Unlabelled: The gut microbiota influences systemic immunity and the function of distal tissues, including the brain, liver, skin, lung, and muscle. However, the role of the gut microbiota in the foreign body response (FBR) and fibrosis around medical implants is largely unexplored. To investigate this connection, we perturbed the homeostasis of the murine gut microbiota via enterotoxigenic (ETBF) infection and implanted the synthetic polymer polycaprolactone (PCL) into a distal muscle injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent clinical trials of drugs enhancing cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling for cardiovascular diseases have renewed interest in cGMP biology within the kidney. However, the role of cGMP signaling in glomerular endothelial cells (GECs) and podocytes remains largely unexplored. Using acute kidney slices from mice expressing the FRET-based cGMP biosensor cGi500 in endothelial cells or podocytes enabled real-time visualization of cGMP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients consistently rate cancer-related fatigue (CrF) as the most prevalent and debilitating symptom. CrF is an important but often neglected patient concern, partly due to barriers to implementing evidence-based interventions. This study explored what an ideal intervention for CrF would look like from the perspectives of different stakeholders and the barriers to its implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years functional multiphoton (MP) imaging of vital mouse tissues and stimulation emission depletion (STED) imaging of optically cleared tissues allowed new insights into kidney biology. Here, we present a novel workflow where MP imaging of calcium signals can be combined with super-resolved STED imaging for morphological analysis of the slit diaphragm (SD) within the same glomerulus. Mice expressing the calcium indicator GCaMP3 in podocytes served as healthy controls or were challenged with two different doses of nephrotoxic serum (NTS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF