Rapid and Robust Identification of Sepsis Using SeptiCyte RAPID in a Heterogeneous Patient Population.

SeptiCyte RAPID is a transcriptional host response assay that discriminates between sepsis and non-infectious systemic inflammation (SIRS) with a one-hour turnaround time. The overall performance of this test in a cohort of 419 patients has recently been described [Balk et al., J Clin Med 2024, 13, 1194].

Discovery and Quantitative Dissection of Cytokinesis Mechanisms Using Dictyostelium discoideum.

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a versatile model for understanding many different cellular processes involving cell motility including chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and cytokinesis. Cytokinesis, in particular, is a model cell-shaped change process in which a cell separates into two daughter cells. D.

Validation of SeptiCyte RAPID to Discriminate Sepsis from Non-Infectious Systemic Inflammation.

(1) SeptiCyte RAPID is a molecular test for discriminating sepsis from non-infectious systemic inflammation, and for estimating sepsis probabilities. The objective of this study was the clinical validation of SeptiCyte RAPID, based on testing retrospectively banked and prospectively collected patient samples. (2) The cartridge-based SeptiCyte RAPID test accepts a PAXgene blood RNA sample and provides sample-to-answer processing in ~1 h.

Epigenetic Reprogramming Drives Epithelial Disruption in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a major public health challenge that contributes greatly to mortality and morbidity worldwide. Although it has long been recognized that the epithelium is altered in COPD, there has been little focus on targeting it to modify the disease course. Therefore, mechanisms that disrupt epithelial cell function in patients with COPD are poorly understood.

Cigarette smoke-induced injury induces distinct sex-specific transcriptional signatures in mice tracheal epithelial cells.

The airway epithelial barrier is crucial for defending against respiratory insults and diseases. Disruption of epithelial integrity contributes to respiratory diseases, and sex-specific differences in susceptibility and severity have been observed. However, sex-specific differences in the context of respiratory diseases are often overlooked, especially in murine models.

SARS-CoV-2 infection alters mitochondrial and cytoskeletal function in human respiratory epithelial cells mediated by expression of spike protein.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, SCV2), which has resulted in higher morbidity and mortality rate than other respiratory viral infections, such as Influenza A virus (IAV) infection. Investigating the molecular mechanisms of SCV2-host infection vs IAV is vital in exploring antiviral drug targets against SCV2. We assessed differential gene expression in human nasal cells upon SCV2 or IAV infection using RNA sequencing.

Aqp5 mice exhibit reduced maximal body O consumption under cold exposure, normal pulmonary gas exchange, and impaired formation of brown adipose tissue.

The fundamental body functions that determine maximal O uptake (V̇o) have not been studied in Aqp5 mice (aquaporin 5, AQP5). We measured V̇o to globally assess these functions and then investigated why it was found altered in Aqp5 mice. V̇o was measured by the Helox technique, which elicits maximal metabolic rate by intense cold exposure of the animals.

Loss of E-cadherin is causal to pathologic changes in chronic lung disease.

Epithelial cells line the lung mucosal surface and are the first line of defense against toxic exposures to environmental insults, and their integrity is critical to lung health. An early finding in the lung epithelium of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the loss of a key component of the adherens junction protein called E-cadherin. The cause of this decrease is not known and could be due to luminal insults or structural changes in the small airways.

HDAC6 inhibitor ACY-1083 shows lung epithelial protective features in COPD.

Airway epithelial damage is a common feature in respiratory diseases such as COPD and has been suggested to drive inflammation and progression of disease. These features manifest as remodeling and destruction of lung epithelial characteristics including loss of small airways which contributes to chronic airway inflammation. Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) has been shown to play a role in epithelial function and dysregulation, such as in cilia disassembly, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and oxidative stress responses, and has been implicated in several diseases.

Epithelial plasticity in COPD results in cellular unjamming due to an increase in polymerized actin.

The airway epithelium is subjected to insults such as cigarette smoke (CS), a primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and serves as an excellent model to study cell plasticity. Here, we show that both CS-exposed and COPD-patient derived epithelia (CHBE) display quantitative evidence of cellular plasticity, with loss of specialized apical features and a transcriptional profile suggestive of partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (pEMT), albeit with distinct cell motion indicative of cellular unjamming. These injured/diseased cells have an increased fraction of polymerized actin, due to loss of the actin-severing protein cofilin-1.

Human microphysiological models of airway and alveolar epithelia.

Human organ-on-a-chip models are powerful tools for preclinical research that can be used to study the mechanisms of disease and evaluate new targets for therapeutic intervention. Lung-on-a-chip models have been one of the most well-characterized designs in this field and can be altered to evaluate various types of respiratory disease and to assess treatment candidates prior to clinical testing. These systems are capable of overcoming the flaws of conventional two-dimensional (2-D) cell culture and in vivo animal testing due to their ability to accurately recapitulate the in vivo microenvironment of human tissue with tunable material properties, microfluidic integration, delivery of precise mechanical and biochemical cues, and designs with organ-specific architecture.

Adenine nucleotide translocase regulates airway epithelial metabolism, surface hydration and ciliary function.

Airway hydration and ciliary function are critical to airway homeostasis and dysregulated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is impacted by cigarette smoking and has no therapeutic options. We utilized a high-copy cDNA library genetic selection approach in the amoeba to identify genetic protectors to cigarette smoke. Members of the mitochondrial ADP/ATP transporter family adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) are protective against cigarette smoke in and human bronchial epithelial cells.

Why new biology must be uncovered to advance therapeutic strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by the destruction of alveolar tissue (in emphysema) and airway remodeling (leading to chronic bronchitis), which cause difficulties in breathing. It is a growing public health concern with few therapeutic options that can reverse disease progression or mortality. This is in part because current treatments mainly focus on ameliorating symptoms induced by inflammatory pathways as opposed to curing disease.

Effect of sub-chronic exposure to cigarette smoke, electronic cigarette and waterpipe on human lung epithelial barrier function.

Background: Taking into consideration a recent surge of a lung injury condition associated with electronic cigarette use, we devised an in vitro model of sub-chronic exposure of human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) in air-liquid interface, to determine deterioration of epithelial cell barrier from sub-chronic exposure to cigarette smoke (CS), e-cigarette aerosol (EC), and tobacco waterpipe exposures (TW).

Methods: Products analyzed include commercially available e-liquid, with 0% or 1.2% concentration of nicotine, tobacco blend (shisha), and reference-grade cigarette (3R4F).

Disruption of Sinonasal Epithelial Nrf2 Enhances Susceptibility to Rhinosinusitis in a Mouse Model.

Objectives/hypothesis: Oxidative stress has been postulated to play an important role in chronic rhinosinusitis. Nrf2 is a transcription factor that is involved in the regulation of multiple antioxidant genes, and its function has been previously shown to be important in sinonasal inflammation. Although the sinonasal implications of whole body Nrf2 has been reported, the function of sinonasal epithelial expression of Nrf2 has not been studied.

Strong correlation between air-liquid interface cultures and in vivo transcriptomics of nasal brush biopsy.

Air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures are ex vivo models that are used extensively to study the epithelium of patients with chronic respiratory diseases. However, the in vitro conditions impose a milieu different from that encountered in the patient in vivo, and the degree to which this alters gene expression remains unclear. In this study we employed RNA sequencing to compare the transcriptome of fresh brushings of nasal epithelial cells with that of ALI-cultured epithelial cells from the same patients.

Compartmentalization of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory gene expression in current and former smokers with COPD.

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have high oxidative stress associated with the severity of the disease. Nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2)-directed stress response plays a critical role in the protection of lung cells to oxidative stress by upregulating antioxidant genes in response to tobacco smoke. There is a critical gap in our knowledge about Nrf-2 regulated genes in active smokers and former-smokers with COPD in different cell types from of lungs and surrogate peripheral tissues.

A Device for measuring the in-situ response of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells to airborne environmental agents.

Measuring the time evolution of response of Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells to aerosols is essential for understanding the pathogenesis of airway disease. This study introduces a novel Real-Time Examination of Cell Exposure (RTECE) system, which enables direct in situ assessment of functional responses of the cell culture during and following exposure to environmental agents. Included are cell morphology, migration, and specialised responses, such as ciliary beat frequency (CBF).

Physician agreement on the diagnosis of sepsis in the intensive care unit: estimation of concordance and analysis of underlying factors in a multicenter cohort.

Background: Differentiating sepsis from the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in critical care patients is challenging, especially before serious organ damage is evident, and with variable clinical presentations of patients and variable training and experience of attending physicians. Our objective was to describe and quantify physician agreement in diagnosing SIRS or sepsis in critical care patients as a function of available clinical information, infection site, and hospital setting.

Methods: We conducted a post hoc analysis of previously collected data from a prospective, observational trial ( = 249 subjects) in intensive care units at seven US hospitals, in which physicians at different stages of patient care were asked to make diagnostic calls of either SIRS, sepsis, or indeterminate, based on varying amounts of available clinical information (clinicaltrials.

Anemia and Adverse Outcomes in a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Population with a High Burden of Comorbidities. An Analysis from SPIROMICS.

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of morbidity and associated with a significant burden of comorbidities. Although anemia is associated with adverse outcomes in COPD, its contribution to outcomes in individuals with other comorbid chronic diseases is not well understood.

Objectives: This study examines the association of anemia with outcomes in a large, well-characterized COPD cohort, and attempts to understand the contribution of anemia to outcomes and phenotypes in individuals with other comorbidities.

Precision medicine in COPD: where are we and where do we need to go?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading cause of death worldwide in 2015. Current treatments for patients ease discomfort and help decrease disease progression; however, none improve lung function or change mortality. COPD is heterogeneous in its molecular and clinical presentation, making it difficult to understand disease aetiology and define robust therapeutic strategies.

Validation of a Host Response Assay, SeptiCyte LAB, for Discriminating Sepsis from Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome in the ICU.

Rationale: A molecular test to distinguish between sepsis and systemic inflammation of noninfectious etiology could potentially have clinical utility.

Objectives: This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of a molecular host response assay (SeptiCyte LAB) designed to distinguish between sepsis and noninfectious systemic inflammation in critically ill adults.

Methods: The study employed a prospective, observational, noninterventional design and recruited a heterogeneous cohort of adult critical care patients from seven sites in the United States (n = 249).