Publications by authors named "Praju V Anekal"

Introduction: Early episodic memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is linked to synaptic dysfunction from amyloid β-protein oligomers (oAβ), particularly affecting the dentate gyrus mossy fiber-CA3 pathway. The APP mouse model exhibits early deficits in mossy fiber long-term potentiation (mf-LTP).

Methods: We administered the β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol (ISO) in vivo and phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor GSK356278 in vitro to assess their impact on mf-LTP and contextual fear memory.

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Many aging clocks have recently been developed to predict health outcomes and deconvolve heterogeneity in aging. However, existing clocks are limited by technical constraints, such as low spatial resolution, long processing time, sample destruction, and a bias towards specific aging phenotypes. Therefore, here we present a non-destructive, label-free and subcellular resolution approach for quantifying aging through optically resolving age-dependent changes to the biophysical properties of NAD(P)H in mitochondria through fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of endogenous NAD(P)H fluorescence.

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HIV-1 integration favors nuclear speckle (NS)-proximal chromatin and viral infection induces the formation of capsid-dependent CPSF6 condensates that colocalize with nuclear speckles (NSs). Although CPSF6 displays liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) activity in vitro, the contributions of its different intrinsically disordered regions, which includes a central prion-like domain (PrLD) with capsid binding FG motif and C-terminal mixed-charge domain (MCD), to LLPS activity and to HIV-1 infection remain unclear. Herein, we determined that the PrLD and MCD both contribute to CPSF6 LLPS activity in vitro.

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Article Synopsis
  • Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) used to cause significant outbreaks in humans and horses but has become less virulent over time, raising questions about the reasons for this change and the potential for re-emergence of deadly strains.
  • Researchers identified protocadherin 10 (PCDH10) as a key receptor for WEEV, which ancient strains could bind to, while contemporary strains show reduced binding abilities indicating a shift in the virus’s host adaptation.
  • The study suggests that PCDH10 not only facilitates infection in neurons but also that a soluble form can protect against WEEV, offering insights for future medical treatments and risk assessments of the virus.
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Purpose: Targeting solid tumors with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells remains challenging due to heterogenous target antigen expression, antigen escape, and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Pancreatic cancer is characterized by a thick stroma generated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), which may contribute to the limited efficacy of mesothelin-directed CAR T cells in early-phase clinical trials. To provide a more favorable TME for CAR T cells to target pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we generated T cells with an antimesothelin CAR and a secreted T-cell-engaging molecule (TEAM) that targets CAF through fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and engages T cells through CD3 (termed mesoFAP CAR-TEAM cells).

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Annotation of immunologic gene function in vivo typically requires the generation of knockout mice, which is time consuming and low throughput. We previously developed CHimeric IMmune Editing (CHIME), a CRISPR-Cas9 bone marrow delivery system for constitutive, ubiquitous deletion of single genes. Here we describe X-CHIME, four new CHIME-based systems for modular and rapid interrogation of gene function combinatorially (C-CHIME), inducibly (I-CHIME), lineage-specifically (L-CHIME) or sequentially (S-CHIME).

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  • NUT carcinoma is an aggressive cancer driven by the BRD4-NUT fusion oncoprotein, but treatments using BET bromodomain inhibitors (BETi) alone have limited effectiveness.
  • The study shows that inhibiting EZH2, a protein that silences tumor suppressor genes, with a drug called tazemetostat, effectively blocks the growth of NUT carcinoma cells.
  • Combining EZH2 and BET inhibitors leads to stronger anti-cancer effects, blocking tumor growth and prolonging survival in models, highlighting a new strategy for treating NUT carcinoma based on targeting epigenetic regulation.
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Article Synopsis
  • - NUT carcinoma (NC) is a fast-growing cancer driven by the BRD4-NUT fusion protein, which promotes growth by activating genes; while BET bromodomain inhibitors are a potential treatment, they work better when combined with other therapies.
  • - EZH2, a gene silencing enzyme, is essential for NC growth, and its inhibition using tazemetostat significantly reduces NC cell proliferation and restores tumor suppressor gene expression without affecting certain oncogenes.
  • - Combining EZH2 inhibitors with BET inhibitors enhances the effectiveness of treatment, leading to greater tumor suppression and longer survival in animal models, with some mice even showing complete remission.
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Neuroepithelial crosstalk is critical for gut physiology. However, the mechanisms by which sensory neurons communicate with epithelial cells to mediate gut barrier protection at homeostasis and during inflammation are not well understood. Here, we find that Nav1.

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy has had a transformative effect on the treatment of haematologic malignancies, but it has shown limited efficacy against solid tumours. Solid tumours may have cell-intrinsic resistance mechanisms to CAR T cell cytotoxicity. Here, to systematically identify potential resistance pathways in an unbiased manner, we conducted a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen in glioblastoma, a disease in which CAR T cells have had limited efficacy.

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Traditional neuroanatomy immunohistology studies involve low-content analyses of a few antibodies of interest, typically applied and compared across sequential tissue sections. The efficiency, consistency, and ultimate insights of these studies can be substantially improved using high-plex immunofluorescence labelling on a single tissue section to allow direct comparison of many markers. Here we present an expanded and efficient multiplexed fluorescence-based immunohistochemistry (MP-IHC) approach that improves throughput with sequential labelling of up to 10 antibodies per cycle, with no limitation on the number of cycles, and maintains versatility and accessibility by using readily available commercial reagents and standard epifluorescence microscopy imaging.

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Background And Purpose: Inhibitors of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) are effective radiation sensitisers in preclinical tumours, but little is known about risks of normal tissue radiosensitisation. Here, we evaluate radiosensitisation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells by DNA-PK inhibitor AZD7648 under oxia and anoxia in vitro, and tumour (SCCVII), oral mucosa and small intestine in mice.

Materials And Methods: Radiosensitisation of human (UT-SCC-54C) and murine (SCCVII) HNSCC cells by AZD7648 under oxia and anoxia was evaluated by clonogenic assay.

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Previous commercial studies carried out in New Zealand showed that mechanical shaking significantly reduced the incidence of infection in wine grapes. However, the reasons behind this reduction are not well understood. Here, we employed a metabolomics approach to gain insights into the biochemical changes that occur in grape berries due to mechanical shaking.

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Olfactory dysfunction is an early and prevalent symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the olfactory bulb is a nexus of beta-amyloid plaque and tau neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology during early AD progression. To mitigate the accumulation of misfolded proteins, an endoplasmic reticulum stress response called the unfolded protein response (UPR) occurs in the AD hippocampus. However, chronic UPR activation can lead to apoptosis and the upregulation of beta-amyloid and tau production.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which no cognition-restoring therapies exist. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. Increasing evidence suggests a remodeling of the GABAergic system in AD, which might represent an important therapeutic target.

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In the preterm brain, accumulating evidence suggests toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key mediators of the downstream inflammatory pathways triggered by hypoxia-ischemia (HI), which have the potential to exacerbate or ameliorate injury. Recently we demonstrated that central acute administration of the TLR7 agonist Gardiquimod (GDQ) confers neuroprotection in the preterm fetal sheep at 3 days post-asphyxial recovery. However, it is unknown whether GDQ can afford long-term protection.

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PAK4 is a metazoan-specific kinase acting downstream of Cdc42. Here we describe the structure of human PAK4 in complex with Inka1, a potent endogenous kinase inhibitor. Using single mammalian cells containing crystals 50 μm in length, we have determined the in cellulo crystal structure at 2.

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Cell migration requires dynamic remodeling of the actomyosin network. We report here that an adapter protein, ArgBP2, is a component of α-actinin containing stress fibers and inhibits migration. ArgBP2 is undetectable in many commonly studied cancer-derived cell lines.

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