Category Archives: Molecular Medicine

Thu, 07/14/2022 - 14:22pm | By: Ivonne Kawas

According to recent estimates reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, cases of Lyme disease have rapidly increased in the United States to more than 476,000 annually, and healthcare-related costs exceed $1 billion annually.

Most cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. are due to the spirochete bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto transmitted by bite of a black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis.

A research paper recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences by researchers at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) opens up a new area of study: to explain the functional role of MicroRNAs (miRNAs)in tick biology and tick-pathogen-host interactions.

miRNAs, a small non-coding RNA molecule that contains 19-25 nucleotides in length that regulate posttranscriptional gene expression, are predicted to have a role in tick immunity and can aid scientists in understanding the process of how the disease is developed.

The lead author of this study, Dr. Deepak Kumar, postdoctoral researcher in USMs Center for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and collaborators published new insights in the paper titled: Identification of microRNAs in the Lyme Disease VectorIxodes scapularis, as they examined the potential of manipulating the novel class of tick miRNAs.

The team of researchers note that miRNAs have tremendous potential to regulate cellular processes, including immune pathways within the tick to control bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections; however, there has been limited data on differentially expressed miRNAs in the black-legged tickafter infection withthe spirochete bacteria.

In the study, they identified that miRNAs differentially expressed in Borrelia burgdorferi-infected ticks. They explain that the potential of manipulating the novel class of tick miRNAs in the context of Borrelia transmission will likely aid in developing tick-borne pathogen control strategies that can pave the way to prevent or treat the infection.

Collaborators included Latoyia Downs, graduate student in USMs School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences; Dr. Monica Embers, associate professor of microbiology and immunology division of immunology at Tulane National Primate Research Center; and professors in USMs Center for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Dr. Alex Flynt and Dr. Shahid Karim.

The researchers sequenced, assembled, and annotated tick miRNAs, a key informative dataset enabling insights into molecular adaptations of Borrelia burgdorferi to survive in Ixodes scapularis. The team added >254 new and novel miRNAs to the existing database.

Tick-borne diseases are rising due to climatic changes and are predicted to increase, said co-author Dr. Karim. The increase in tick-borne diseases is a significant threat to public health in the absence of preventive measures. The field of tick miRNAs is primarily neglected and unexplored. This work is the tip of the iceberg, as it opens up a new avenue to exploit the full potential of miRNAs in ticks.

The International Journal of Molecular Sciencesis an international,peer-reviewed, open access journal providing an advanced forum for biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, molecular biophysics, molecular medicine, and all aspects of molecular research in chemistry, and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. Its affiliates include The Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS), Epigenetics Society, European Calcium Society (ECS), European Chitin Society (EUCHIS), Spanish Society for Cell Biology (SEBC) and others.

The research was published in a special issue of the journal, Molecular Biology of Disease Vectors. Read the paper.

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Ticks and Lyme Disease: USM Researchers Co-Author Paper That Examines microRNAs in Ticks - The University of Southern Mississippi

Alexander Spira, MD, PhD, FACP: The education that we need to provide is really for providers more than anybody else. I haven't had many issues with payers in terms tests. It's great you have all these targets, but you can't treat them with a targetable therapy if you don't test for the target. It sounds simple, but there's a lot of data published through US Oncology Research, which I'm part of. The MYLUNG study showed that, as of a couple of years ago, we are still only doing about 70%75% of testing [for EGFR in patient with non-small cell lung cancer], and those drugs have been around forever. We need to test early and test often. All patients in the United States have access to this testing. There are other countries [where it is] more challenging for cost reasons. Everybody in the United States currently has access to testing; it's just a matter of the timing. I'm a community-based oncologist, and it's been harder for the community to uptake [testing] because it's more fragmented. There are multiple hospitals, multiple oncology labs, multiple provider groups vs an academic center where it's one-size-fits-allyou go to one system, and it's all there. 90% of patients get phenomenal care and are treated outside academic medical centers, but we need to keep moving the dial further.

Joshua Sabari, MD: For payers, it's important to understand that this is a complicated and complex disease. Broad panel NGS [next generation sequencing] is a must and needs to be reimbursed because if not, we can't identify the alteration to match the patient to the best possible therapy. When you look at precision medicine, it's come under a lot of fire. Are we really improving survival for our patients and quality of life? In the EGFR space, we're talking about survival in the 38-, 39-month range compared with what we've seen with standard chemotherapy, which is about a year and a half. We've added value to our patients. Payers need to understand how important matching patients to the correct targeted therapy is. When you look at small differences between individual agents, that's when it becomes more difficult of a discussion. If you have a drug that has a 5% improvement in response and a negligible 1 month-or-so improvement in progression-free survival, does that calculate into a better therapy? That's more of a debate in economic circles. For me and my patients, I use the best medication that has the best activity efficacy, as well as the best safety profile because we want to enhance patient quality of life. We know that stage 4 advanced non-small cell lung cancer is treatable, but it's not curable, right? The goal of all systemic therapies is to decrease symptomsto treat symptoms related to the cancer, but also extend life, with a focus on quality of life.

Martin Dietrich, MD, PhD: The education we needthis is affecting the oncology community, from the clinical aspect to the patient, to payers and other stakeholders in the spaceis [providing] the best possible outcomes for patients with the least amount of adverse effect burden [at the most reasonable cost]. The key to accomplishing this is evidence-based medicine with a precision medicine approach. [Planning] out the individual steps for patients upfront is important, and that's by the investment upfront in a next generation sequencing panel. This is oftentimes done by both liquid- and tissue biopsy-based assessments synchronously. We optimize outcomes for patients, see the sequence of events happening, and everybody must understand that this is not an optional step for the identification. When we look at KRAS, there is an understanding of what KRAS biology signifies, with both on label and clinical trial options. There are 4 treatment opportunities. Those are interesting for additional therapies, both in the first line and later line settings, while we use it more in the single agent setting currently. There's nobody here uninterested in understanding the presence of these molecular mutations and exploiting them for patients' benefit.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

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Educating Payers and Providers on Advanced NSCLC With Mutations - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Toy company Mattel is delving into its vaults toreintroduce brandsthat havent been seen in decades, like Big Jim and Pulsar. Should Barbie be worried?

Today in health care, Anthony Fauci announced plans to retire from government after a career spanning seven administrations. Well look at what hes saying and when he plans to step down.

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where were following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, werePeter Sullivan andJoseph Choi. Subscribe here.

The Fauci era may be coming to an end in the foreseeable future.

Anthony Fauci, President Bidens chief medical adviser, said Monday he plans to retire by the end of Bidens term in office.

Fauci said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where he is the director, had the best people in the country to carry out his vision.

The Brooklyn-born immunologist has served as director of the NIAID since 1984, most notably working on HIV-AIDS research before becoming a leading health authority during the COVID-19 pandemic, earning both praise and derision from the public and lawmakers.

Fauci has advised seven presidents on public health issues. His working relationship with former President Trump was famously fraught during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Fauci often had to counter unfounded claims made by the president.

Read more here.

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The rise of the BA.5 variant is spurring new calls for funding for an Operation Warp Speed 2.0 to accelerate development of next-generation COVID-19 vaccines that can better target new variants.

The BA.5 subvariant of omicron that now makes upthe majority ofU.S. COVID-19 cases is sparking concern because it has a greater ability to evade the protection of current vaccinesthan past strains of the virus did.

Pfizer and Moderna are working on updated vaccines that target BA.5 that could be ready this fall, but experts say that by the time they are ready, a new variant very well could have taken hold.

The promising alternatives:

The obstacle: There is ongoing research on these next-gen vaccines, but unlike in 2020, when the federal governments Operation Warp Speed helped speed the development of the original vaccine, there is less funding and assistance this time.

COVID-19 funding that could help develop and manufacture new vaccines more quickly has been stalled in Congress for months.

Theres no Operation Warp Speed,said Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research.Soits moving very slowly. But at least its moving.

Read more here.

IDAHO GOP REJECTS ABORTION EXCEPTION

Idahos Republican Party on Saturday adopted language to their platform that supports the criminalization of abortion in all cases, rejecting an amendment that would have supported allowing a person to get an abortion to save their life.

Delegates at the states GOP convention in Twin Falls approved changes to the partys platform that went further than existing language classifying abortion as murder from the point of conception. The new language backs criminalization of all abortions in Idaho,according to the Idaho Capitol Sun.

Scott Herndon, who is running unopposed for a state Senate seat, proposed the amendment, which he called a declaration of the right to life for preborn children.

Herndon said even in the cases where a persons life is endangered, doctors should not be giving priority to the person over the unborn child.

We will never win this human rights issue, the greatest of our time, if we make allowances for the intentional killing of another human being, Herndon said, according to the Capital Sun.

Read more here.

HOSPITAL SYSTEM PLANS TO DENY LGBT WORKERS FERTILITY COVERAGE

A Catholic hospital system operating 15 hospitals and another 132 facilities in Illinois and Michigan has adopted a policy to cover fertility treatment only for workers in opposite-sex marriages.

Illinois-based OSF HealthCare, which has more than 24,000 health care workers, changed the language of its fertility treatment policy to explicitly refer to opposite sex-couples, according todocuments reviewed by Bloomberg Law, meaning employees who are in same-sex marriages would not be covered.

The policy could be illegal under federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It would also would likely run afoul of the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which ruled an employer cannot discriminate against an individual based on their sexual orientation, as it would violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

OSF HealthCare is owned by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, a Roman Catholic organization in Peoria, Ill.

Read more here.

Legislative battles over abortion access are heating up in the House and Senate as Democrats look to raise pressure on Republicans.

A round of bills aimed at protecting abortion access that were introduced byDemocrats were considered on Capitol Hill last week, leading to the first instances of lawmakers butting heads over such legislation since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.

Though the bills are unlikely to pass in the evenly divided Senate, where they would require bipartisan support to overcome the legislative filibuster, Democrats arepushing for action in the aftermath of the courts decision andseekingto get GOP members of Congress on the record objecting to legislation on the issue in an apparent attempt to paint Republicans as going to extremes to stop abortions.

Targeted legislation:The House on Friday passed a bill 223-205 that would protect out-of-state travel for abortion services, with three Republicans Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Fred Upton (Mich.) joining Democrats in voting for the measure.

It is absolutely important to get Republicans on the record to how far they will go to restrict a womans right, Rep.Judy Chu(D-Calif.) told The Hill. Are they really saying that women should not be allowed to travel to another state to get a medical procedure?

President Biden has previously called on voters to elect more pro-abortion rights lawmakers when the Womens Health Protection Act failed to pass in a Senate vote earlier this year.

We actually need to do all things, Chu said of the multiple approaches Democrats are taking to protect abortion access. There have been marches and demonstrations and rallies all across America on a continuous basis for these three weeks. We need to do that and we also need to point to the elections.

Read more here.

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Health Care Fauci to retire from government after five decades - The Hill

Penn Medicine: $9 Million to Advance Study of Technology that Illuminates Lung Cancer Tumors

Building on Penn Medicines years of research and use of imaging technology that illuminates tumor tissuehelping clinicians more easily detect and remove itthe Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a five-year, $9 million research grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to push the field forward, particularly for lung cancer patients.

This technology, intraoperative molecular imaging (IMI), is based on fluorescent beacon molecules that target and bind themselves to tumor cells, essentially making them glowand allowing doctors to more easily distinguish cancer from healthy tissue. Penn researchers with the Center for Precision Surgery in the Abramson Cancer Center, along with colleagues at other institutions, will use the research grant to study and improve IMI technology for non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Often related to smoking, NSCLCs are the most common form of lung cancer; they are diagnosed in more than 200,000 people in the United States every year and can be life threatening.

This funding gives us a tremendous opportunity to further evaluate this important technology and with the goal being to improve outcomes for patients, said principal investigator Sunil Singhal, the William Maul Measey Professor in Surgical Research and chief of thoracic surgery, and director of the Center for Precision Surgery in the Abramson Cancer Center. We aim to develop this technology even further and to study it in additional clinical trials to help improve surgical identification and removal of tumors.

Dr. Singhal has helped pioneer the research and development of IMI use in lung cancer surgery. Among other achievements, he led the first large, multi-institutional randomized clinical trial of the technology for lung cancer. To date, studies have shown that IMI can significantly improve surgeons ability to remove tumors, while sparing other healthy tissue. The fluorescent beacon molecules used in IMI are normally infused into the patient hours or days before surgery. They bind to cell-surface receptors, such as folate receptors, which are particularly abundant on cancer cells. The light the beacons emit is typically in the near-infared range, allowing for visualization detection of tumor cells up to about two centimeters below the tissue surface, depending on the tissue type. Tissue tagged with these fluorescing beacons can be imaged in real-time, during surgery, with relatively inexpensive and portable equipment. Data from additional clinical trials have shown it also has the potential to help doctors detect tumorsfor example, following a positive or ambiguous X-ray findingduring non-surgical inspections of patients lungs via bronchoscopy, when doctors use a scope to investigate the passages in a persons lungs.

The new grant-funded research project aims to develop improved beacon molecules for NSCLC and imaging equipment to go with it, then test them in clinical trials. Collaborating researchers include Purdue Universitys Philip Low, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who will help develop new beacon molecules; the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaigns Shuming Nie, a professor of bioengineering; and Viktor Gruev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, who will develop sensitive near-infrared cameras. Johnson & Johnsons Bruce Rosengard will also help develop miniaturized chips for bronchoscopic detection of the light emitted from the tumor-homing beacons. The clinical trials of the new technology will be conducted at Penn Medicine, led by Dr. Singhal and Edward Delikatny, a professor of radiology and director of translational research at the Center for Precision Surgery.

Complete resection is the best outcome for patients, and the goal in this program is to improve the chances of achieving that without unnecessary tissue removal, said Ronald DeMatteo, the John Rhea Barton Professor of Surgery and chair of the department of surgery at Penn.

Link:
Penn Medicine: $9 Million to Advance Study of Technology that Illuminates Lung Cancer Tumors - UPenn Almanac

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Credit: University of Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As new Omicron subvariants of COVID-19 continue to sweep across the United States, researchers at theUniversity of Missourihave identified specific mutations within the virus spike protein that help Omicron subvariants evade existing antibodies humans have from either vaccines or previous COVID-19 infections. These mutations help explain why some people are continuing to test positive for the coronavirus, which, like most viruses, continues to evolve.

The findings can help developers of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines consider which parts of the virus to target going forward to produce the most effective outcomes.

Kamlendra Singh, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator, collaborated with Saathvik Kannan from Hickman High School in Columbia and MU undergraduate student Austin Spratt, to analyze protein sequences from more than 10 million Omicron-related coronavirus samples collected since November 2021 from around the world. Singh, Kannan and Spratt haveworked togetherto analyze protein sequences from COVID-19 samples since 2020, including the identification of specific mutations for bothDeltaandOmicronvariants.

Throughout the pandemic, the virus has continued to get smarter and smarter. Even with vaccines, it continues to find new ways to mutate and evade existing antibodies, Singh said. Omicron now has more than 130 sublineages, and they have been here for quite a while. We are now just finally able to detect them and differentiate among them with this research. Previous variants, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, contributed to many of the mutations occurring now with these Omicron variants. So our research shows how the virus has evolved over time with new mutations.

Singh said that as the pandemic progresses, new variants and their sublineages will continue to evolve going forward. Additionally, investigators are beginning to see individuals infected with a combination of two variants, such as Delta and Omicron variants simultaneously.

Vaccinated individuals or those that have previously tested positive may have the antibodies for one variant but not necessarily for any of the other variants, Singh said. The various mutations may seem like only subtle differences, but they are very important.

Singh said that similar to the influenza virus, the coronavirus is likely never going to vanish from society, but new vaccines can be developed to target the virus most up-to-date version. However, with how rapidly the coronavirus has been mutating, the vaccines may become less effective over time.

The ultimate solution going forward will likely be the development of small molecule, antiviral drugs that target parts of the virus that do not mutate, Singh said. While there is no vaccine for HIV, there are very effective antiviral drugs that help those infected live a healthy life, so hopefully the same can be true with COVID-19.

Recently, Singh, who has tested positive for COVID-19 multiple times himself, helped develop CoroQuil-Zn, a supplement that can be taken while infected with COVID-19 to help reduce ones viral load. The supplement, which is currently being used by patients in India, southeast Asia and Great Britain, is awaiting FDA approval for use in the United States.

I am proud of my teams efforts, as we have identified specific mutations for various variants throughout the pandemic, and it feels good to be contributing to research that is assisting with the situation, Singh said. We will continue to help out, as there will surely be new variants in the future.

Complex mutation pattern of omicron BA.2: Evading antibodies without losing receptor interactions was recently published in theInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences. Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska, and the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Meta-analysis

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Complex mutation pattern of omicron BA.2: Evading antibodies without losing receptor interactions

16-May-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Clever COVID-19 - EurekAlert

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NEW DELHI: BA.5, the new fast-moving Omicron sub-variant, fuelling widespread Covid-19 wave globally, is not expanding or spiking hospitalisation rate in India so far.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 65 percent of coronavirus variants in the US last week were of the fast-spreading BA.5 sub-lineage.

Good at evading past immune protection from vaccination or earlier infection, BA.4 and BA.5 were first identified in March, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) started tracking them in April. By May-June, this most transmissible sub-variant took over the world and caused spikes in countries like South Africa, the UK, Europe and Australia.

However, in India, the sub-variant along with BA.4 has not caused a spike or increase in hospitalisation rate, the way it dominates globally.

Speaking with this newspaper, Dr N K Arora, head of the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), said in India, the BA.2 variant is still dominant.

In India, BA.2 is still 85 percent. BA.4 and BA.5 are not expanding the way it is happening worldwide. The two Omicron sub-variants are less than 10 percent in the country, he said.

In May, India reported its first BA.5 in Telangana when an 80-year-old man in Hyderabad tested positive for the sub-variant, as per the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The octogenarian was fully vaccinated.

What is worrying is that, like the Delta variant, which created havoc in India and other parts of the world, BA.5 also affects the lungs. Earlier, Omicron was described as mild with symptoms of cold or flu.

BA.5 is different, according to a study published in medRxiv, a Yale and British Medical Journal that publishes studies not yet certified by peer review. The study said that the sub-variant is shifting back to the lower respiratory tract - at least in animal models, with a potential increase in disease severity and infection within lung tissue.

The researchers referenced another May preprint study that found BA.5 and close relative BA.4 replicate more efficiently in the alveoli of human lungs than so-called stealth Omicron, BA.2.

BA.5 not only gives the virus greater antibody evasion potential but concurrently has changed [where it tends to accumulate], along with an increased transmission potential in the community, Australias Kirby Institute authors said.

As BA.5 can infect cells more like Delta than the previous Omicron family of variants, a top US scientist has referred to the new sub-variant as Deltacron - a Delta-Omicron hybrid.

According to Dr Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, the term Deltacron is more appropriate for BA.5, even though the subvariant isnt a true hybrid.

The technical lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, has also said that "BA.5 has a growth advantage over the other sublineages of Omicron that are circulating.

However, she said there is no evidence that BA.5 is more dangerous than other Omicron variants. But stressed that spikes in cases could put health services under pressure and risk more people getting long Covid.

Original post:
BA.5 fuelling Covid wave globally, but the Omicron sub-variant is less than 10 percent in India - The New Indian Express

Friday, July 15, 2022

A diagnostic panel developed by researchers in Purdue Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine will enable its Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) to screen for 22 different vector-borne pathogens in a single test. The panel, designed to be used on cats and dogs, is the only test of its kind and will soon be available to clients of the ADDL.

Dr. Becky Wilkes, associate professor of molecular diagnostics in the colleges Department of Comparative Pathobiology, and head of the ADDLs Molecular and Virology sections, developed the methodology using next generation sequencing (NGS), a process that can sequence large amounts of DNA more economically than other techniques. First commercially available in the mid-2000s, NGS technology has been used to sequence the human genome and track foodborne outbreaks and infectious disease transmission.

Dr. Wilkes novel approach of incorporating NGS as an everyday diagnostic tool will facilitate more accurate identification of a wider range of pathogens in a single test through rapid sequencing of the pathogens DNA. Polymerase chain reaction testing (PCR), the current industry standard, can only test for three or four pathogens at a time in a single test and it only gives a fluorescent signal that pathogens are detected; it cannot sequence their DNA.

Were using a targeted NGS method to specifically identify vector-borne pathogens such as those transmitted through the bite of a mosquito, flea or tick, Dr. Wilkes said. Multiple pathogens can be found within the same tick and sometimes co-infections go undiagnosed because were not looking for all the organisms that could be there.

Diagnosing vector-borne diseases in dogs can be difficult because there are many different disease-causing agents that can be transmitted from an insect bite and the clinical signs caused by these agents often overlap. Patients can also initially present with non-specific signs, such as fever and lethargy.

For the NGS panel, Dr. Wilkes developed specific primers short single-stranded DNA fragments for each organism of interest, ensuring the primers would be specific for each pathogen. She then collaborated with Thermo Fisher Scientific to finalize the assay design, ensuring the primers wouldnt interact with each other or amplify genetic material from the dog or cat.

The primers target specific DNA segments in the pathogens of interest. This results in amplification of these pathogen-specific sequences if present in the sample. When pathogens are present, they make up less than 1% of the sample. The majority of the sample is made up of host genetic materials. NGS provides sequences for everything in the sample, including pathogens and the host genetic materials. The targeted NGS approach enhances the sequences of the pathogens of interest to make them easier to detect. Once the targeted DNA is sequenced, it can be compared to information in the GenBank database, an annotated collection of all publicly available DNA sequences, to confirm its identification as a pathogen.

As I researched NGS, I was amazed by the amount of data it generates, Dr. Wilkes said. In the past, you could only sequence one piece of DNA at a time, which could be 1,000 base pairs. Thats the process originally used to sequence the human genome. It took 13 years and $3 billion. With NGS, you can generate the same information in a matter of days. Its use as a diagnostic tool for pathogen detection was untested when I started working with targeted NGS. That motivated me to conduct this research to see if NGS could be used to create a targeted diagnostic panel that would be affordable for the veterinary community.

In a recent canine necropsy case at the Purdue Small Animal Hospital, Dr. Viju Pillai, a resident in anatomic pathology, suspected the dog had been infected with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a relatively rare tick-borne zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia ricketsii. The ADDL doesnt have a standalone PCR for that organism and previously would not have been able to conduct a test onsite. A sample would have been sent out for PCR testing at another lab.

The NGS panel developed by Dr. Wilkes confirmed Dr. Pillais suspicion that the case was Rocky Mountain spotted fever. As the panel becomes more widely used, faster diagnosis of less common diseases will aid veterinarians in developing appropriate treatment plans for their patients.

Most tick-borne diseases are bacterial and can be treated with doxycycline, Dr. Wilkes said. But there are a few vector-borne diseases that are caused by parasites, and in those cases doxycycline wouldnt work. These organisms are less commonly tested for, and if they are missed it can delay proper treatment.

Earlier diagnosis and treatment is especially critical when the animal is infected with a zoonotic disease one that can spread to humans such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever or malaria. Although the initial panel targets vector-borne pathogens in cats and dogs, NGS technology can be applied to panels for a range of illnesses affecting a variety of species.

The method were launching is going to change the way we do diagnostics, said Dr. Kenitra Hendrix, director of the ADDL and clinical associate professor of veterinary diagnostic microbiology. We will no longer be limited to picking and choosing a few pathogens to determine whether or not they are present in the sample. Well be able to select these panels based on the syndrome the animal has which will give us a better understanding of all the potential causes of the disease.

Last year, the ADDL conducted 107,332 tests. Implementation of the NGS testing platform, which requires state-of-the-art equipment and specific lab expertise, will expand the ADDLs ability to fulfill its mission of providing accurate and reliable animal diagnostic services and consultations to its clients, which include veterinarians, animal health officials, livestock producers and animal owners. Future panels might be developed for diseases that spread through livestock, such as pigs and poultry.

Its a lengthy and expensive process to validate the panels, Dr. Hendrix said. So we need to be strategic about implementing tests that will be most useful to our clients, but the opportunities are limitless. Dr. Wilkes is a leading expert in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases for animals. We are very fortunate to have her here at Purdue developing these diagnostic panels.

The research was funded by the American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Health Foundation, which awarded Dr. Wilkes a $103,000 grant to develop the comprehensive vector-borne targeted NGS panel. Dr. Jobin Kattoor, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, assisted Dr. Wilkes in validating the vector-borne panel. Through parallel sequencing, the panel will incorporate testing for additional infectious diseases that may cause gastrointestinal, respiratory, reproductive, dermatologic, or neurological signs in dogs and cats.

Dr. Wilkes was recently invited to present her research at a meeting of the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America whose members were amazed at the number of organisms that can be detected with a single test.

The vector-borne testing is only part of this panel, Dr. Wilkes said. The panel is validated for 22 vector-borne pathogens, but it contains many more. It is capable of detecting basically all known pathogens in dogs and cats. That is what we are working toward.

Click here for more information about the comprehensive vector-borne targeted NGS panel.

Writer(s): Kat Braz | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Originally posted here:
Purdue's first-of-its-kind vector-borne disease panel screens for 22 different pathogens in a single test - Purdue University

Medical students around the country start their journey to become physicians by studying the human body in gross anatomy labs, where they are reminded that real people volunteered their bodies to serve as educational tools to train them to help others.

Its no different at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine Tucson and Phoenix. The Tucson-based Willed Body Program annually accepts 150-200 whole body donations, which are embalmed and put in cold storage for use by both colleges for up to two years. Afterward, the remains are cremated and ashes returned to the families or spread in nearby mountains.

The people of Arizona are incredibly generous in this respect, because I know some willed body programs do have issues with not enough donors. And we never do, said Jean Wilson, PhD, program director, anatomy instructor, professor of cellular and molecular medicine, and BIO5 Institute member. We always have enough every year to supply the needs of the college and beyond.

The Willed Body Program serves more than just the Colleges of Medicine Tucson and Phoenix. It also supplies bodies for the A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Phoenix and nursing programs at the UArizona College of Nursing, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.

Currently, about 9,000 Arizonans have been issued willed body donor cards through the program that was founded in 1967.

Dr. Wilson credits the programs success in large part to the respectful, professional tone set by its funeral directors, Jared and Kat Alvarado. The husband-and-wife team work with donors, the families, faculty, physicians, nurses, students and others who benefit from the program.

Theyre unbelievable, Dr. Wilson said of the Alvarados. In the 32 years Ive been affiliated with the program, weve had people who are fine. But between the two of them, Kat and Jared are exceptional. Theyre so good with the donor families and the donors. They know exactly the right things to say. Theyre very gentle and empathetic. We are super lucky to have them.

Jared has been with the program 12 years, and Kat for seven. Both hold associates degrees in mortuary science and served three-year apprenticeships before being licensed as morticians.

Ive worked at places without an in-house willed body program, where you deal with a third party, said James Proffitt, PhD, College of Medicine Tucson lead instructor for the gross anatomy lab and cellular and molecular medicine assistant professor. Having two trained funeral directors and morticians people who really understand the process of grief and dying makes this so much more community oriented, humanistic, engaging and empathetic with what donors and students need.

I take the same approach as if I were at a funeral home, but feelings surrounding death are slightly less intense. The donors who participate in the Willed Body Program want to be here and most express their excitement at being able to contribute to medical education.Kat Alvarado, UArizona Willed Body Program funeral director, embalmer and coordinator

The donor families are very used to working with Kat and Jared, Dr. Proffitt said. They understand their best interests are looked out for by those two. It creates this kind of community, this family of donors. And this is something I try to impress on our students. These donors arent people from somewhere else. Theyre Arizonans. Theyre our neighbors.

Kat said her interest in the field was piqued in college, when she worked as a funeral home service attendant. She later served as an embalmer, cremationist and funeral director for a funeral home.

At UArizona, she said, I take the same approach as if I were at a funeral home, but feelings surrounding death are slightly less intense. The donors who participate in the Willed Body Program want to be here and most express their excitement at being able to contribute to medical education.

Unlike his wife, Jared said he sort of fell into his career as a funeral director.

After he graduated from high school, he took a job answering the phone at a funeral home. He started working with decedents his second day on the job. He went to mortuary school in Dallas, apprenticed in Texas and Arizona, and served as a crematory operator and embalmer before joining the Willed Body Program.

Death is hard on the families. But, at the same time, its great to hear how proud they are of their loved one donating their body to students for education, Jared said of what families say when he and Kat pick up a donated body. They hear similar comments at an annual willed body ceremony that offers donor families a chance to honor their loved ones.

Nearly 400 people attended the Willed Body Memorial Service in March. Among the speakers were the Alvarados, Dr. Wilson and medical students who expressed their gratitude for the donors beautiful and lasting gift to help them better learn their craft.

Jared does outreach to local high schools, talking to students about his experiences while encouraging others to follow in his footsteps.

My outreach to youth is important to me, he said. I wish I had someone who came to my high school to speak about these types of professions. Its my way of helping out as best I can.

The Alvarados are more than morticians. They also help fulfill continuing education needs for faculty physicians and nurses. In 2015, Jared Alvarado won the College of Medicine Tucsons Appointed Personnel Lura Hanekamp Award of Excellence for the part he plays in education for students, physicians and health professionals.

In 2019, Kat won a UArizona Individual Award for Excellence for her dedication to handling the programs administrative needs as Willed Body Program coordinator.

Jared also helps write academic papers related to the program, including a 2019 article on donor bodies used for students teaching students as a novel solution to time demands on doctors.

The program also hosts training opportunities for other medical professionals where staff need to understand human anatomy, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians and military health personnel. Jared assists in some training, including non-UArizona instruction for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base staff.

It usually is just myself and their instructors, so Im able to show them techniques and things Ive learned as part of the College of Medicine, he said.

Both are on call 24/7 to ensure the Willed Body Programs ongoing success, whether that involves working with instructors to help design specific training or traveling across the state to pick up donor bodies from a family or funeral home.

Thats important, Dr. Proffitt said, because donors bodies are the canvas upon which students and trainees learn to practice their art as healers. Without them, there is no healers art.

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Married Couple are 'Heart and Soul' of Willed Body Program - University of Arizona

Caris Life Sciences announced this week that it will be broadening its partnership with Epic, integrating its molecular testing portfolio with Epic's Orders and Results Anywhere network.

WHY IT MATTERSCaris offers whole exome and whole transcriptome sequencing, and by applying AI modeling to its clinico-genomic database, it can help researchers gain better insights into the molecular complexity of disease.

The new project builds on the existing integration of Caris' Genomics Module within Epicand will expand capabilities by offering easier ordering and receipt of molecular profiling results directly in patients' electronic health records.

Officials say Caris' whole suite of molecular profile services for tissue and blood samples will be available within the Orders and Results Anywhere network.

ORA network integration, expected to be available later this year, will help drive data-driven decision-making for Epic customers which represent 60% of oncologists nationwide, the companies note. By putting ordering and results directly into the network, Caris says it aims to offer more streamlined access to structured genomic data within the Epic environment.

THE LARGER TRENDThis is just the most recent in a string of announcements involving Epic and precision medicine technology developers. In June, Myriad Genetics announced it was working to integrate its genetic testing services within Epic's EHR workflows offering providers genetic insights for more personalized care and giving patients easier access to test results within MyChart.

In April, Guardant Health, which develops precision oncology tools,announced its own collaboration with Epic to streamline clinicians' ability to order Guardant blood tests, liquid biopsies and more within the EHR.

And this past August, Foundation Medicine announced a deal with Epic toadd its genomic profiling and testing services to the EHR workflow.

In other Epic news, the vendor announced this past month that it would join the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement and apply to connect to TEFCA as an inaugural Qualified Health Information Network.

ON THE RECORD"Caris Life Sciences is committed to fulfilling our organizational promise of making personalized precision medicine accessible to as many physicians and patients as possible," David Spetzler, president and CEO of Caris, said in a statement. "Building on the success of our Epic Genomics Module integration, ORA will further enhance patient access to critical molecular results they need to fight, and hopefully beat, cancer."

Alan Hutchison, VP of population health at Epic, said, "We are excited for this enhanced partnership with Caris to further increase health access and care, and the opportunity to help deliver precision medicine to a greater number of communities."

Twitter:@MikeMiliardHITNEmail the writer:mike.miliard@himssmedia.comHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.

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Epic, Caris Life Sciences working together on molecular testing integration - Healthcare IT News

(Precision Vaccinations)

As of early July 2022, uncertainty persists as SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mutations continue emerging. According to the World Health Organization, the Omicron BA.x variants are now dominant worldwide.

There is a clear need for strategies to tackle emerging variants and protect populations against potential future threats to human health, says vaccine researchers from the University of Oxford and Caltech.

A new consortium announced on June 5, 2022, aims to address these issues by establishing the first-in-human clinical proof of concept for a new vaccine design.

The consortium brings together researchers from the University of Oxford and Caltech to collaborate with deep tech innovation organization CPI and industrial biotechnology company Ingenza Ltd (Caltech-CPI-Oxford-Ingenza).

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will partner with the consortium and has announced up to US $30 million to fund pre-clinical studies, GMP manufacturing, and Phase 1 trial based on this technology.

The vaccine will target both SARS-CoV-2 and several related bat viruses which have the potential to spread to humans. It builds on technologies developed by the Molecular Immunology Group at the University of Oxford and by the Bjorkman Group based at Caltech led by Professor Alain Townsend at the MRC Human Immunology Unit and Professor Pamela Bjorkman, respectively.

In contrast to many existing vaccine designs that use mRNA or a viral vector to present sections of the spike protein of a single type of virus to the immune system, this new vaccine will use protein nanoparticles containing a protein glue to attach related antigenic sections of the spike proteins from eight different viruses. By incorporating a mosaic-8 vaccine design created at Caltech, these nanoparticles would favor immune responses to the shared parts of each type of coronaviruses within a single vaccine.

Evidence published today in Science by the researchers demonstrates that this vaccine technology elicits protective immune responses against SARS-like viruses but also against some coronaviruses not presented in the trial vaccine. This suggests that the technology could protect against future novel SARS-CoV-2 variants and as-yet-undiscovered coronaviruses with the potential to spill over from animal populations.

Alain Townsend, Oxford Lead of the consortium, Professor of Molecular Immunology at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, said:

The evolution of this consortium is an example of collaborative science at its best. We had been deeply impressed by the power of the glue for sticking proteins together developed by Mark Howarth (Biochemistry Oxford) and derived from his beautiful basic science investigations of the Streptococcus pyogenes bacterium.'

Together, we used this technology to make a prototype nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that induced highly potent responses in preclinical studies.'

Through connections made by Ian Wilkinson (Absolute Antibody), we joined with colleagues at Ingenza and CPI who succeeded in making a fully functional version of the vaccine produced in microbes, thus reducing the cost of production. In addition, we have been collaborating with Prof. Pamela Bjorkman and the Caltech team, who had independently developed the brilliant concept of the mosaic version of the vaccine and are excited to continue working with this world-class consortium.

The consortium partners are committed to equitable access to the project's outputs.

Dr. Jack Tan, Project Manager (Oxford) of the consortium, Senior Postdoctoral Scientist at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, said:

We are delighted to work with CEPI to further this nanoparticle technology to produce efficacious, low-cost, infrastructure-independent vaccine that will be accessible to low- and middle-income countries.

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, commented in a press release issued on July 6, 2022, There have already been three serious coronavirus epidemics or pandemics in the 21st century and COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on the worlds health, society, and economy. Creating vaccines that could provide broad protection against emerging COVID-19 variants and future coronavirus threats would not only help mitigate the damaging effects of another COVID-19-like pandemic, but it could also help reduce the time taken and funding spent continually updating vaccine formulations.

Thats why we are delighted to partner with this CPI-led research consortium to build on Wellcome Leaps initial investment to further advance this pioneering mosaic nanoparticle vaccine technology that, if successful, could work towards consigning the threat posed by coronaviruses to the history books.

The consortium aims to commence a Phase 1 trial in 2024, led by the Oxford Vaccine Group.

PrecisionVaccinationspublishes fact-checked, research-based news curated for mobile readership.

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$30 Million Funding Empowers All-in-One Vaccine Candidate to Tackle Future Coronaviruses - Precision Vaccinations