Category: Early Stage

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune joint-debilitating disease caused by genetic and environmental factors and affects more than 1 million Americans today. Studies have characterized several mechanisms for RA onset, identifying cytokines like IL-1, IL-2, and IL-6, as well as different receptors, as important in guiding the degrading cellular interactions in the articular microenvironment. […]

Introduction: Our study will assess myocardial inflammation in individuals with dysfunctional lipid metabolism using a novel non-invasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging approach. Fatty acid (FA) translocase CD36 regulates myocardial FA uptake, remodeling and inflammation. CD36 deletion in rodents associates with atrioventricular block and bradycardia; and risk of sudden death following prolonged fasting. In humans, […]

Introduction: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a life-threatening degenerative vascular disease without any effective medical therapy or imaging approach to predict the risk of rupture. AAAs occur later in life and are especially prevalent in men over the age of 65, but are more likely to rupture in women. Previously, we evaluated the efficiency of […]

Introduction: Loiasis related post-ivermectin (IVM) adverse events (AEs) hinder lymphatic filariasis (LF)/onchocerciasis elimination in co-endemic areas. Findings from LF suggest that post-IVM AEs might be the result of immune responses to filarial or Wolbachia antigens released by dying microfilariae (Mf). The aim of this study was to determine whether IVM treatment of loiasis, devoid of […]

Introduction: Endometriosis, a complex and common gynecological disorder affecting 5-10% of reproductive-age women, is characterized by the growth of endometrial tissues outside of the uterine cavity. About 176 million women worldwide suffer from endometriosis. The current diagnostic process is laparoscopy, which is a risk-associated and costly invasive procedure. On average it takes 10 years to […]

Introduction: Micro- and macrovascular anastomoses involve suturing together of blood vessels, which is a critical foundational surgical skill. However, it is costly, time-consuming, and prone to complications. Our team has created a unique anastomotic device, Vaso-Lock, as a sutureless coupler. Vaso-Lock is intraluminal, holding free vascular ends together with traction by anchors. In terms of […]

Introduction: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a devastating neurological disease with no approved treatment or cure. One common cause of FTD is heterozygous loss-of-function GRN mutations, which result in progranulin haploinsufficiency. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are emerging as a promising therapeutic modality for neurological diseases, but ASO-based strategies for increasing target protein levels are limited. Several microRNAs […]

Introduction: Transferrin (Tf) is the primary iron binding protein in serum. It has two homologous lobes, N and C, that can each bind one iron molecule. Thus, Tf exists in four forms, apo-, monoferric N, monoferric C and holo-Tf. At physiologic Tf saturations, the monoferric Tfs are the predominant forms. Using mice genetically engineered to […]

Introduction: Current therapeutics for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a heritable connective tissue disorder characterized by skeletal fragility and impaired bone cell function, are limited to bisphosphonates. Soluble activin receptor type IIB (sActRIIB) decoy molecules, which bind transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) ligands, including myostatin and activin A, have increased skeletal bone properties in murine models of OI, […]

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint disease that affects 50+ million American adults. Current treatment options are not optimal. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a promising option. However, when PRP is delivered intra-articularly, it is rapidly cleared from the joint, diminishing treatment efficacy. We hypothesize that a delivery vehicle that can sustain PRP release will […]