Recent Publications

INTRODUCTION: Current multistep methods utilized for preparing and cryopreserving single-cell suspensions from blood samples for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) are time-consuming, requiring trained personnel and special equipment, so limiting their clinical adoption. We developed a method, Simple prEservatioN of Single cElls (SENSE), for single-step cryopreservation of whole blood (WB) along with granulocyte depletion during single-cell assay, to generate high quality single-cell...

CONCLUSIONS: Vein conduit harvest and distension elicit a prompt genomic response facilitated by distinct cellular subpopulations heterogeneously distributed throughout the vein wall. This response was found to be further exacerbated following vein graft implantation, resulting in a cascade of maladaptive gene regulatory networks. Together, these results suggest that distension initiates the upregulation of pathological pathways that may ultimately contribute to bypass graft failure and presents...

CONCLUSIONS: We have for the first time described the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of pediatric MPAL and demonstrated that B/My and T/My MPAL have distinct scRNAseq profiles from each other, AML, and ALL. Differences in transcriptomic profiles were seen based on response to therapy, but larger studies will be needed to validate these findings.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) microenvironment exhibits cellular and molecular differences among various subtypes. Here, we utilize single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to analyze pediatric AML bone marrow (BM) samples from diagnosis (Dx), end of induction (EOI), and relapse timepoints. Analysis of Dx, EOI scRNA-seq, and TARGET AML RNA-seq datasets reveals an AML blasts-associated 7-gene signature (CLEC11A, PRAME, AZU1, NREP, ARMH1, C1QBP, TRH), which we validate on independent datasets. The...

CONCLUSIONS: Indoximod was well tolerated and could be safely combined with chemotherapy and radiation. Encouraging preliminary evidence of efficacy supports advancing to Phase II/III trials for pediatric brain tumors.

A major cause of cancer recurrence following chemotherapy is cancer dormancy escape. Taxane-based chemotherapy is standard of care in breast cancer treatment aimed at killing proliferating cancer cells. Here, we demonstrate that docetaxel injures stromal cells, which release protumor cytokines, IL-6 and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), that in turn invoke dormant cancer outgrowth both in vitro and in vivo. Single-cell transcriptomics shows a reprogramming of awakened cancer cells...