Publications by authors named "deSouza E"

Classic galactosemia is an inborn error of metabolism caused by mutations in the GALT gene resulting in the diminished activity of the galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase enzyme. This reduced GALT activity leads to the buildup of the toxic intermediate galactose-1-phosphate and a decrease in ATP levels upon exposure to galactose. In this work, we focused our attention on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in the context of this metabolic disorder.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cellular response to redox imbalance is crucial for organismal health. microRNAs are implicated in stress responses. ALG-1, the C.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aim of this study is to report the updated 2-year results of the intervention arm of the ROBUST III randomized trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Optilume drug-coated balloon (DCB) versus standard endoscopic management of recurrent male anterior urethral stricture.

Materials And Methods: Eligible patients included men with recurrent anterior urethral stricture ≤3 cm in length and ≤12Fr in diameter, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) ≥11 and peak flow rate (Qmax) <15 mL/s. Patients were randomized to treatment with the Optilume DCB or standard-of-care endoscopic management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ageing is a malleable process influenced by the environment. Recent research reveals that neurons interact with peripheral organs to regulate metabolism and longevity by responding to olfactory cues through specific pathways, such as the unfolded protein response (UPR) and microRNAs. Here, we examine the significance of these findings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Emerging research shows that RNA transport between cells is an important signaling mechanism in mammals and is also present in the nematode C. elegans via the systemic RNA interference (RNAi) pathway.
  • Mutations in the SID-1 protein, which is crucial for RNA uptake, do not negatively impact C. elegans health, but overexpressing SID-1 in specific tissues leads to a shorter lifespan due to dysregulated RNA signaling.
  • The study identifies the need for balanced systemic RNA signaling, coining the term Intercellular/Extracellular Systemic RNA imbalance (InExS) to describe how imbalances can significantly affect longevity in organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ageing is a complex and multifactorial process. For two decades, the Human Ageing Genomic Resources (HAGR) have aided researchers in the study of various aspects of ageing and its manipulation. Here, we present the key features and recent enhancements of these resources, focusing on its six main databases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Animals rely on chemosensory cues to survive in pathogen-rich environments. In Caenorhabditis elegans, pathogenic bacteria trigger aversive behaviors through neuronal perception and activate molecular defenses throughout the animal. This suggests that neurons can coordinate the activation of organism-wide defensive responses upon pathogen perception.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

During aging, animals experience a decline in proteostasis activity, including loss of stress-response activation, culminating in the accumulation of misfolded proteins and toxic aggregates, which are causal in the onset of some chronic diseases. Finding genetic and pharmaceutical treatments that can increase organismal proteostasis and lengthen life is an ongoing goal of current research. The regulation of stress responses by cell non-autonomous mechanisms appears to be a potent way to impact organismal healthspan.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The proteome of a cell helps to define its functional specialization. Most proteins must be translated and properly folded to ensure their biological function, but with aging, animals lose their ability to maintain a correctly folded proteome. This leads to the accumulation of protein aggregates, decreased stress resistance, and the onset of age-related disorders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Classic galactosemia is an inborn error of metabolism caused by deleterious mutations on the GALT gene, which encodes the Leloir pathway enzyme galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase. Previous studies have shown that the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response (UPR) is relevant to galactosemia, but the molecular mechanism behind the endoplasmic reticulum stress that triggers this response remains elusive. In the present work, we show that the activation of the UPR in yeast models of galactosemia does not depend on the binding of unfolded proteins to the ER stress sensor protein Ire1p since the protein domain responsible for unfolded protein binding to Ire1p is not necessary for UPR activation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The Optilume® drug-coated balloon (DCB) is a urethral dilation balloon with a paclitaxel coating that combines mechanical dilation for immediate symptomatic relief with local drug delivery to maintain urethral patency. The ROBUST III study is a randomized, single-blind trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Optilume DCB against endoscopic management of recurrent anterior urethral strictures.

Materials And Methods: Eligible patients were adult males with anterior strictures ≤12Fr in diameter and ≤3 cm in length, at least 2 prior endoscopic treatments, International Prostate Symptom Score ≥11 and maximum flow rate <15 ml per second.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Preprint usage is growing rapidly in the life sciences; however, questions remain on the relative quality of preprints when compared to published articles. An objective dimension of quality that is readily measurable is completeness of reporting, as transparency can improve the reader's ability to independently interpret data and reproduce findings.

Methods: In this observational study, we initially compared independent samples of articles published in bioRxiv and in PubMed-indexed journals in 2016 using a quality of reporting questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the presence of galactose, lithium ions activate the unfolded protein response (UPR) by inhibiting phosphoglucomutase activity and causing the accumulation of galactose-related metabolites, including galactose-1-phosphate. These metabolites also accumulate in humans who have the disease classic galactosemia. Here, we demonstrate that yeast strains harboring a deletion of , a gene encoding a partner of Cdc48p in the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway, exhibit delayed UPR activation after lithium and galactose exposure because the deletion decreases galactose-1-phosphate levels.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Dietary restriction (DR) improves health and prolongs lifespan in part by upregulating type III endoribonuclease DICER in adipose tissue. In this study, we aimed to specifically test which missing dietary component was responsible for DICER upregulation.

Methods: We performed a nutrient screen in mouse preadipocytes and validated the results in vivo using different kinds of dietary interventions in wild type or genetically modified mice and worms, also testing the requirement of DICER on the effects of the diets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

RNA interference (RNAi) is a valuable technique to determine gene function. In Caenorhabditis elegans, RNAi can be achieved by feeding worms bacteria carrying a plasmid expressing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting a gene of interest. The most commonly used plasmid vector for this purpose is L4440.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Evidence indicating Prostatic Urethral Lift (PUL) delivers significant improvement in symptomatic BPH with low morbidity is based on subjects with lateral lobe (LL) enlargement only. MedLift was an FDA IDE extension of the L.I.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rib fractures represent up to 55 per cent of thoracic blunt traumatic injuries and lead to significant mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study is to determine whether not only number but also the location of rib fractures can be used to risk stratify patients. This is a retrospective study of all blunt trauma patients who presented with rib fractures from January 1, 2013 to April 1, 2015 and underwent chest CT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alterations in microRNA (miRNA) processing have been previously linked to aging. Here we used the small molecule enoxacin to pharmacologically interfere with miRNA biogenesis and study how it affects aging in C. elegans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aging is a major worldwide medical challenge. Not surprisingly, identifying drugs and compounds that extend lifespan in model organisms is a growing research area. Here, we present DrugAge (http://genomics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Figure-Of-Merit (FOM) performance, a combination of detection limit and dose, is compared between two generations of handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers for the feasibility of in vivo XRF measurement of arsenic (As) in skin. The Olympus InnovX Delta model analyzer (40 kVp using either 37 or 17μA) was found to show improvements in Minimum Detection Limit (MDL) using arsenic As-doped skin calibration phantoms with bulk tissue backing, when compared to the first generation InnovX Alpha model (40kVp, 20μA) in 120s measurements. Differences between two different definitions of MDL are discussed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF