Publications by authors named "Parham Diba"

Article Synopsis
  • Metastatic progression in cancers worsens survival rates and complicates treatment, prompting the development of an mRNA therapy aimed at inhibiting metastasis by targeting activin A, a key factor in metastasis and cachexia.
  • This therapy uses follistatin mRNA lipid nanoparticles to effectively reduce activin A levels, resulting in lowered tumor burden and less metastatic spread in a mouse model of head and neck cancer.
  • Treated mice showed less metastatic occurrence, preserved muscle and fat tissue, and a good safety profile, suggesting the therapy could be widely applicable across different cancers due to the common overexpression of activin A.
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Hypothalamic inflammation often coincides with cancer and cachexia-anorexia. Prior work established the significance of tumor-derived inflammatory factors in triggering hypothalamic inflammation, yet the precise mechanisms remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), produced in the tumor via cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), plays a pivotal role in this context.

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Tumor immune resistance is recognized as a contributor to low survivorship in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We developed a novel murine model of spontaneous PDAC clearance, generated by overexpressing interleukin-6 (IL-6) in orthotopically implanted PDAC cancer cells (OT-PDAC). Circulating IL-6 was 100-fold higher in OT-PDAC than in OT-PDAC mice.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) and highlights the need for early detection, suggesting biomarkers like GDF15 and LCN2 could be valuable in this context.
  • Analysis of circulating levels of GDF15 and LCN2 in PDAC patients showed higher concentrations compared to healthy controls and those with benign diseases, with GDF15 linked to disease progression and mortality.
  • Findings indicate that GDF15 is a promising biomarker for early detection and prognosis of PDAC, while LCN2 could enhance diagnostic accuracy when combined with GDF15 or CA19-9.
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mRNA therapeutics encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) offer promising avenues for treating various diseases. While mRNA vaccines anticipate immunogenicity, the associated reactogenicity of mRNA-loaded LNPs poses significant challenges, especially in protein replacement therapies requiring multiple administrations, leading to adverse effects and suboptimal therapeutic outcomes. Historically, research has primarily focused on the reactogenicity of mRNA cargo, leaving the role of LNPs understudied in this context.

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Objectives: Growth factor receptor bound protein 7 (GRB7) is a multidomain signaling adaptor. Members of the Grb7/10/14 family, specifically Gbrb10/14, have important roles in metabolism. We ablated the Grb7 gene in mice to examine its metabolic function.

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Proteoglycans containing link domains modify the extracellular matrix (ECM) to regulate cellular homeostasis and can also sensitize tissues/organs to injury and stress. Hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) injury disrupts cellular homeostasis by activating inflammation and attenuating regeneration and repair pathways. In the brain, the main component of the ECM is the glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid (HA), but whether HA modifications of the ECM regulate cellular homeostasis and response to H-I injury is not known.

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Cancer cachexia, characterized by muscle wasting and widespread inflammation, poses a significant challenge for patients with cancer, profoundly impacting both their quality of life and treatment management. However, existing treatment modalities remain very limited, accentuating the necessity for innovative therapeutic interventions. Many recent studies demonstrated that changes in autonomic balance is a key driver of cancer cachexia.

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In biomedical applications, nanomaterial-based delivery vehicles, such as lipid nanoparticles, have emerged as promising instruments for improving the solubility, stability, and encapsulation of various payloads. This article provides a formal review focusing on the reactogenicity of empty lipid nanoparticles used as delivery vehicles, specifically emphasizing their application in mRNA-based therapies. Reactogenicity refers to the adverse immune responses triggered by xenobiotics, including administered lipid nanoparticles, which can lead to undesirable therapeutic outcomes.

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Gynecological malignancies are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality across the globe. Due to delayed presentation, gynecological cancer patients are often referred late in the disease's course, resulting in poor outcomes. A considerable number of patients ultimately succumb to chemotherapy-resistant disease, which reoccurs at advanced stages despite treatment interventions.

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This study presents the first messenger RNA (mRNA) therapy for metastatic ovarian cancer and cachexia-induced muscle wasting based on lipid nanoparticles that deliver follistatin (FST) mRNA predominantly to cancer clusters following intraperitoneal administration. The secreted FST protein, endogenously synthesized from delivered mRNA, efficiently reduces elevated activin A levels associated with aggressive ovarian cancer and associated cachexia. By altering the cancer cell phenotype, mRNA treatment prevents malignant ascites, delays cancer progression, induces the formation of solid tumors, and preserves muscle mass in cancer-bearing mice by inhibiting negative regulators of muscle mass.

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Nearly half of cancer patients suffer from cachexia, a metabolic syndrome characterized by progressive atrophy of fat and lean body mass. This state of excess catabolism decreases quality of life, ability to tolerate treatment and eventual survival, yet no effective therapies exist. Although the central nervous system (CNS) orchestrates several manifestations of cachexia, the precise mechanisms of neural dysfunction during cachexia are still being unveiled.

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Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) is a pleiotropic molecule that is induced in the central nervous system (CNS) in several acute and chronic pathologies. The acute induction of LCN2 evolved as a beneficial process, aimed at combating bacterial infection through the sequestration of iron from pathogens, while the role of LCN2 during chronic, non-infectious disease remains unclear, and recent studies suggest that LCN2 is neurotoxic. However, whether LCN2 is sufficient to induce behavioral and cognitive alterations remains unclear.

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Intestinal tract development is a coordinated process involving signaling among the progenitors and developing cells from all three germ layers. Development of endoderm-derived intestinal epithelium has been shown to depend on epigenetic modifications, but whether that is also the case for intestinal tract cell types from other germ layers remains unclear. We found that functional loss of a DNA methylation machinery component, ubiquitin-like protein containing PHD and RING finger domains 1 (uhrf1), leads to reduced numbers of ectoderm-derived enteric neurons and severe disruption of mesoderm-derived intestinal smooth muscle.

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Fishes of the genus Danio exhibit diverse pigment patterns that serve as useful models for understanding the genes and cell behaviors underlying the evolution of adult form. Among these species, zebrafish D. rerio exhibit several dark stripes of melanophores with sparse iridophores that alternate with light interstripes of dense iridophores and xanthophores.

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Cerebral white matter injury (WMI) persistently disrupts myelin regeneration by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). We identified a specific bioactive hyaluronan fragment (bHAf) that downregulates myelin gene expression and chronically blocks OPC maturation and myelination via a tolerance-like mechanism that dysregulates pro-myelination signaling via AKT. Desensitization of AKT occurs via TLR4 but not TLR2 or CD44.

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