Publications by authors named "R-M D Mao"

Lysosomal diseases (LDs) are a heterogeneous group of rare genetic disorders that result in impaired lysosomal function, leading to progressive multiorgan system dysfunction. Accurate diagnosis is paramount to initiating targeted therapies early in the disease process in addition to providing prognostic information and appropriate support for families. In recent years, genomic sequencing technologies have become the first-line approach in the diagnosis of LDs.

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Introduction: Diseases caused by lysosomal dysfunction often exhibit multisystemic involvement, resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. Ensuring accurate diagnoses for individuals with lysosomal diseases (LD) is of great importance, especially with the increasing prominence of genetic testing as a primary diagnostic method. As the list of genes associated with LD continues to expand due to the use of more comprehensive tests such as exome and genome sequencing, it is imperative to understand the clinical validity of the genes, as well as identify appropriate genes for inclusion in multi-gene testing and sequencing panels.

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  • - The increase in Crohn disease (CD) cases, especially with urbanization and globalization, is more related to environmental factors rather than genetics, suggesting changes in lifestyle impact gut health.
  • - The SOURCE study examined diet, microbiome, and genetic expression among newly diagnosed CD patients and controls from rural and urban settings in China and Israel to uncover links between lifestyle changes and CD.
  • - Findings reveal that time spent in urban environments alters gut bacteria and metabolites in rural residents, with specific dietary factors like coffee and vitamin D showing potential protective roles against CD-related changes.
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  • Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to symptoms like parkinsonism and ataxia, but its genetic causes are not well understood and treatment options are limited to supportive care.
  • A comprehensive study involving the whole genome sequencing of nearly 900 MSA patients and over 7,000 controls discovered four key genetic risk factors associated with the disease.
  • The research identified potential susceptibility genes and provided insights into how genetic variations influence gene expression in brain cells, offering a valuable resource for further studies on similar diseases.
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Background: Platinum-based chemotherapy is the recommended adjuvant treatment for patients with resectable, -positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data on the efficacy and safety of adjuvant alectinib as compared with chemotherapy in patients with resected -positive NSCLC are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a global, phase 3, open-label, randomized trial in which patients with completely resected, -positive NSCLC of stage IB (tumors ≥4 cm), II, or IIIA (as classified according to the seventh edition of the of the American Joint Committee on Cancer and Union for International Cancer Control) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive oral alectinib (600 mg twice daily) for 24 months or intravenous platinum-based chemotherapy in four 21-day cycles.

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Cabotegravir is an integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) for HIV treatment and prevention. Cabotegravir-based long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) presents an emerging paradigm for infectious disease control. In this scheme, a combination of a high efficacy and low solubility of anti-infection drugs permits the establishment of a pharmaceutical firewall in HIV-vulnerable groups over a long period.

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Background: Oral antiviral drugs with improved antiviral potency and safety are needed to address current challenges in clinical practice for treatment of COVID-19, including the risks of rebound, drug-drug interactions, and emerging resistance.

Methods: Olgotrelvir (STI-1558) is designed as a next-generation antiviral targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M), an essential enzyme for SARS-CoV-2 replication, and human cathepsin L (CTSL), a key enzyme for SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells.

Findings: Olgotrelvir is a highly bioavailable oral prodrug that is converted in plasma to its active form, AC1115.

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  • ZTTK syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by loss-of-function variants in the SON gene, leading to abnormal RNA splicing and various neurological issues, including seizures and EEG abnormalities.
  • The study involved a patient with ZTTK syndrome who also experienced hemiplegic migraines, enabling researchers to observe the brain's response through MRI and EEG during episodes.
  • Results indicated that knockdown of the SON gene significantly reduced mRNA levels associated with hemiplegic migraine and caused splicing defects that prevented the production of a critical protein, suggesting a possible link between ZTTK syndrome and hemiplegic migraines.
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Background: Hemoglobin concentration and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) ischemic lesions are separately known to be associated with poor intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) outcomes. While hemoglobin concentrations have known relationships with ischemic stroke, it is unclear whether hemoglobin concentration is associated with DWI ischemic lesions after ICH. We sought to investigate the hypothesis that hemoglobin concentrations would associate with DWI lesions after ICH and further investigated their relationships with clinical outcomes.

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In studies of families with rare disease, it is common to screen for de novo mutations, as well as recessive or dominant variants that explain the phenotype. However, the filtering strategies and software used to prioritize high-confidence variants vary from study to study. In an effort to establish recommendations for rare disease research, we explore effective guidelines for variant (SNP and INDEL) filtering and report the expected number of candidates for de novo dominant, recessive, and autosomal dominant modes of inheritance.

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T-cell-redirecting bispecific antibodies have emerged as a new class of therapeutic agents designed to simultaneously bind to T cells via CD3 and to tumor cells via tumor-cell-specific antigens (TSA), inducing T-cell-mediated killing of tumor cells. The promising preclinical and clinical efficacy of TSAxCD3 antibodies is often accompanied by toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome due to T-cell activation. How the efficacy and toxicity profile of the TSAxCD3 bispecific antibodies depends on the binding affinity to CD3 remains unclear.

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The prognostic power of circulating cardiac biomarkers, their utility, and pattern of release in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have not been clearly defined. In this multicentered retrospective study, we enrolled 3219 patients with diagnosed COVID-19 admitted to 9 hospitals from December 31, 2019 to March 4, 2020, to estimate the associations and prognostic power of circulating cardiac injury markers with the poor outcomes of COVID-19. In the mixed-effects Cox model, after adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities, the adjusted hazard ratio of 28-day mortality for hs-cTnI (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I) was 7.

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Rationale: Use of ACEIs (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors) and ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers) is a major concern for clinicians treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with hypertension.

Objective: To determine the association between in-hospital use of ACEI/ARB and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension and hospitalized due to COVID-19.

Methods And Results: This retrospective, multi-center study included 1128 adult patients with hypertension diagnosed with COVID-19, including 188 taking ACEI/ARB (ACEI/ARB group; median age 64 [interquartile range, 55-68] years; 53.

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DNA methylation serves as a vital component of restriction-modification (R-M) systems in bacteria, where it plays a crucial role in defense against foreign DNA. Recent studies revealed that DNA methylation has a global impact on gene expression. , an ideal model organism for studying DNA repair and genomic stability, possesses unparalleled resistance to DNA-damaging agents such as irradiation and strong oxidation.

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Background: The relative contributions of intraoperative and postoperative hypotension to perioperative morbidity remain unclear. We determined the association between hypotension and a composite of 30-day myocardial infarction and death over three periods: (1) intraoperative, (2) remaining day of surgery, and (3) during the initial four postoperative days.

Methods: This was a substudy of POISE-2, a 10,010-patient factorial-randomized trial of aspirin and clonidine for prevention of myocardial infarction.

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Context And Objective: Intraportal islet transplantation can restore insulin production in type 1 diabetes patients, but its effect is subject to several interfering processes. To assess the influence of β-cell loss before and during engraftment, we searched for a real-time marker of β-cell destruction. Previous studies showed that 65-kDa isoform of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD65) is discharged by chemically damaged rat β-cells.

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Background And Purpose: Applications for noninvasive biologic temperature monitoring are widespread in biomedicine and of particular interest in the context of brain temperature regulation, where traditionally costly and invasive monitoring schemes limit their applicability in many settings. Brain thermal regulation, therefore, remains controversial, motivating the development of noninvasive approaches such as temperature-sensitive nuclear MR phenomena. The purpose of this work was to compare the utility of competing approaches to MR thermometry by using proton resonance frequency chemical shift.

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