Publications by authors named "Michelle L Roberts"

Arterioles are key determinants of the total peripheral vascular resistance, which, in turn, is a key determinant of arterial blood pressure. However, the amount of protein available from one isolated human arteriole may be less than 5 μg, making proteomic analysis challenging. In addition, obtaining human arterioles requires manual dissection of unfrozen clinical specimens.

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Background: Epigenetic marks (eg, DNA methylation) may capture the effect of gene-environment interactions. DNA methylation is involved in blood pressure (BP) regulation and hypertension development; however, no studies have evaluated its relationship with 24-hour BP phenotypes (daytime, nighttime, and 24-hour average BPs).

Methods: We examined the association of whole blood DNA methylation with 24-hour BP phenotypes and clinic BPs in a discovery cohort of 281 Blacks participants using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing.

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Purpose Of Review: Cardiovascular toxicity is a leading cause of mortality among cancer survivors and has become increasingly prevalent due to improved cancer survival rates. In this review, we synthesize evidence illustrating how common cancer therapeutic agents, such as anthracyclines, human epidermal growth factors receptors (HER2) monoclonal antibodies, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), have been evaluated in cardiomyocytes (CMs) derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to understand the underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular toxicity. We place this in the context of precision cardio-oncology, an emerging concept for personalizing the prevention and management of cardiovascular toxicities from cancer therapies, accounting for each individual patient's unique factors.

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The SS (Dahl salt sensitive) rat is an established model of hypertension and renal damage that is accompanied with immune system activation in response to a high-salt diet. Investigations into the effects of sodium-independent and dependent components of the diet were shown to affect the disease phenotype with SS/MCW (JrHsdMcwi) rats maintained on a purified diet (AIN-76A) presenting with a more severe phenotype relative to grain-fed SS/CRL (JrHsdMcwiCrl) rats. Since contributions of the immune system, environment, and diet are documented to alter this phenotype, this present study examined the epigenetic profile of T cells isolated from the periphery and the kidney from these colonies.

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The Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rat is an established model of SS hypertension and renal damage. In addition to salt, other dietary components were shown to be important determinants of hypertension in SS rats. With previous work eliminating the involvement of genetic differences, grain-fed SS rats from Charles River Laboratories (SS/CRL; 5L2F/5L79) were less susceptible to salt-induced hypertension and renal damage compared with purified diet-fed SS rats bred at the Medical College of Wisconsin (SS/MCW; 0.

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Aim: To test whether DNA samples stored for a prolonged period (20 years) under various storage conditions could be used for comparative methylation studies using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing.

Patients & Methods: Five groups of human blood DNA samples (n = 5-6/group) were compared. The groupings were based on the anticoagulant used and storage temperature and duration.

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