Publications by authors named "Shaza Khan"

Article Synopsis
  • The cortical thick ascending limb (CTAL) of the kidney was first characterized by Maurice Burg in 1973, revealing its role in actively reabsorbing NaCl while having low water permeability, allowing it to produce dilute urine during high water intake.
  • In the 1980s, Greger and Schlatter identified the specific membrane transport processes for NaCl, which were further characterized at the molecular level by various researchers in the 1990s using cDNA cloning and advancements in genome sequencing.
  • By the 2010s, mathematical models were developed to explore CTAL transport mechanisms, leading to investigations into Burg's 'static head' phenomenon, the adaptation of short CTALs in juxtamedullary nephrons,
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  • * This study explores how NHERF1 expression influences miRNA levels and gene regulation, particularly regarding fibrosis and cytokine production in aging kidneys.
  • * The results reveal that NHERF1 knockout mice show significant decreases in certain miRNAs and increases in cytokines, indicating that NHERF1 loss alters miRNA-mediated regulation of cytokine expression through pathways involving NFAT transcription factors.
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Vasopressin controls water permeability in the renal collecting duct by regulating the water channel protein, aquaporin-2 (AQP2). Phosphoproteomic studies have identified multiple proteins that undergo phosphorylation changes in response to vasopressin. The kinases responsible for the phosphorylation of most of these sites have not been identified.

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  • Tolvaptan is a medication that works as a vasopressin antagonist primarily used for treating hyponatremia and autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), and its effects on kidney cells are being studied.
  • Recent RNA-sequencing revealed that tolvaptan decreases the expression of certain mRNAs, like aquaporin-2, typically increased by vasopressin, while also indicating unexpected actions, including activation of the MAPK pathway (ERK1/ERK2).
  • The study found that tolvaptan increases ERK1/ERK2 activation in the presence of vasopressin, and this effect is dependent on protein kinase A (
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Background And Aims: Cholesterol crystals (CCs) have been found to be critical in the evolution and progression of atherosclerotic plaque leading up to rupture. This includes triggering inflammation and mechanically traumatizing the plaque and surrounding tissues. Thus, inhibition of crystal formation and degrading the crystals could be an important therapeutic approach in the prevention of cardiovascular events.

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Systems biology can be defined as the study of a biological process in which all of the relevant components are investigated together in parallel to discover the mechanism. Although the approach is not new, it has come to the forefront as a result of genome sequencing projects completed in the first few years of the current century. It has elements of large-scale data acquisition (chiefly next-generation sequencing-based methods and protein mass spectrometry) and large-scale data analysis (big data integration and Bayesian modeling).

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Biofilm matrix formation is a phenotype linked to the ability to survive a hostile host environment that includes the presence of antimicrobial peptides and serum factors. Multiple hormones and other host derived factors have been shown to function as exogenous quorum signaling compound homologs that inform microbes of their in situ presence, thus triggering a shift from a planktonic to the sessile biofilm phenotype. The focus of this review is to describe the impact various host-derived factors have on the initial steps required for biofilm formation, i.

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