Publications by authors named "V P A Johnstone"
Article Synopsis
- There's a need for treatments to prevent hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and a mouse model shows that a specific genetic mutation (Gly203Ser) leads to increased mitochondrial activity before heart problems develop.*
- Researchers tested a peptide (AID-TAT) that targets a calcium channel in the heart to see if it could restore normal mitochondrial function and prevent HCM in early-stage mice.*
- Results showed that AID-TAT treatment improved metabolic activity and heart structure in pre-cardiomyopathic mice but not in those with established disease, suggesting it could be a safe preventative therapy for patients with the Gly203Ser mutation.*
Current clinical trials demonstrate Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients receiving phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) therapy exhibit improved ambulation and stable pulmonary function; however, cardiac abnormalities remain. Utilizing the same PMO chemistry as current clinical trials, we have identified a non-toxic PMO treatment regimen that restores metabolic activity and prevents DMD cardiomyopathy. We propose that a treatment regimen of this nature may have the potential to significantly improve morbidity and mortality from DMD by improving ambulation, stabilizing pulmonary function, and preventing the development of cardiomyopathy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to examine how risks and benefits of cervical spine manipulation (CSM) were framed and discussed in the context of mentorship and their impact on the perception of safe practice of CSM in clinical physiotherapy settings. A multi-method qualitative approach was employed, including a document analysis of established educational guidelines, observations of mentoring sessions, and individual face-to-face interviews with five mentees in the process of learning CSM, and four mentors with Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (OMPT) certification. Results demonstrated that participants' clinical decision-making processes to perform CSM were primarily oriented to the mitigation of risk.
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- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes complex changes in the brain that are challenging to treat, but progesterone (P4) has shown promise as a neuroprotective treatment in animal studies.
- The research examined how P4 affects the ability of sensory cortex to process temporal information in both the short-term (4 days) and long-term (8 weeks) after TBI, revealing that P4 improves sensory response profiles but has different effects depending on the brain's condition.
- The findings suggest that P4 might enhance sensory processing recovery after TBI, supporting its potential as a therapeutic option despite mixed clinical results so far.
Mitochondrial gene expression is essential for energy production; however, an understanding of how it can influence physiology and metabolism is lacking. Several proteins from the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) family are essential for the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression, but the functions of the remaining members of this family are poorly understood. We created knockout mice to investigate the role of the PPR domain 1 (PTCD1) protein and show that loss of PTCD1 is embryonic lethal, whereas haploinsufficient, heterozygous mice develop age-induced obesity.
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