Glottal Insufficiency and Parkinson's Disease: A Scoping Review of Vocal Fold Medialization Procedures.

Objectives/hypothesis: Vocal impairments are early and debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Glottal insufficiency is a contributor to PD-related dysphonia. Vocal fold injection laryngoplasty (IL) and medialization thyroplasty (MT) are well-established techniques used to restore glottal closure for a range of causes.

High-dose methylprednisolone mediates YAP/TAZ-TEAD in vocal fold fibroblasts with macrophages.

The pro-fibrotic effects of glucocorticoids may lead to a suboptimal therapeutic response for vocal fold (VF) pathology. Targeting macrophage-fibroblast interactions is an interesting therapeutic strategy; macrophages alter their phenotype to mediate both inflammation and fibrosis. In the current study, we investigated concentration-dependent effects of methylprednisolone on the fibrotic response, with an emphasis on YAP/TAZ-TEAD signaling, and inflammatory gene expression in VF fibroblasts in physical contact with macrophages.

Determinants that enable disordered protein assembly into discrete condensed phases.

Cells harbour numerous mesoscale membraneless compartments that house specific biochemical processes and perform distinct cellular functions. These protein- and RNA-rich bodies are thought to form through multivalent interactions among proteins and nucleic acids, resulting in demixing via liquid-liquid phase separation. Proteins harbouring intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) predominate in membraneless organelles.

MED19 encodes two unique protein isoforms that confer prostate cancer growth under low androgen through distinct gene expression programs.

MED19, a component of the mediator complex and a co-regulator of the androgen receptor (AR), is pivotal in prostate cancer cell proliferation. MED19 has two isoforms: a full-length "canonical" and a shorter "alternative" variant. Specific antibodies were developed to investigate these isoforms.

Acute Effects of Systemic Glucocorticoids on the Vocal Folds in a Pre-Clinical Model.

Objectives/hypothesis: Systemic glucocorticoids (GC)s are employed to treat various voice disorders. However, GCs have varying pharmacodynamic properties with adverse effects ranging from changes in epithelial integrity, skeletal muscle catabolism, and altered body weight. We sought to characterize the acute temporal effects of systemic dexamethasone and methylprednisolone on vocal fold (VF) epithelial glucocorticoid receptor (GR) nuclear translocation, epithelial tight junction (ZO-1) expression, thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle fiber morphology, and body weight using an established pre-clinical model.