Intellectual disability is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 2-3% of the general population. Syndromic forms of intellectual disability frequently have a genetic basis and are often accompanied by additional developmental anomalies. Pathogenic variants in components of TATA-binding protein associated factors (TAFs) have recently been identified in a subset of patients with intellectual disability, craniofacial hypoplasia, and congenital heart disease. This syndrome has been termed as a TAFopathy and includes mutations in TATA binding protein (TBP), TAF1, TAF2, and TAF6. The underlying mechanism by which TAFopathies give rise to neurodevelopmental, craniofacial, and cardiac abnormalities remains to be defined. Through a forward genetic screen in zebrafish, we have recovered a recessive mutant phenotype characterized by craniofacial hypoplasia, ventricular hypoplasia, heart failure at 96 h post-fertilization and lethality, and show it is caused by a nonsense mutation in taf5. CRISPR/CAS9 mediated gene editing revealed that these defects where phenocopied by mutations in taf1 and taf5. Mechanistically, taf5-/- zebrafish displayed misregulation in metabolic gene expression and metabolism as evidenced by RNA sequencing, respiration assays, and metabolite studies. Collectively, these findings suggest that the TAF complex may contribute to neurologic, craniofacial, and cardiac development through regulation of metabolism.
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Economic and medical risks threaten the national security of America. The spiraling costs of United States' avoidable healthcare harm and waste far exceed those of any other nation. This 2-part paper, written by a group of aviators, is a national call to action to adopt readily available and transferable safety innovations we have already paid for that have made the airline industry one of the safest in the world. This first part supports the debate for a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for health care, and the second supports more cross-over adoption by hospitals of methods pioneered in aviation. A review of aviation and healthcare leadership best practices and technologies was undertaken through literature review, reporting body research, and interviews of experts in the field of aviation principles applied to medicine. An aviation cross-over inventory and consensus process led to a call for action to address the current crisis of healthcare waste and harm. The NTSB, an independent agency established by the United States Congress, was developed to investigate all significant transportation accidents to prevent recurrence. Certain NTSB publications known as "Blue Cover Reports" used by pilots and airlines to drive safety provide a model that could be emulated for hospital accidents. An NTSB-type organization for health care could greatly improve healthcare safety at low cost and great benefit. A "Red Cover Report" for health care could save lives, save money, and bring value to communities. A call to action is made in this first paper to debate this opportunity for an NTSB for health care. A second follow-on paper is a call to action of healthcare suppliers, providers, and purchasers to reinvigorate their adoption of aviation best practices as the market transitions from a fragmented provider-volume-centered to an integrated patient-value-centered world.
Delivering health care in today's marketplace is a challenging proposition for most hospitals. Costs go up, but reimbursement doesn't. Rural hospitals face even more serious challenges than their urban counterparts. Fixed costs for pharmaceuticals and employees are about the same as those for hospitals in densely populated areas, but there are fewer patients with which to spread these costs, and rural reimbursement rates tend to be lower.
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The antitransgender executive orders and legislation enacted by the Trump administration since January 2025 have focused on enforcing a gender binary and restricting access to gender-affirming care for youths. These actions have had sweeping effects on health policy and access to care in an already strained health care system. Here we contextualize these attacks on transgender health by exploring the historical pathologization and policing of transgender bodies in the United States and Europe while tracing the legacy of medical gatekeeping alongside evolving standards of care. We critique the scientific inaccuracies within the administration's executive orders while outlining the harmful impact of related and recent legislation, including United States v Skrmetti. Restrictions on gender-affirming care and the rights of transgender people to exist not only exacerbate health disparities but also undermine the ethical responsibility of medical practitioners and institutions to provide patient-centered, evidence-based care. We must not capitulate to political efforts that attempt to harm and erase an already marginalized population. (Am J Public Health. 2026;116(2):256-260. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308265).
Integrated pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) models are essential for the understanding of quantitative relationship between drug exposure and response towards the identification of optimal dosing regimens in drug development and clinical therapy. This article summarizes the common PK-PD models being established in oncology, with a focus on combination therapies. Among them, the PK models include those used for practical non-compartmental and compartmental analyses, as well as those for physiologically based modeling that describe and predict exposure to various chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy drugs. Built on proper natural disease progression models, such as the empirical logistic growth curve, the Gompertzian growth model, and their modifications, the integrated PK-PD models recapitulate and predict antitumor drug efficacy, in which the PD models include practical indirect response model and various tumor growth inhibition models, as driven by the mechanistic actions of the drugs administered. Since anticancer drugs are usually co-administered, PK-PD modeling has been extended from monotherapy to combination therapy. However, relying on a single interaction factor or parameter to capitulate complex drug interactions, predict outcomes of different combinations, and determine possible synergism is problematic. Considering the apparent contributions from individual drugs following mutual interactions, a new PK-PD model has been developed for combination therapy, which may be integrated with proper algorism (e.g., the Combination Index method) to critically define combination effects, synergism, additivity, or antagonism. As drug combinations become more complex and individual drug actions are variable, these models should be optimized further to advance the understanding of PK-PD relationships and facilitate the development of improved therapies.
Digital applications, such as in smartphone apps format, have shown high suggestive evidence for their efficacy in reducing general distress, but rigorous studies of their efficacy in symptom change and the mechanisms involved are still needed. In the current multi-arm parallel-group randomized trial, participants aged 18-65 with smartphone access were recruited through social media. They were randomly assigned to two app interventions (PsyPills and OCAT) or an active placebo group (shamOCAT). The primary outcome was psychological distress measured up to one month. A total of 229 participants from diverse regional and demographic groups of the general population of Romania were randomly allocated into the three groups (PsyPills n = 80; OCAT n = 70; shamOCAT n = 79) and included in intention-to-treat analyses. Both the PsyPills (MD = -522; 95%CI = -10.00 to -0.44; d = 0.48) and OCAT (MD = -6.30; 95%CI = -11.39 to -1.21; d = 0.58) reduced significantly, with medium effect sizes, the psychological distress levels compared with the control group at follow-up. For the separate outcomes, only PsyPills showed significant medium reduction effects for anxiety symptoms (MD = -2.17; 95%CI = -3.83 to -0.50; d = -0.60), while OCAT showed reduction effects of small size for depression (MD = -1.50 (95%CI = -3.53 to 0.54, d = -0.34), that was however statistically nonsignificant. We registered high attrition and low adherence rates. Also, lower-than-planned effects might have been statistically underpowered to detect. The results support the high potential of both apps as scalable tools to provide low-intensity self-guided interventions for common psychological problems in the general population and expand opportunities for further research (e.g., confirm and capitulate on the differential effects).
Two new species, Pholiota songjiangensis and Pyrrhulomyces pileocystidiatus, and one species newly recorded in China, Agrocybe eduardii, are described in this study. All of these species belong to the family Strophariaceae. Pholiota songjiangensis is characterized by a pallid pileus with appressed and concentric squamules, a white stipe covered with light yellowish-brown small scales, ellipsoid to ovoid basidiospores with an obvious germ pore, pleurocystidia as chrysocystidia, and cheilocystidia with two shapes: elongate-cylindrical with a capitulate apex and narrowly lageniform. Pyrrhulomyces pileocystidiatus is characterized by a bright orange-red to ochraceous brown pileus with an obtuse umbo, bitter taste, blackening basidiomata, pleurocystidia as chrysocystidia, and broadly clavate and orange-red pileocystidia. The specimens of Agrocybe eduardii collected from China in the present study closely matched the original morphological description of this species. These three species are described and illustrated, and phylogenetic analysis of a multigene dataset (ITS+nrLSU) is presented. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that Pholiota songjiangensis and Pyrrhulomyces pileocystidiatus were distinctly different from other Pholiota and Pyrrhulomyces species, respectively. The Chinese samples formed a monophyletic group with the holotype of Agrocybe eduardii, confirming its newly recorded status from China when combined with the morphological evidence. Keys to species of Pyrrhulomyces, Agrocybe from China, and Pholiota subgenus Pholiota from China are provided.
To define the concept of surgeon-scientists and identify the root causes of their decline in number and impact. The secondary aim was to provide actionable remedies. Surgeons who conduct research in addition to patient care are referred to as "surgeon-scientists." While their value to society remains undisputed, their numbers and associated impact have been plunging. While reasons have been well identified along with proposals for countermeasures, their application has largely failed. We conducted a systematic review covering all aspects of surgeon-scientists together with a global online survey among 141 young academic surgeons. Using gap analysis, we determined implementation gaps for proposed measures. Then, we developed a comprehensive rescue package. A surgeon-scientist must actively and continuously engage in both patient care and research. Competence in either field must be established through protected training and criteria of excellence, particularly reflecting contribution to innovation. The decline of surgeon-scientists has reached an unprecedented magnitude. Leadership turning hospitals into "profit factories" is one reason, a flawed selection process not exclusively based on excellence is another. Most importantly, the appreciation for the academic mission has vanished. Along with fundamentally addressing these root causes, surgeon-scientists' path to excellence must be streamlined, and their continuous devotion to innovation cherished. The journey of the surgeon-scientist is at a crossroads. As a society, we either adapt and shift our priorities again towards innovation or capitulate to greed for profit, permanently losing these invaluable professionals. Successful rescue packages must not only involve hospitals and universities but also the political sphere.
Though it has made significant strides, Vietnam remains a resource-constrained country of 98 million people. Vietnam National Children's Hospital (VNCH) provides tertiary care to a catchment of 40 million people and is the sole national children's hospital. As such, it is one of the few referral centers in the country equipped to take care of patients diagnosed with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) as this requires pulmonary, critical care, otolaryngology, and plastic surgery expertise. Before 2015, the only surgical options were tongue lip adhesion or tracheostomy. Only 20% of patients successfully avoided tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation, or death. From 2015 to 2019, mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO) was introduced by visiting international surgeons on a short-term basis. Since 2020, local surgeons at VNCH have refined their technique and widely use MDO independently. This report seeks to capitulate their experience and identify factors leading to success. A retrospective review was conducted of patients diagnosed with PRS at VNCH from 2015 to 2022. Paper records were digitized, translated, and reviewed for inclusion criteria, including demographics, indications, hospital course, and postoperative outcomes. Complete records satisfying inclusion criteria were available for 53 patients with a diagnosis of PRS who underwent MDO from 2020 to 2022. From 2015 to 2019, there were 19 cases of MDO, though records were incomplete. The median age at the time of MDO was 50 ± 43 days. Forty patients (75.5%) had isolated PRS and 13 (24.5%) were syndromic. Forty-four patients (83%) had a cleft palate. Fifty-one (96.2%) of patients required preoperative supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The active distraction and consolidation phase was 4.8 ± 1.3 months. The median days to discharge after surgery was 19.0 ± 8.3 days. Median weight at birth, at the time of surgery, and at the time of device removal were 6.8 ± 1.2, 7.7 ± 1.9, and 14.8 ± 2.8 pounds, respectively. Fifty-two patients (98.1%) had obstructive sleep apnea preoperatively with an average Apnea Hypopnea Index of 25.0 ± 10.6. Post-MDO, only 4 (7.5%) had obstructive sleep apnea and the average Apnea Hypopnea Index was 5.2 ± 0.6. No patients (0) required a tracheostomy for a 100% success rate. The tremendous success of the implementation of MDO by local surgeons in Vietnam after its introduction by visiting international surgeons illustrates a paradigm for capacity-enhancing global surgical endeavors. Mandibular distraction osteogenesis has replaced tongue lip adhesion as the surgical treatment of choice for PRS patients at VNCH. Surgical techniques can be transferred to operating environments with basic infrastructure through collaboration and resource optimization. These results demonstrate that global surgical engagement may be scalable and repeatable with direct benefits for patients in lower-middle-income countries.
Thanks to progress in the development of three-dimensional (3D) culture technologies, human central nervous system (CNS) development and diseases have been gradually deciphered by using organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) or human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Selforganized neural organoids (NOs) have been used to mimic morphogenesis and functions of specific organs in vitro. Many NOs have been reproduced in vitro, such as those mimicking the human brain, retina, and spinal cord. However, NOs fail to capitulate to the maturation and complexity of in vivo neural tissues. The persistent issues with current NO cultivation protocols are inadequate oxygen supply and nutrient diffusion due to the absence of vascular networks. In vivo, the developing CNS is interpenetrated by vasculature that not only supplies oxygen and nutrients but also provides a structural template for neuronal growth. To address these deficiencies, recent studies have begun to couple NO culture with bioengineering techniques and methodologies, including genetic engineering, coculture, multidifferentiation, microfluidics and 3D bioprinting, and transplantation, which might promote NO maturation and create more functional NOs. These cutting-edge methods could generate an ever more reliable NO model in vitro for deciphering the codes of human CNS development, disease progression, and translational application. In this review, we will summarize recent technological advances in culture strategies to generate vascularized NOs (vNOs), with a special focus on cerebral- and retinal-organoid models.
Many facets of tissue engineered models aim at understanding cellular mechanisms to recapitulate in vivo behavior, to study and mimic diseases for drug interventions, and to provide a better understanding toward improving regenerative medicine. Recent and rapid advances in stem cell biology, material science and engineering, have made the generation of complex engineered tissues much more attainable. One such tissue, human myocardium, is extremely intricate, with a number of different cell types. Recent studies have unraveled cardiac resident macrophages as a critical mediator for normal cardiac function. Macrophages within the heart exert phagocytosis and efferocytosis, facilitate electrical conduction, promote regeneration, and remove cardiac exophers to maintain homeostasis. These findings underpin the rationale of introducing macrophages to engineered heart tissue (EHT), to more aptly capitulate in vivo physiology. Despite the lack of studies using cardiac macrophages in vitro, there is enough evidence to accept that they will be key to making EHTs more physiologically relevant. In this review, we explore the rationale and feasibility of using macrophages as an additional cell source in engineered cardiac tissues. Impact statement Macrophages play a critical role in cardiac homeostasis and in disease. Over the past decade, we have come to understand the many vital roles played by cardiac resident macrophages in the heart, including immunosurveillance, regeneration, electrical conduction, and elimination of exophers. There is a need to improve our understanding of the resident macrophage population in the heart in vitro, to better recapitulate the myocardium through tissue engineered models. However, obtaining them in vitro remains a challenge. Here, we discuss the importance of cardiac resident macrophages and potential ways to obtain cardiac resident macrophages in vitro. Finally, we critically discuss their potential in realizing impactful in vitro models of cardiac tissue and their impact in the field.
Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems have been developed that can re-capitulate organ level responses, simulate compound diffusion through complex structures, and assess cellular heterogeneity of tissues, making them attractive models for advanced in vitro research and discovery. Organoids are a unique subtype of 3D cell culture that are grown from stem cells, are self-organizing, and closely replicate in vivo pathophysiology. Organoids have been used to understand tissue development, model diseases, test drug sensitivity and toxicity, and advance regenerative medicine. However, traditional organoid culture methods are inadequate because they are low throughput and ill-suited for single organoid imaging, phenotypic assessment, and isolation from heterogenous organoid populations. To address these bottlenecks, we have adapted our tissue culture consumable and instrumentation to enable automated imaging, identification, and isolation of individual organoids. Organoids grown on the 3D CytoSortⓇ Array can be reliably tracked, imaged, and phenotypically analyzed using brightfield and fluorescent microscopy as they grow over time, then released and transferred fully intact for use in downstream applications. Using mouse hepatic and pancreatic organoids, we have demonstrated the use of this technology for single-organoid imaging, clonal organoid generation, parent organoid subcloning, and single-organoid RNA extraction for downstream gene expression or transcriptomic analysis. The results validate the ability of the CellRaft AIRⓇ System to facilitate efficient, user-friendly, and automated workflows broadly applicable to organoid research by overcoming several pain points: 1) single organoid time-course imaging and phenotypic assessment, 2) establishment of single cell-derived organoids, and 3) isolation and retrieval of single organoids for downstream applications.
To investigate whether periodontitis impacts bone homeostasis via gut microbiota regulation. Experimental periodontitis was induced by ligatures (LIG group). ApoE-/- mice were employed as a model with weakened bone homeostasis. Bone turnover was evaluated through micro-computerized tomography, haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections, osteoblast and osteoclast biomarkers in the bone and serum. Gut microbiota was analysed through 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Serum concentrations of cytokines were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The role of gut microbiota was evaluated through their transplantation into antibiotic-treated mice. Periodontitis significantly increased the number of osteoclasts and the expression of the osteoclast biomarkers in the proximal tibia of ApoE-/- mice, with the RANKL/OPG (receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand/osteoprotegerin) ratio significantly increased, which indicated the osteoclastic activity overwhelmed osteogenesis. Meanwhile, periodontitis altered the composition of gut microbiota and induced low-grade inflammation in the colon and blood circulation. Interestingly, the concentration of circulating tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, IL-17A, and monocyte chemotactic factor-1 were positively correlated with faecal α1-antitrypsin and calprotectin, as well as serum OPG and RANKL. Furthermore, transplantation of gut microbiota from mice with periodontitis to antibiotic-treated mice could partially re-capitulate the phenotypes in the bone and colon. Periodontitis may impair systemic bone homeostasis through gut microbiota.
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a heterogenous disease associated with variations in presentation, pathology and prognosis. Advanced EOC is typified by frequent relapse and a historical 5-year survival of less than 30% despite improvements in surgical and systemic treatment. The advent of next generation sequencing has led to notable advances in the field of personalised medicine for many cancer types. Success in achieving cure in advanced EOC has however been limited, although significant prolongation of survival has been demonstrated. Development of novel research platforms is therefore necessary to address the rapidly advancing field of early diagnostics and therapeutics, whilst also acknowledging the significant tumour heterogeneity associated with EOC. Within available tumour models, patient-derived organoids (PDO) and explant tumour slices have demonstrated particular promise as novel ex vivo systems to model different cancer types including ovarian cancer. PDOs are organ specific 3D tumour cultures that can accurately represent the histology and genomics of their native tumour, as well as offer the possibility as models for pharmaceutical drug testing platforms, offering timing advantages and potential use as prospective personalised models to guide clinical decision-making. Such applications could maximise the benefit of drug treatments to patients on an individual level whilst minimising use of less effective, yet toxic, therapies. PDOs are likely to play a greater role in both academic research and drug development in the future and have the potential to revolutionise future patient treatment and clinical trial pathways. Similarly, ex vivo tumour slices or explants have also shown recent renewed promise in their ability to provide a fast, specific, platform for drug testing that accurately represents in vivo tumour response. Tumour explants retain tissue architecture, and thus incorporate the majority of tumour microenvironment making them an attractive method to re-capitulate in vivo conditions, again with significant timing and personalisation of treatment advantages for patients. This review will discuss the current treatment landscape and research models for EOC, their development and new advances towards the discovery of novel biomarkers or combinational therapeutic strategies to increase treatment options for women with ovarian cancer.
Phosphatase PPM1F is a regulator of cell adhesion by fine-tuning integrin activity and actin cytoskeleton structures. Elevated expression of this enzyme in human tumors is associated with high invasiveness, enhanced metastasis, and poor prognosis. Thus, PPM1F is a target for pharmacological intervention, yet inhibitors of this enzyme are lacking. Here, we use high-throughput screening to identify Lockdown, a reversible and non-competitive PPM1F inhibitor. Lockdown is selective for PPM1F, because this compound does not inhibit other protein phosphatases in vitro and does not induce additional phenotypes in PPM1F knockout cells. Importantly, Lockdown-treated glioblastoma cells fully re-capitulate the phenotype of PPM1F-deficient cells as assessed by increased phosphorylation of PPM1F substrates and corruption of integrin-dependent cellular processes. Ester modification yields LockdownPro with increased membrane permeability and prodrug-like properties. LockdownPro suppresses tissue invasion by PPM1F-overexpressing human cancer cells, validating PPM1F as a therapeutic target and providing an access point to control tumor cell dissemination.