, youths at high risk for depression, and healthy controls.

Method: Currently depressed (n = 43), high-risk (n = 28), and healthy control (n = 41) youths and their mothers engaged in a standardized videotaped problem-solving interaction. Measures of affect and behavior for both mothers and children were obtained, in addition to global measures of parenting.

Social skill in self-assertive strategies of toddlers with depressed and nondepressed mothers.

The authors examined the effects of maternal depression on the skillfulness of toddlers' self-assertive strategies in interactions with their mother and with a female examiner. The participants were 110 mothers and their 26-month-old toddlers. Of these mothers, 57 had experienced an episode of clinical depression sometime since their child's birth, and 53 had had no history of depression.