Publications by authors named "Rachael Massey"

Article Synopsis
  • - Excess gene dosage from chromosome 21 is linked to Down syndrome, affecting both development and acute health issues, but it’s unclear which issues can still be addressed after development is complete.
  • - Researchers created trisomy 21 (T21) human stem cells to study how silencing one chromosome 21 copy affects cell development, finding that this silencing is effective and irreversible in stem cells.
  • - Inducing chr21 dosage correction before neural progenitor development helps prevent an imbalance in cell type differentiation, and importantly, the correction can be activated even in fully developed neurons and astrocytes, allowing for further investigation of specific Down syndrome traits that could still be treated.
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Purpose: This study was designed to determine if DMO limits in vitro development of aneuploid-enriched mouse embryos by activating a Trp53-dependent mechanism.

Methods: Mouse cleavage-stage embryos were treated with reversine to induce aneuploidy or vehicle to generate controls, and then cultured in media supplemented with DMO to reduce the pH of the culture media. Embryo morphology was assessed by phase microscopy.

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Modeling the developmental etiology of viable human aneuploidy can be challenging in rodents due to syntenic boundaries, or primate-specific biology. In humans, monosomy-X (45,X) causes Turner syndrome (TS), altering craniofacial, skeletal, endocrine, and cardiovascular development, which in contrast remain unaffected in 39,X-mice. To learn how human monosomy-X may impact early embryonic development, we turned to human 45,X and isogenic euploid induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from male and female mosaic donors.

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Background: Around 1 in 150 babies are stillborn or die in the first month of life in the UK. Most women conceive again, and subsequent pregnancies are often characterised by feelings of stress and anxiety, persisting beyond the birth. Psychological distress increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes and longer-term parenting difficulties.

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Background: Rapid developments in technology have encouraged the use of mobile phones in smoking cessation, promoting healthy diet, nutrition, and physical activity, sun safety, and cancer screening. Although many apps relating to the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases are available from major mobile phone platforms, relatively few have been tested in research studies to determine their efficacy.

Objective: In this paper, we discuss issues related to the development and testing of new apps for preventing cancer through smoking cessation, sun safety, and other healthy behaviors, including key methodologic issues and outstanding challenges.

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