Washington University in St. Louis

Chemosymbiotic trophic strategy in an Ediacaran tubular animal

Chemosymbiosis may have been a key driver of early animal evolution and diversification. Yet evidence for animal–microbe nutritional partnerships in the fossil record of early metazoans remains scarce, largely owing to the limited availability of robust geochemical proxies and su...

Searching the Druggable Genome using Large Language Models

Summary: The druggable genome encompasses the genes that are known or predicted to interact with drugs. The Drug-Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb) provides an integrated resource for discovering and contextualizing these interactions, supporting a broad range of research and clin...

Differential associations between social determinants of health and the initiation of medications for opioid use disorder across care settings

Abstract Objective This study investigated associations between social determinants of health (SDoH) and time to MOUD initiation across care settings, providing insights for targeted interventions to promote equitable care for OUD patients. Material and Methods We linked patient-...

Restoration of oscillatory shear stress in humans activates an endothelial protective genetic program and prevents DVT

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. DVT clots typically form in the sinus of the deep venous valves and are strongly associated with immobility and reduced venous flow. Physical activity alters venous blood flow, gene...

Real-Time Symptom and Wearable Monitoring May Improve Prediction of Postoperative Recovery in Lumbar Spine Surgery Beyond Standard Measures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Accurately identifying candidates likely to benefit from surgery and addressing modifiable preoperative risk factors are central to optimizing outcomes. Current prediction tools often rely on static clinical data and patient-reported measures, which lac...

A multicenter pilot study of nivolumab with drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization in patients with liver-limited hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (deb-TACE) is a standard for liver-limited, locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may enhance response to immune checkpoint inhibition through tumor immune microenvironment modulation. We evaluated nivolum...

Tear GDF15 Levels Are Elevated in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Patients and Correlate With Aqueous Humor Levels

Purpose To determine whether growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is detectable and elevated in tears of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and whether tear GDF15 levels correlate with aqueous humor (AH) GDF15 levels.Methods In a single-center cross-sectional st...

The Astrocyte Clock Controls Circadian Perineuronal Net Remodeling, Synapse Strength and Learning Behavior

The circadian clock controls a vast array of cellular and organismal functions, from the molecular scale to behavior. While each cell is regimented by a cell-autonomous clock, few studies in the brain have dissected the circuit and behavioral contributions of cell-specific clocks...

Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy for Brain Tumors: A Prospective Multicenter Analysis of Patients From the LAANTERN Study

Background: Laser interstitial thermal therapy is a surgical tool used to ablate brain tumors, radiation necrosis, and epileptic foci. Data from the completed LAANTERN prospective multicenter registry (NCT02392078), containing tumor patients enrolled in the study across 25 US cen...

Phenotypic screening of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae using tellurite resistance and carbohydrate fermentation testing

ABSTRACT Phenotypic identification of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae in routine laboratories remains challenging. We evaluated tellurite resistance and selected carbohydrate fermentation tests as phenotypic tools for screening hypervirulent strains and improving lineage iden...

Neural dynamics underlying minute-timescale persistent behaviour in the human brain

Pursuing longer-term goals relies on representations of task context that can be maintained over long periods of time and switched flexibly when goals change. Little is known about the neural substrate for maintaining context representations on the minute-timescale on which human...

Spatially organized regulated cell death-immune coupling in solid tumors: integrating spatial omics with actionable regulated cell death biology

The therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade is frequently compromised by the profound spatial heterogeneity of solid tumors, where distinct ecological niches are associated with different patterns of immune engagement. Spatial omics has substantially refined our unders...

Building a Physics-Aware AI Ecosystem for Solid-State Hydrogen Storage Materials

Abstract Hydrogen storage remains a central bottleneck for scalable hydrogen energy systems due to the multiscale and coupled nature of the thermodynamics, kinetics, and microstructural evolution of hydrogen storage materials (HSMs). Although artificial intelligence (AI) has acce...

The fast destruction of methane by heterogeneous electrochemistry induced by martian dust activity: An experimental approach

Methane (CH 4 ) on Mars is of high scientific importance, particularly for its generation and destruction mechanisms. With an estimated photochemical lifetime of approximately 300 years, sporadic methane plumes observed on Mars by orbital, landed missions, and Earth-based telesco...

Authentic and Sustained Family Partnership in Neonatal and Pediatric Research

Improving the health and well-being of children requires sustained partnerships with parents, community members, advocates, and researchers to identify and answer high-impact research questions. Meaningful engagement with families and communities in the design, conduct, and disse...

Encapsulation of AAVs into Protein Vault Nanoparticles as a Novel Solution to Gene Therapy’s Neutralizing Antibody Problem

Abstract Although adeno-associated virus (AAV) has enjoyed enormous success as a delivery modality for gene therapy, it suffers from high prevalence of preexisting neutralizing antibodies in human populations, limiting who can receive potentially life-saving treatments. As a nove...

Social and Physical Activity Participation Among Older Adults With Disability: The Interplay of Senior Housing and Perceived Social Cohesion

Residential environments are critical factors influencing activity participation among older adults with disabilities. We examined whether living in senior housing (i.e., retirement communities or independent living) is associated with participation in social and physical activit...

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy vs Moderately Hypofractionated IMRT for Localized Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer

Importance The treatment of prostate cancer with radiotherapy is evolving. How quickly radiotherapy can be delivered, and the relative risks and benefits of such a treatment, is of significant public interest. Objective To determine whether stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) w...

Real-World Experience of Hepatitis C Treatment With Glecaprevir-Pibrentasvir During Pregnancy.

Guidelines endorse antenatal hepatitis C virus treatment following shared decision making. No clinical trial or real-world data exist for glecaprevir-pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB). We report our experience with prenatal GLE/PIB in 14 patients. Ten patients completed treatment; all achie...

Accelerating Campylobacter zoonosis in the Anthropocene

Intensive poultry farming has transformed global bird populations, concentrating billions of chickens into dense industrial systems that fundamentally reshape ecological space. As birds are important pathogen reservoirs, these changes can have important consequences for the sprea...