In this study, we synthesized a series of 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone (3,4-HPO) chelators with varying lipophilicity by modifying the length of their alkyl chains. To investigate their interaction with lipid membranes, we employed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy using dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) liposomes as membrane model systems. DSC experiments on DMPC liposomes revealed that hexyl-substituted chelators significantly altered the thermotropic phase behavior of the lipid bilayer, indicating their potential as membrane property modulators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurotropic alphaviruses such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) are critical human pathogens that continually expand to naïve populations and for which there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics. VEEV is highly infectious via the aerosol route and is a recognized weaponizable biothreat that causes neurological disease in humans. The neuropathology of VEEV has been attributed to an inflammatory immune response in the brain yet the underlying mechanisms and specific immune cell populations involved are not fully elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever, is a lung disease caused by inhalation of fungi, prevalent in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. Annually, the United States reports 10,000-20,000 cases, although those numbers are expected to increase as climate change expands the fungal geographic range. While 60% of infections are asymptomatic, 40% symptomatic infections are often misdiagnosed due to similarities with bronchitis or pneumonia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Patients with advanced lung cancer (LC) face significant physical, psychological, and functional challenges, increasing their reliance on caregivers for practical and emotional support. This study evaluates the efficacy of CareSTEPS (Self-Care, Stress management, Symptom management, Effective communication, Problem-solving, and Social support), a 6-week telephone-delivered intervention designed to improve psychological functioning (depression and anxiety symptoms) and reduce caregiver burden among family caregivers of patients with advanced LC.
Methods: In this multisite, open-label, parallel-group randomized controlled trial, 174 caregivers (74.