Publications by authors named "Laura Zhou"
Article Synopsis
- * The study analyzed blood and urine samples from 280 adults with SCA, finding that several biomarkers (like VCAM-1, AGT, KIM-1) were significantly higher in those with PA, particularly urinary AGT, which was the strongest predictor of PA.
- * The findings highlight the need for further research through longitudinal studies to better understand how these biomarkers can predict the development and progression of CKD in people with SCA.
Article Synopsis
- Circulating metabolite levels are indicators of human health and can be influenced by genetic factors; however, most research has focused on European populations.
- The study utilized metabolomics data from 25,058 diverse individuals, identifying 1,778 gene loci linked to 667 metabolites and providing methods for data analysis and handling.
- Notably, the research uncovered new genetic associations, including 108 novel gene-metabolite pairs, and highlighted sex differences in metabolism, enhancing the understanding of genetic influences on human health.
Article Synopsis
- * Results showed that 35.7% of participants had PA, with higher rates linked to male sex and ACE inhibitors/ARBs use, while higher hemoglobin levels were associated with a lower likelihood of PA.
- * Additionally, older age and higher alkaline phosphatase levels increased the odds of having a moderate eGFR (60-90), while higher blood pressure and blood urea nitrogen increased the odds of lower
Article Synopsis
- The study introduces endoPRS, a new weighted lasso model aimed at enhancing polygenic risk score (PRS) predictions for complex diseases by incorporating endophenotype data.
- Unlike existing multi-trait PRS methods, endoPRS accounts for vertical pleiotropy, where one trait mediates the effects of another, without relying on specific genetic assumptions.
- Simulation results and case studies, such as predicting childhood asthma risk using eosinophil count data from the UK Biobank, show that endoPRS significantly outperforms other PRS methods, highlighting its potential for improved clinical applications.
Article Synopsis
- This study explores how genetic variation and environmental factors influence metabolic pathways and disease risks in Hispanic/Latino individuals, particularly focusing on their distinct ancestries.
- Researchers analyzed 640 metabolites in a large cohort, identifying significant associations between specific metabolites and ancestry-derived genomic regions using advanced mass spectrometry techniques.
- Key discoveries include finding that Native American and African ancestry regions are linked to the quantity of certain metabolites, which could have implications for understanding common diseases affecting these populations.
Article Synopsis
- Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a key metric for assessing kidney function and identifying chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly among Hispanic/Latino populations, where disease prevalence can vary.
- The study evaluates the effectiveness of polygenic risk scores (PRS) for eGFR prediction by comparing methods like clumping and thresholding (C&T) and PRS-CS using data from diverse ancestry groups in Hispanic/Latino individuals.
- Results indicate that all eGFR PRSs were strongly linked to kidney function, with combined PRSs showing the highest accuracy in predicting lower risks of CKD, confirmed by replication in another dataset from the Women's Health Initiative.
Article Synopsis
- Burn patients experience severe immune and metabolic challenges, especially when accompanied by inhalation injuries, which increase the risk of death by 20%.
- A study used advanced technology to analyze gene expression in blood samples from 36 burn patients and 12 healthy controls, focusing on 1342 genes linked to immune and metabolic functions.
- Key signaling pathways, including mTOR, PPARγ, TLR, and NF-kB, were significantly affected in patients, and specific genes showed strong correlations with patient characteristics like BMI, length of hospital stay, and mortality risk, suggesting potential for new biomarkers and treatment strategies.
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluated human volunteers' sputum PMN responses after exposure to wood smoke particles at 6 and 24 hours to identify individuals for future inflammation mitigation studies.
- Results indicated that responders at 6 hours were often the same at 24 hours, but significant inflammatory markers like IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 increased notably at 24 hours.
- The research concluded that the 24-hour data is more useful for understanding airway inflammation, highlighting the roles of GSTM1 genotype and asthma status in influencing PMN response to wood smoke exposure.
Article Synopsis
- Cancer treatment vaccines using neoantigens, which are specific peptides from tumor cell mutations, show promise in boosting the immune response against cancer.
- A key method for selecting effective neoantigens involves predicting which ones are displayed by human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) on cell surfaces using a neural network trained on mass spectrometry data.
- The study successfully identified immunogenic neoantigens in melanoma patients and showed a link between neoantigen levels and immune system activity, indicating these could potentially trigger a strong immune response.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers analyzed blood samples from burn patients and healthy controls to identify genetic markers linked to clinical outcomes, discovering 149 genes with significant expression differences.
- * Notable findings included increased expression of certain immune-related genes associated with worse outcomes, such as infection and mortality, with specific gene ratios enhancing the prediction of these outcomes.
Objective: Mucociliary clearance sustains a baseline functionality and an "on demand" capability to upregulate clearance upon irritant exposure involving mucus hypersecretion and accelerated ciliary beat frequency (CBF) modulated by nitric oxide (NO). This study characterized these elements as well as cellular and exogenous NO concentrations subsequent to a single exposure to tobacco smoke (TS) or e-cigarette vapor (EV) on cultured human airway epithelium.
Materials And Methods: Air-liquid interface (ALI) airway epithelial cultures per nonsmoking human subjects were subjected to single TS or EV exposures.