Publications by authors named "William J Chen"

Histoplasmosis is a chronic, infectious disease caused by the environmental fungus , primarily affecting the respiratory system. In immunocompromised patients, histoplasmosis can become severely complicated due to dissemination into various other organ systems. Adrenal insufficiency is an uncommon complication of disseminated histoplasmosis, as its manifestation requires necrotizing granulomatous inflammation of both adrenal glands.

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Biliary intraepithelial neoplasia (BilIN) is a precursor lesion of cholangiocarcinoma that has been rarely reported. The present study reports a 56-year-old male with low-grade BilIN of the bile ducts and the cystic duct margin. Stent exchange endoscopy demonstrated an irregular, intraductal mass extending along the common bile duct, common hepatic duct, and hepatic duct bifurcation.

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Iron progressively accumulates with age and can be further exacerbated by dietary iron intake, genetic factors, and repeated blood transfusions. While iron plays a vital role in various physiological processes within the human body, its accumulation contributes to cellular aging in several species. In its free form, iron can initiate the formation of free radicals at a cellular level and contribute to systemic disorders.

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Iron accumulation is frequently associated with chronic liver diseases. However, our knowledge on how iron contributes to the liver injury is limited. Aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a hallmark of several hepatic pathologies.

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Adult neurogenesis, arising from quiescent radial-glia-like neural stem cells (RGLs), occurs throughout life in the dentate gyrus. How neural stem cells are maintained throughout development to sustain adult mammalian neurogenesis is not well understood. Here, we show that milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor (EGF) 8 (Mfge8), a known phagocytosis factor, is highly enriched in quiescent RGLs in the dentate gyrus.

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Human umbilical tissue-derived cells (hUTC or palucorcel) are currently under clinical investigation for the treatment of geographic atrophy, a late stage of macular degeneration, but how hUTC transplantation mediates vision recovery is not fully elucidated. Subretinal administration of hUTC preserves visual function in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat, a genetic model of retinal degeneration caused by loss of function. hUTC secrete synaptogenic and neurotrophic factors that improve the health and connectivity of the neural retina.

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