Mural Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates Lama2 expression to promote neurovascular unit maturation.

Neurovascular unit and barrier maturation rely on vascular basement membrane (vBM) composition. Laminins, a major vBM component, are crucial for these processes, yet the signaling pathway(s) that regulate their expression remain unknown. Here, we show that mural cells have active Wnt/β-catenin signaling during central nervous system development in mice.

Alterations in the kallikrein-kinin system predict death after heart transplant.

Heart transplantation remains the definitive treatment for end stage heart failure. Because availability is limited, risk stratification of candidates is crucial for optimizing both organ allocations and transplant outcomes. Here we utilize proteomics prior to transplant to identify new biomarkers that predict post-transplant survival in a multi-institutional cohort.

A database of pediatric drug effects to evaluate ontogenic mechanisms from child growth and development.

Background: Adverse drug effects (ADEs) in children are common and may result in disability and death, necessitating post-marketing monitoring of their use. Evaluating drug safety is especially challenging in children due to the processes of growth and maturation, which can alter how children respond to treatment. Current drug safety-signal-detection methods do not account for these dynamics.

Pediatric data from the research program: demonstration of pediatric obesity over time.

Objective: To describe and demonstrate use of pediatric data collected by the Research Program.

Materials And Methods: participant physical measurements and electronic health record (EHR) data were analyzed including investigation of trends in childhood obesity and correlation with adult body mass index (BMI).

Results: We identified 19 729 participants with legacy pediatric EHR data including diagnoses, prescriptions, visits, procedures, and measurements gathered since 1980.

Plasma kallikrein predicts primary graft dysfunction after heart transplant.

Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is the leading cause of early mortality after heart transplant. Pre-transplant predictors of PGD remain elusive and its etiology remains unclear.

Methods: Microvesicles were isolated from 88 pre-transplant serum samples and underwent proteomic evaluation using TMT mass spectrometry.

Evaluating risk detection methods to uncover ontogenic-mediated adverse drug effect mechanisms in children.

Background: Identifying adverse drugs effects (ADEs) in children, overall and within pediatric age groups, is essential for preventing disability and death from marketed drugs. At the same time, however, detection is challenging due to dynamic biological processes during growth and maturation, called ontogeny, that alter pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. As a result, methodologies in pediatric drug safety have been limited to event surveillance and have not focused on investigating adverse event mechanisms.

No population left behind: Improving paediatric drug safety using informatics and systems biology.

Adverse drugs effects (ADEs) in children are common and may result in disability and death. The current paediatric drug safety landscape, including clinical trials, is limited as it rarely includes children and relies on extrapolation from adults. Children are not small adults but go through an evolutionarily conserved and physiologically dynamic process of growth and maturation.