Macroencapsulation of human stem cell-derived beta cells ameliorates rejection in CAR T cell humanized mice Problem: Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in pancreatic islets, requiring life-long exogenous insulin therapy. Cell therapies using allogeneic stem cell-derived beta cells (sBC) are a promising alternative therapy with the potential to eliminate…

A Novel Paradigm for Mechanistic Studies of Myalgic Ecephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  Introduction: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating illness characterized by extreme fatigue lasting for over six months. It is often developed following a viral or bacterial infection, does not improve with rest, and disproportionately affects women. Effective treatment options for ME/CFS are…

Directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to colon organoids as a model of development in an obesogenic environment Early life exposures play a significant role in shaping health and disease susceptibility. Maternal obesity influences the offspring‚Äôs long-term risk of colorectal cancer, yet our understanding of the impact on developmental programming of intestinal stem cells…

Generation of nanobodies in E coli using Surface Display Phage Assisted Continuous Evolution (SurPhACE) Antibodies have a broad range of applications in the industry, medicine and research. However, the development of antibodies is expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, these biological drugs are often proprietary material which makes low-cost distribution difficult in developing countries. In order…

PPARsing Epigenetic Memory in Intestinal Stem Cells: High-Fat Diet and Oncogenic Susceptibility Microglia plays a dual role in the exacerbation or resolution of neuroinflammation through innate immune functions like cytokine secretion and phagocytosis. Experimentally, microglial functions can be inferred from transcriptomic and proteomic data. In the clinic however, information is limited to the few biomarkers…

Lipid Metabolic Readouts in Humanized Models of Neuroimmune Function Microglia plays a dual role in the exacerbation or resolution of neuroinflammation through innate immune functions like cytokine secretion and phagocytosis. Experimentally, microglial functions can be inferred from transcriptomic and proteomic data. In the clinic however, information is limited to the few biomarkers that can be…

Engineering a Recombinant Zika Virus for Immune Modulation in Microglia  Chronic activation of microglia is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease. Transcriptomic analysis of microglia from human patient samples show activation patterns that include classical inflammation response pathways and transcriptional regulators like STAT1 and NF-kB. Suppression of these regulators to reprogram microglia from chronic activation to…

Using human cortical organoids to understand the impact of glucose metabolism on progenitor developmental trajectories Dysregulation of glucose metabolism occurs in neurodevelopmental disorders, yet the specific consequences on the molecular regulation of cellular development and tissue formation during neurogenesis are not fully understood. Since the molecular characterization of the developing human brain is impossible and…

Exploring Regeneration Mechanisms in Drosophila Melanogaster: Testing a Novel 3rd Ablation System with Glur1 Drosophila melanogaster, known as fruit flies, are widely studied in genetics due to their ability to regenerate in the larval stage. The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila has been instrumental in understanding the complex process of tissue regeneration. To study tissue…

The role of p53 in regenerating necrotic tissue Strokes, infections, and injuries often lead to widespread necrotic tissue death. Necrosis is a form of lytic cell death that can occur in every multicellular organism, resulting in complex and poorly understood tissue outcomes. Unlike programmed cell death, such as apoptosis, the uncontrolled release of cellular contents…