Johns Hopkins Medicine

Metabolomic profiling reveals distinct and shared biology in COPD and IPF

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) are chronic pulmonary disorders with distinct pathologies but shared risk factors. Metabolomics may provide insights into mechanisms. To identify metabolites associated with COPD and IPF, and to...

Sulforaphane Decreases the Burden of AKT1-Expressing Pre-Neoplastic Cells in a Zebrafish Model of Glioblastoma Initiation

Background: Glioblastoma is a primary aggressive brain tumor, with an average survival rate of ~14.6 months. The low therapeutic benefit of current treatments is in part due to glioblastoma-initiating cells hijacking microglia/macrophages to support tumor growth, prompting the de...

Examining Practice and Payment Gaps in Otolaryngology: Evidence from US Medicare Data

Abstract Objective To assess longitudinal differences in Medicare reimbursement, billing patterns, and service composition among US otolaryngologists. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare fee‐for‐service database...

Characterizing the impact of incorporating spatially aggregated human mobility data into infectious disease models

Abstract Models of infectious disease dynamics should align the spatial scale of mobility data to the scale of travel relevant to infer disease introduction events and subsequent local transmission. Despite this, the biases of spatially aggregating mobility data, which are more c...

SPINK1-COL18A1 crosstalk shapes epigenome and drives cancer stemness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating cancer with an increasing incidence and extremely dismal prognosis. Discovery and mechanistic understanding of the genetic and epigenetic drivers of PDAC is therefore of critical importance. Here, we uncover serine protease...

2-arm-PEG-OligocationsTransiently Shield theLiver Sinusoids to Mitigate Off-Target Hepatic Expression of mRNALipid Nanoparticles

ABSTRACT Ionizable lipid nanoparticles (iLNPs) are powerful platforms for mRNA-based vaccines and immunotherapies; however, their intrinsic liver tropism compromises both safety and efficacy. Off-target hepatic protein expression from delivered mRNA raises safety concerns, and he...

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic sub-study of trans-arterial vs. intravenous gemcitabine in the TIGeR-PaC phase 3 clinical trial

Abstract Purpose Localized intra-arterial delivery of gemcitabine (IAG) may provide advantages in terms of increased tissue concentration and decreased systemic dosing. We hypothesized IAG may result in decreased systemic gemcitabine concentration and associated side effects due...

Insulin-Regulated Actin Dynamics is Disrupted in a Human Keratinocyte Model of Hailey Hailey Disease

Abstract Hailey Hailey Disease (HHD) is an autosomal dominant cutaneous disorder caused by mutations in ATP2C1 , the gene encoding the Golgi/secretory pathway Ca 2+ -ATPase SPCA1. Characterized by suprabasal acantholysis and intertriginous blistering of the skin, HHD treatment fo...

Study protocol for first national vasa previa perinatal registry

Vasa previa is a rare but potentially catastrophic obstetric condition characterized by unprotected fetal blood vessels over or adjacent to the internal cervical os. Although advances in prenatal ultrasound have dramatically improved neonatal survival through planned cesarean del...

Functional Activity of TDP-43: A Direct Biomarker for ALS

TDP-43 dysfunction is a defining feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), yet no biofluid biomarker directly measures its functional activity. We developed a serum-based homogeneous time-resolved FRET (hTR-FRET) assay that quantifies TDP-43 RNA binding activity using synth...

Management Patterns and Outcomes of Vestibular Schwannoma in Older Adults: Assessment of the SEER Database

OBJECTIVE: Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a benign intracranial tumor that is increasingly diagnosed in older adults. The relative contributions of tumor burden and surgical management to overall survival in elderly and very elderly patients remain incompletely characterized at a...

Effectiveness of sexual health interventions in reducing risky sexual behaviors among people living with HIV: a network meta-analysis and systematic review

Abstract Objectives To assess and rank the effectiveness of different sexual health interventions designed to address risky sexual behaviors in PLWH. Methods We systematically searched studies published between Jan. 2010 and Dec. 2024. Randomized controlled trails (RCTs) were inc...

Acceptability and Feasibility of a Primary Care Hypoglycemia Prevention Program: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE Hypoglycemia, a major cause of morbidity for people with diabetes, is underrecognized in primary care, leading to underuse of risk mitigation strategies. This study reports the development and acceptability/feasibility testing of the Hypoglycemia Prevention Program (HPP...

The Shadow of Your Law and the Judge Over Your Shoulder

ABSTRACT Many problems in public policy and delivery which are otherwise difficult to understand, make much more sense when viewed as strategies for the management of legal risk. Civil servants, infrastructure developers and other parties who are subject to the risk of legal revi...

Hypothalamic prolactin receptor+ dopaminergic neurons regulate energy metabolism and nociceptive threshold in mice during lactation

Women during lactation undergo significant bone loss and metabolic changes. However, the underlying mechanisms in the brain remain unclear. Herein, we found that prolactin receptor (PRLR)+ neurons in the hypothalamus control lactation physiology and metabolism in mice. Prolactin...

Single-cell profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in diverse men with prostate cancer reveals a fatal disease-associated immune signature

Abstract Alterations in peripheral immunity may contribute to fatal prostate cancer and the excessive disease burden among African American (AA) men. Thus, we investigated peripheral immunity in prostate cancer patients in association with disease outcome and AA descent. We perfo...

Psychoactive Medication Prescribing After Critical Illness in American Adults Not Justified by a Documented Supporting Diagnosis

Objectives: To describe psychoactive medication (PM) prescribing in the 30 days after an ICU admission requiring mechanical ventilation not supported by a documented diagnosis in American adults not prescribed a PM before ICU admission. This nondiagnostically supported PM prescri...

Nucleosomes and IDRs suppress promiscuous GCN4 binding on minichromosomes

Abstract Eukaryotic sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) must find their cognate DNA targets hidden in genomic chromatin amid an excess of nonspecific sequences and degenerate motifs. Although static TF interactions with nucleosomal targets have been elucidated, how TFs...

Adapting in-cell ELISA to investigate the localization of hepatitis C virus envelope glycoproteins

The development of hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccines remains challenging due to extensive viral genetic diversity and the complex biology of the envelope glycoproteins E1 and E2, which are major targets of broadly neutralizing antibodies and are associated with spontaneous viral c...

Aphasia treatment research: a decision-making tool to guide the design of phased trials from the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs) trials for aphasia panel

Background Systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials with meta-analyses indicate that speech and language therapy for aphasia after stroke is effective in improving communication. However, high-quality evidence to identify an intervention’s target population (who), regim...