Publications by authors named "Peter Fam"

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) generate differentiated mature oligodendrocytes (MOs) during development. In adult brain, OPCs replenish MOs in adaptive plasticity, neurodegenerative disorders, and after trauma. The ability of OPCs to differentiate to MOs decreases with age and is compromised in disease.

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Introduction: Molecular responses in the brains of persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the earliest transitional state between normal aging and early Alzheimer's disease (AD), are poorly understood.

Methods: We examined AD-related neuropathology and transcriptome changes in the neocortex of individuals with MCI relative to controls and temporal responses to the mild hypoxia in mouse brains.

Results: Subsets of vascular early response to hypoxia genes were upregulated in MCI prior to the buildup of AD neuropathology.

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Objectives: Although controversial, there is increasing concern that Crohn's disease may be a zoonotic infectious disease consequent to a mycobacterial infection. The most plausible candidate is M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) that is unequivocally responsible for Johne's disease in ruminants.

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Oligodendrocyte (OLG)-related abnormalities have been broadly observed in schizophrenia (SZ); however, the etiology of these abnormalities remains unknown. As SZ is broadly believed to be a developmental disorder, the etiology of the myelin abnormalities in SZ may be related to OLG fate specification during development. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are an important part of multifaceted transcriptional complexes participating in neurogenic commitment and regulation of postmitotic cell function.

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Objectives: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes Johne's disease in ruminants. The "gold standard" of MAP detection is by culture, DNA sequencing possibly supplemented by identification of Ziehl-Neelsen positive mycobacteria. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a proprietary (Affymetrix™ RNA view) fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) assay for MAP RNA.

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Genetic, neuroimaging, and gene expression studies suggest a role for oligodendrocyte (OLG) dysfunction in schizophrenia (SZ). Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a risk gene for major psychiatric disorders, including SZ. Overexpression of mutant truncated (hDISC1), but not full-length sequence of human DISC1 in forebrain influenced OLG differentiation and proliferation of glial progenitors in the developing cerebral cortex concurrently with reduction of OLG progenitor markers in the hindbrain.

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Introduction: The objective of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) risk variant, neuropathological lesions, alterations in gene and protein expression, and the severity of neuroinflammation.

Methods: The genetic association study of the R47 H TREM2 variant with Alzheimer's disease (AD), neuropathology, and changes in TREM2 and TYRO protein tyrosine kinase-binding protein (TYROBP) gene and protein expression, and neuroinflammatory markers.

Results: The TREM2 variant is associated with: (i) AD (odds ratio: 4.

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Background: Increasing evidence suggests an association between neuronal cell cycle (CCL) events and the processes that underlie neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Elevated levels of oxidative stress markers and mitochondrial dysfunction are also among early events in AD. Recent studies have reported the role of CCL checkpoint proteins and tumor suppressors, such as ATM and p53 in the control of glycolysis and oxidative metabolism in cancer, but their involvement in AD remains uncertain.

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Recent evidence shows that despite high incidence of dementia in the very old, they exhibit significantly lower levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology relative to younger persons with dementia. The levels and distributions of some synaptic proteins have been found to be associated with dementia severity, even in the oldest-old, but the molecular and functional nature of these deficits have not been studied in detail. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship of dementia with gene and protein expression of a panel of synaptic markers associated with different synaptic functions in young-, middle-, and oldest-old individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • Calcium-saturated calmodulin (CaM) is crucial in cells for binding various target proteins in calcium-dependent signaling pathways but often causes issues for calcium biosensors due to unwanted interactions with other proteins.
  • To enhance CaM-based sensors, researchers aimed to create modified CaM and target protein pairs that maintain their affinity but do not react with the native CaM and its usual partners.
  • By using computational design methods and experimental analysis, they successfully identified specific mutations in both CaM and a peptide (M13) that allowed for unique binding, achieving similar affinity to the original complex while reducing cross-reactivity.
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We describe a family of calcium indicators for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), formed by combining a powerful iron oxide nanoparticle-based contrast mechanism with the versatile calcium-sensing protein calmodulin and its targets. Calcium-dependent protein-protein interactions drive particle clustering and produce up to 5-fold changes in T2 relaxivity, an indication of the sensors' potency. A variant based on conjugates of wild-type calmodulin and the peptide M13 reports concentration changes near 1 microM Ca(2+), suitable for detection of elevated intracellular calcium levels.

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