A5083796118- Extracellular vesicles in disease
- Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
- MicroRNA in disease regulation
- Reproductive System and Pregnancy
- COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
- Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies
- Birth, Development, and Health
- Hippo pathway signaling and YAP/TAZ
- Circular RNAs in diseases
- Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Parvovirus B19 Infection Studies
- Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Pancreatic function and diabetes
- Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies
- Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
- Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
- Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
- Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Prenatal Screening and Diagnostics
- Electronic Packaging and Soldering Technologies
University of Pittsburgh
2014-2024
Magee-Womens Research Institute
2014-2024
Bellingham Technical College
2014
Stanford University
2006-2011
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center
2006-2008
VA Palo Alto Health Care System
2006-2007
Queen's Medical Center
1998-1999
Lund University
1994
Significance We have developed a unique, integrated, on-chip technology that is capable of isolating exosomes or other types extracellular vesicles, directly from undiluted whole-blood samples in an automated fashion. Automated exosome isolation enables biohazard containment, short processing time, reproducible results with little human intervention, and convenient integration downstream analysis units. Our method integrating acoustics microfluidics leads to the high purity yield. With its...
Mutations in Pink1, a gene encoding Ser/Thr kinase with mitochondrial-targeting signal, are associated Parkinson's disease (PD), the most common movement disorder characterized by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons. The mechanism which Pink1 leads to neurodegeneration is not understood. Here we show that inhibition Drosophila (dPink1) function results energy depletion, shortened lifespan, and degeneration select indirect flight muscles muscle pathology was preceded mitochondrial...
Mitochondria form dynamic tubular networks that undergo frequent morphological changes through fission and fusion, the imbalance of which can affect cell survival in general impact synaptic transmission plasticity neurons particular. Some core components mitochondrial fission/fusion machinery, including dynamin-like GTPases Drp1, Mitofusin, Opa1, Drp1-interacting protein Fis1, have been identified. How fusion processes are regulated under normal conditions extent to defects involved various...
Placental trophoblasts form the interface between fetal and maternal environments serve to limit maternal–fetal spread of viruses. Here we show that cultured primary human placental are highly resistant infection by a number viruses and, importantly, confer this resistance nonplacental recipient cells exosome-mediated delivery specific microRNAs (miRNAs). We miRNA members chromosome 19 cluster, which almost exclusively expressed in placenta, packaged within trophoblast-derived exosomes...
Acoustofluidic centrifugation enables the spinning of a fluidic droplet and nanoparticle enrichment separation.
Although preeclampsia is a common and serious complication of pregnancy, insight into its pathobiology diagnosis lacking. Circulating plasma exosomes, which contain RNA other molecules have recently become accessible for diagnostics, may be informative in this regard. We tested the hypothesis that affect miRNA cargo within circulating maternal blood exosomes. collected from 60 pregnant women at term, including 20 with pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction healthy...
Extracellular vesicles and lipoprotein contents are separated based on their acoustic constrast factors.
Pregnant women worldwide have been affected by COVID-19. As the virus is commonly spread to various organs via bloodstream and because human placental trophoblasts are directly bathed in maternal blood, feto-placental infection SARS-CoV-2 seems likely.
Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as promising biomarkers for the noninvasive diagnosis of various diseases. However, challenges in separating EVs from soluble proteins resulted variable EV recovery rates and low purities. Here, we report a high-yield ( > 90%) rapid < 10 min) isolation method called FL occulation via O rbital A coustic T rapping (FLOAT). The FLOAT approach utilizes an acoustofluidic droplet centrifuge to rotate controllably heat liquid...
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected people at all ages. Whereas pregnant women seemed to have a worse course of than age-matched non-pregnant women, the risk feto-placental infection is low. Using cohort 66 COVID-19-positive in late pregnancy, we correlated clinical parameters with severity, placental histopathology, and expression viral entry Interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) antiviral transcripts. All newborns were negative for SARS-CoV-2. None demographic or...
ABSTRACT Ferroptosis is a regulated, non-apoptotic form of cell death, characterized by hydroxy-peroxidation discrete phospholipid hydroperoxides, particularly hydroperoxyl (Hp) forms arachidonoyl- and adrenoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine, with downstream cascade oxidative damage to membrane lipids, proteins DNA, culminating in death. We recently showed that human trophoblasts are sensitive ferroptosis caused depletion or inhibition glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) the lipase PLA2G6. Here, we...
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly appreciated as a mechanism of communication among cells that contribute to many physiological processes. Although EVs can promote either antiviral or proviral effects during viral infections, the role in virus-associated polymicrobial infections remains poorly defined. We report secreted from airway epithelial respiratory infection secondary bacterial growth, including biofilm biogenesis, by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Respiratory syncytial virus...
ABSTRACT Pregnancy is a unique situation, in which placenta‐derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) may communicate with maternal and foetal tissues. While relevant to homoeostatic pathological functions, the mechanisms underlying sEV entry cargo handling target cells remain largely unknown. Using fluorescently or luminescently labelled sEVs, derived from primary human placental trophoblasts cell line, we interrogated endocytic pathways used by these sEVs enter cells, including...
Drosophila neuroblasts have served as a model to understand how the balance of stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation is achieved. Numb protein regulates this process through its preferential segregation into differentiating daughter cell. How restricts proliferation and potentials recipient remains enigmatic. Here, we show that phosphorylation at conserved sites tumor suppressor activity Numb. Enforced expression phospho-mimetic form (Numb-TS4D) or genetic manipulation boosts...