Publications by authors named "Peckham M"

CT-guided C1-C2 facet joint injections are a valuable tool for managing cervicogenic headaches caused by degenerative and inflammatory conditions of the atlantoaxial joint. This video article presents the procedural technique for a CT-guided C1-C2 facet joint injection in a patient with left-sided cervicogenic headache. Despite concerns regarding potential complications such as vascular injury to the vertebral artery and nerve injury to the C2 dorsal root ganglion, careful anatomic planning and imaging guidance allows safe and effective treatment.

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Biallelic mutations in multiple EGF domain protein 10 (MEGF10) gene cause EMARDD (early myopathy, areflexia, respiratory distress and dysphagia) in humans, a severe recessive myopathy, associated with reduced numbers of PAX7 positive satellite cells. To better understand the role of MEGF10 in satellite cells, we overexpressed human MEGF10 in mouse H-2k-tsA58 myoblasts and found that it inhibited fusion. Addition of purified extracellular domains of human MEGF10, with (ECD) or without (EGF) the N-terminal EMI domain to H-2k-tsA58 myoblasts, showed that the ECD was more effective at reducing myoblast adhesion and fusion by day 7 of differentiation, yet promoted adhesion of myoblasts to non-adhesive surfaces, highlighting the importance of the EMI domain in these behaviours.

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  • The chapter explains the process of expressing and purifying myosin, a type of cytoskeletal molecular motor, using an insect cell system.
  • It details methods for characterizing the quality of the purified myosin through techniques like mass photometry and negative-stain electron microscopy (EM).
  • Lastly, it describes how to conduct in vitro assays to observe how fluorescently labeled myosin moves along actin tracks and mentions adapting these assays for MINFLUX imaging.
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  • Facets synovial cysts (FSCs) are benign growths from facet joints that can lead to nerve pain, and this study explored the effectiveness of CT-guided procedures for their treatment, comparing IPCR and DF methods.
  • The retrospective review examined 90 FSC rupture attempts on 75 patients over 10 years, revealing that IPCR alone had a 70% success rate, but when combined with DF after IPCR failure, the success rate rose to 90.6%.
  • The study concluded that having the option to use DF after IPCR failure significantly improves treatment outcomes, highlighting the advantages of using CT guidance for these procedures.
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Cortical formins, pivotal for the assembly of linear actin filaments beneath the membrane, exert only minor effects on unconfined cell migration of weakly and moderately adherent cells. However, their impact on migration and mechanostability of highly adherent cells remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that loss of cortical actin filaments generated by the formins mDia1 and mDia3 drastically compromises cell migration and mechanics in highly adherent fibroblasts.

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Myosin 5a (Myo5a) is a dimeric processive motor protein that transports cellular cargos along filamentous actin (F-actin). Its long lever is responsible for its large power-stroke, step size, and load-bearing ability. Little is known about the levers' structure and physical properties, and how they contribute to walking mechanics.

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Lipid nanoparticles have important applications as biomedical delivery platforms and broader engineering biology applications in artificial cell technologies. These emerging technologies often require changes in the shape and topology of biological or biomimetic membranes. Here we show that topologically-active lyotropic liquid crystal nanoparticles (LCNPs) can trigger such transformations in the membranes of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs).

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Background And Purpose: Low back pain commonly causes disability, often managed with conservative image-guided interventions before surgery. Research has documented racial disparities with these and other non-pharmacologic treatments. We posited that individual chart reviews may provide insight into the disparity of care types through documented patient/provider discussions and their effect on treatment plans.

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Single Molecule Localisation Microscopy (SMLM) is becoming a widely used technique in cell biology. After processing the images, the molecular localisations are typically stored in a table as xy (or xyz) coordinates, with additional information, such as number of photons, etc. This set of coordinates can be used to generate an image to visualise the molecular distribution, for example, a 2D or 3D histogram of localisations.

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Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) are crucial techniques for studying cardiac physiology and disease. The accuracy of these techniques is dependent on various aspects of sample preparation and processing. However, standardised protocols for sample preparation of tissues, particularly for fresh-frozen human left ventricle (LV) tissue, have yet to be established and could potentially lead to differences in staining and interpretation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study looked at why some patients with low back pain (LBP) get certain treatments and others don’t, focusing on factors like where they live and their personal backgrounds.
  • It found that people from poorer neighborhoods and some groups, like women and those without insurance, were less likely to get treatments for LBP.
  • The conclusion was that a person's neighborhood and personal details, like their sex and financial situation, affect the kind of medical care they receive for low back pain.
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Kinesin-1 is a microtubule motor that transports cellular cargo along microtubules. KIF5A is one of three kinesin-1 isoforms in humans, all of which are autoinhibited by an interaction between the motor and an IAK motif in the proximal region of the C-terminal tail. The C-terminal tail of KIF5A is ∼80 residues longer than the other two kinesin-1 isoforms (KIF5B and KIF5C) and it is unclear if it contributes to autoinhibition.

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  • * Participants included 3,804 individuals aged 1 to 30 years post-injury, who completed a Pain Survey about 8 years after their injury.
  • * Results showed that individuals with current chronic pain faced significantly worse psychosocial outcomes, such as higher levels of PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and lower life satisfaction and community participation, compared to those with no pain or resolved past pain.
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  • The study assesses chronic pain prevalence in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), finding that about 60% experience chronic pain at some point.
  • It compares three groups: those with current chronic pain, past chronic pain, and no chronic pain, noting that current pain is associated with worse functional outcomes.
  • The results highlight the need for more effective pain management and the inclusion of pain metrics in future research related to TBI.
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Dr. Anne G. Osborn is renowned for her pioneering contributions to neuroradiology and is internationally recognized in shaping the field and is widely acknowledged as a trailblazer and educator.

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Non-muscle myosin 2A (NM2A), a widely expressed class 2 myosin, is important for organizing actin filaments in cells. It cycles between a compact inactive 10S state in which its regulatory light chain (RLC) is dephosphorylated and a filamentous state in which the myosin heads interact with actin, and the RLC is phosphorylated. Over 170 missense mutations in MYH9, the gene that encodes the NM2A heavy chain, have been described.

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Single-molecule localisation microscopy (SMLM) has the potential to reveal the underlying organisation of specific molecules within supramolecular complexes and their conformations, which is not possible with conventional microscope resolution. However, the detection efficiency for fluorescent molecules in cells can be limited in SMLM, even to below 1% in thick and dense samples. Segmentation of individual complexes can also be challenging.

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Myosin heavy chains encoded by MYH7 and MYH2 are abundant in human skeletal muscle and important for muscle contraction. However, it is unclear how mutations in these genes disrupt myosin structure and function leading to skeletal muscle myopathies termed myosinopathies. Here, we used multiple approaches to analyze the effects of common MYH7 and MYH2 mutations in the light meromyosin (LMM) region of myosin.

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Objective: There is considerable variability among radiologists when grading spinal canal and foraminal stenosis on MRI. However, to date, studies have not evaluated radiologists' agreement when assessing interval change in cervical spine stenoses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate radiologists' concordance for change in cervical spine stenoses on follow-up MRIs, a major indication for these exams.

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Two prominent concepts for the sensing of shear stress by endothelium are the PIEZO1 channel as a mediator of mechanically activated calcium ion entry and the PECAM1 cell adhesion molecule as the apex of a triad with CDH5 and VGFR2. Here, we investigated if there is a relationship. By inserting a non-disruptive tag in native PIEZO1 of mice, we reveal in situ overlap of PIEZO1 with PECAM1.

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Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a common form of heart failure. Determining how this disease affects the structure and organization of cardiomyocytes in the human heart is important in understanding how the heart becomes less effective at contraction. Here we isolated and characterised Affimers (small non-antibody binding proteins) to Z-disc proteins ACTN2 (α-actinin-2), ZASP (also known as LIM domain binding protein 3 or LDB3) and the N-terminal region of the giant protein titin (TTN Z1-Z2).

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Article Synopsis
  • A growing variety of image-guided spine interventions are offering quick and effective pain relief, but the rapid introduction of these new techniques often outpaces the research that supports their efficacy.
  • The article discusses controversies surrounding four types of interventions—postdural puncture headache treatments, epidural steroid injections for nerve pain, facet and sacroiliac joint pain interventions, and vertebral augmentations for fractures—highlighting the mixed acceptance of clinical trial results due to differing methodologies.
  • Despite ongoing debates over these treatments, there is optimism for the development of effective solutions that could help alleviate various debilitating spinal conditions.
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