Publications by authors named "N I Lenchik"

Retinal degenerative diseases lead to irreversible vision loss due to photoreceptor cell death, driven by complex genetic and environmental factors. Ceramide, a sphingolipid metabolite, emerges as a critical mediator in the apoptotic cascade associated with retinal degeneration. Our previous work demonstrated L-Cycloserine's ability to protect photoreceptor-derived cells from oxidative stress by inhibiting the de novo ceramide pathway and thus prompting further investigation on its effect in the in vivo retina.

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During type 1 diabetes (T1D) progression, beta cells become dysfunctional and exhibit reduced first-phase insulin release. While this period of beta cell dysfunction is well established, its cause and underlying mechanism remain unknown. To address this knowledge gap, live human pancreas tissue slices were prepared from autoantibody-negative organ donors without diabetes (ND), donors positive for one or more islet autoantibodies (AAb+), and donors with T1D within 0-4 years of diagnosis (T1D+).

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Vesicating chemicals like sulfur mustard (SM) or nitrogen mustard (NM) can cause devastating damage to the eyes, skin, and lungs. Eyes, being the most sensitive, have complicated pathologies that can manifest immediately after exposure (acute) and last for years (chronic). No FDA-approved drug is available to be used as medical counter measures (MCMs) against such injuries.

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Hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes associates with changes in the pancreatic islet α cells, where the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is highly expressed. This study compared islet RAGE expression in donors without diabetes, those at risk of, and those with type 1 diabetes. Laser-dissected islets were subject to RNA bioinformatics and adjacent pancreatic tissue were assessed by confocal microscopy.

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Aims/hypothesis: The Diabetes Virus Detection (DiViD) study has suggested the presence of low-grade enteroviral infection in pancreatic tissue collected from six of six live adult patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The present study aimed to compare the gene and protein expression of selected virally induced pathogen recognition receptors and interferon stimulated genes in islets from these newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (DiViD) subjects vs age-matched non-diabetic (ND) controls.

Methods: RNA was extracted from laser-captured islets and Affymetrix Human Gene 2.

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