Faculty Bibliography

Skin injury is a common occurrence and mechanical forces are known to significantly impact the biological processes of skin regeneration and wound healing. Immediately following the disruption of the skin, the process of wound healing begins, bringing together numerous cell types to collaborate in several sequential phases. These cells produce a multitude of molecules and initiate multiple signaling pathways that are associated with skin disorders and abnormal wound healing, including hypertrophic scars, keloids, and chronic wounds. Studies have shown that mechanical forces can alter the microenvironment of a healing wound, causing changes in cellular function, motility, and signaling. A better understanding of the mechanobiology of cells in the skin is essential in the development of efficacious therapeutics to reduce skin disorders, normalize abnormal wound healing, and minimize scar formation.

Centrosomes break symmetry in the C. elegans one-cell embryo, triggering its anterior-posterior polarization and initiating segregation of somatic and germline cell lineages. In this issue of Developmental Cell, De Henau et al. show that mitochondria also contribute to symmetry breaking by producing hydrogen peroxide at the egg's future posterior pole.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW/OBJECTIVE:Since the first discovery of Angiopoetin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) in 2000, the involvement of ANGPTL4 in different aspects of lipid metabolism and vascular biology has emerged as an important research field. In this review, we summarize the fundamental roles of ANGPTL4 in regulating metabolic and nonmetabolic functions and their implication in lipid metabolism and with several aspects of vascular function and dysfunction. RECENT FINDINGS/RESULTS:ANGPTL4 is a secreted glycoprotein with a physiological role in lipid metabolism and a predominant expression in adipose tissue and liver. ANGPTL4 inhibits the activity of lipoprotein lipase and thereby promotes an increase in circulating triglyceride levels. Therefore, ANGPTL4 has been highly scrutinized as a potential therapeutic target. Further involvement of ANGPTL4 has been shown to occur in tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, vascular permeability and stem cell regulation, which opens new opportunities of using ANGPTL4 as potential therapeutic targets for other pathophysiological conditions. SUMMARY/CONCLUSIONS:Further determination of ANGPTL4 regulatory circuits and defining specific molecular events that mediate its biological effects remain key to future ANGPTL4-based therapeutic applications in different disease settings. Many new and unanticipated roles of ANGPTL4 in the control of cell-specific functions will assist clinicians and researchers in developing potential therapeutic applications.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are one of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants worldwide and recent data show significant impairment of fracture healing after treatment with the SSRI fluoxetine in mice. Here, we provide evidence that the negative effects of SSRIs can be overcome by administration of the beta-blocker propranolol at the time of fracture. First, in vitro experiments established that propranolol does not affect osteogenic differentiation. We then used a murine model of intramembranous ossification to study the potential rescue effect of propranolol on SSRI-induced impaired fracture healing. MicroCT analysis revealed that fluoxetine treatment resulted in a smaller bony regenerate and that this decrease in bone formation can be overcome by co-treatment with propranolol. We then tested this in a clinically relevant model of endochondral ossification. Fluoxetine-treated mice with a femur fracture were treated with propranolol initiated at the time of fracture, and a battery of analyses demonstrated a reversal of the detrimental effect of fluoxetine on fracture healing in response to propranolol treatment. These experiments show for the first time that the negative effects of SSRIs on fracture healing can be overcome by co-treatment with a beta-blocker. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To determine the impact of accelerated telomere shortening on the fertility parameters and treatment outcomes of a woman with dyskeratosis congenita (DKC). METHODS:A case study of the clinical data, blood, discarded oocytes, and arrested embryos of a woman with DKC and donated cryopreserved embryos from unaffected patients. Mean telomere length in blood cells was analyzed by flow cytometry-fluorescence in situ hybridization (flow-FISH) and qPCR. The load of short telomeres in blood cells was measured by universal single telomere length analysis (Universal STELA). The mean telomere length in embryos was analyzed by single-cell amplification of telomere repeats (SCATR) PCR. RESULTS:Comparison of clinical parameters revealed that the DKC patient had reduced anti-Mullerian hormone (0.3 vs 4.1 ± 5.7 ng/ML), reduced oocytes retrieved (7 vs 18.5 ± 9.5), reduced fertilization rate, and reduced euploidy rate relative to unaffected patients. Additionally, mean telomere length in DKC embryos were shorter than unaffected embryos. However, hormone treatment led to increased leukocyte telomere length, while the load of short telomeres was also shown to decrease during the course of treatment. CONCLUSIONS:We demonstrate for the first time the direct detrimental impacts of short telomeres on female fertility. We further demonstrate positive effects of hormone treatments for people with telomere disorders.

Injury to the skin from severe burns can cause debilitating physical and psychosocial distress to the patients. Upon healing, deep dermal burns often result in devastating hypertrophic scar formation. For many decades, stem cell-based therapies have shown significant potential in improving wound healing. However, current cell delivery methods are often insufficient to maintain cell viability in a harmful burn wound environment to promote skin regeneration. In this study, we developed an enhanced approach to deliver adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) for the treatment of burn wounds, using an in-situ-formed hydrogel system comprised of a multifunctional hyperbranched poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (HB-PEGDA) polymer, a commercially available thiol-functionalized hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) and a short RGD peptide. Stable hydrogels with tunable swelling and mechanical properties form within five minutes under physiological conditions via the Michael-type addition reaction. Combining with RGD peptide, as a cell adhesion motif, significantly alters the cellular morphology, enhances cell proliferation, and increases the paracrine activity of angiogenesis and tissue remodeling cytokines. Bioluminescence imaging of luciferase⁺ ASCs indicated that the hydrogel protected the implanted cells from the harmful wound environment in burns. Hydrogel-ASC treatment significantly enhanced neovascularization, accelerated wound closure and reduced the scar formation. Our findings suggest that PEG-HA-RGD-based hydrogel provides an effective niche capable of augmenting the regenerative potential of ASCs and promoting burn wound healing. Statement of Significance Burn injury is one of the most devastating injures, and patients suffer from many complications and post-burn scar formation despite modern therapies. Here, we designed a conformable hydrogel-based stem cell delivery platform that allows rapid in-situ gelation upon contact with wounds. Adipose-derived stem cells were encapsulated into a PEG-HA-RGD hydrogels. Introducing of RGD motif significantly improved the cellular morphology, proliferation, and secretion of angiogenesis and remodeling cytokines. A deep second-degree burn murine model was utilized to evaluate in-vivo cell retention and therapeutic effect of the hydrogel-ASC-based therapy on burn wound healing. Our hydrogel remarkably improved ASCs viability in burn wounds and the hydrogel-ASC treatment enhanced the neovascularization, promoted wound closure, and reduced scar formation.

INTRODUCTION The mechanisms underlying B cell-mediated autoimmune disease and the origin of autoreactive B cells are not well understood. Human monoclonal autoantibodies (mAbs) are valuable tools for investigating both. In this study, we used mAbs derived from patients with the autoimmune disorder, myasthenia gravis (MG). A subset of patients with MG have pathogenic autoantibodies that recognize muscle specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK). The autoantibodies of MuSK MG are predominantly of the IgG4 subclass and functionally monovalent as a result of Fab-arm exchange. OBJECTIVE To gain insight into the origin and development of these unique autoantibodies. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined MG patient-derived mAbs, their corresponding germline-encoded unmutated common ancestors (UCA) and monovalent antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) to investigate how antigen-driven affinity maturation contributes to both binding and immunopathology. Mature mAbs, their UCA counterparts and mature monovalent Fabs bound to the MuSK autoantigen and retained their pathogenic capacity. However, monovalent UCA Fabs, which still bound the autoantigen, lost their pathogenic capacity. The mature Fabs were characterized by very high affinity (sub-nanomolar) driven by a rapid on-rate and slow off-rate. However, the UCA affinity was approximately 100-fold less than the mature Fabs, which was driven by a rapid off-rate. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION These findings indicate that the autoantigen initiates the autoimmune response in MuSK MG and drives autoimmunity through the accumulation of somatic hypermutations such that monovalent IgG4 Fab-arm exchanged MG autoantibodies reach a high affinity threshold required for pathogenic capacity