Childhood Obesity: Characterization of the Stool Microbiome in Hispanic Preschool Children by Weight Status and Time

February 1, 2018

Emily B Hollister 1 2, Byron A Foster 3, Mahmoud Dahdouli 1 2, Jesica Ramirez 4, Zhao Lai 5 Abstract Background: Variations in gut microbiota composition and diversity have been associated with childhood adiposity, although most studies describing this have been cross-sectional in nature. Our objective was to evaluate associations between body weight and the gut microbiota over time in obese preschool-age children. Methods: Obese, preschool-age, Hispanic children […]

Nature Communications: Cross-talk between miR-471-5p and autophagy component proteins regulates LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) of apoptotic germ cells

September 19, 2017

Subbarayalu Panneerdoss, Suryavathi Viswanadhapalli, Nourhan Abdelfattah, Benjamin C. Onyeagucha, Santosh Timilsina, Tabrez A. Mohammad, Yidong Chen, Michael Drake, Kristiina Vuori, T. Rajendra Kumar & Manjeet K. Rao Abstract Phagocytic clearance of apoptotic germ cells by Sertoli cells is vital for germ cell development and differentiation. Here, using a tissue-specific miRNA transgenic mouse model, we show that interaction between miR-471-5p and autophagy member proteins regulates the clearance of […]

Scientific Reports: A miR-SNP biomarker linked to an increased lung cancer survival by miRNA-mediated down-regulation of FZD4 expression and Wnt signaling

August 22, 2017

Jing Lin, Roza Zandi, Ruping Shao, Jian Gu, Yuanqin Ye, Jing Wang, Yang Zhao, Alexander Pertsemlidis, Ignacio I. Wistuba, Xifeng Wu, Jack A. Roth & Lin Ji Abstract Through a new hypothesis-driven and microRNA-pathway-based SNP (miR-SNP) association study, we identified a novel miR-SNP (rs713065) in the 3′UTR region of FZD4 gene linked with decreased risk of […]

CPRIT Grant: Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members

August 16, 2017

“Big Data” is a driving force in cancer research today. Sifting through the data from thousands of cancer genomes will help researchers understand what drives cancer, and help them make predictions about therapies that will be most beneficial to individual patients. To help make sense of these data, and in particular, to apply the findings […]

Nature: The sunflower genome provides insights into oil metabolism, flowering and Asterid evolution

May 22, 2017

Hélène Badouin, Jérôme Gouzy, Christopher J. Grassa, Florent Murat, S. Evan Staton, Ludovic Cottret, Christine Lelandais-Brière, Gregory L. Owens, Sébastien Carrère, Baptiste Mayjonade, Ludovic Legrand, Navdeep Gill, Nolan C. Kane, John E. Bowers, Sariel Hubner, Arnaud Bellec, Aurélie érard, Hélène Bergès, Nicolas Blanchet, Marie-Claude Boniface, Dominique Brunel, Olivier Catrice, Nadia Chaidir, Clotilde Claudel, Cécile Donnadieu, Thomas Faraut, Ghislain Fievet, Nicolas Helmstetter, Matthew King, Steven J. Knapp, Zhao Lai, Marie-Christine Le Paslier, Yannick Lippi, Lolita Lorenzon, Jennifer R. Mandel, Gwenola Marage, Gwenaëlle Marchand, Elodie Marquand, Emmanuelle Bret-Mestries, Evan Morien, Savithri Nambeesan, Thuy Nguyen, Prune Pegot-Espagnet, Nicolas Pouilly, Frances Raftis, Erika Sallet, Thomas […]

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology: Maternal and paternal occupational exposures and hepatoblastoma: results from the HOPE study through the Children’s Oncology Group

March 8, 2017

Amanda E Janitz, Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Gail E Tomlinson, Mark Krailo, Michaela Richardson & Logan Spector Abstract Little is known about the etiology of hepatoblastoma. We aimed to confirm the results of a previous study evaluating the association between parental occupational exposures and hepatoblastoma. In our case-control study, we identified cases (n=383) from the Children’s Oncology Group […]

Aging: Aging is associated with an expansion of CD49fhi mammary stem cells that show a decline in function and increased transformation potential

November 15, 2016

Qiaoxiang Dong1,2 , Hui Gao1,2 , Yuanshuo Shi1,3 , Fuchuang Zhang1,3 , Xiang Gu1 , Anqi Wu3 , Danhan Wang3 , Yuanhong Chen3 , Abhik Bandyopadhyay1 , I-Tien Yeh4 , Benjamin J. Daniel5 , Yidong Chen6,8 , Yi Zou8 , Vivienne L. Rebel1,7,8 , Christi A. Walter1 , Jianxin Lu2 , Changjiang Huang3 , Lu-Zhe Sun1,7 Abstract Breast cancer incidence increases during aging, yet the mechanism of age-associated mammary tumorigenesis is unclear. Mammary stem cells are believed to play an important role in breast tumorigenesis, but how their function changes with age are unknown. We compared mammary epithelial cells isolated from young and old mammary glands of […]

Scientific Reports: Differential network analysis reveals the genome-wide landscape of estrogen receptor modulation in hormonal cancers

November 12, 2016

Tzu-Hung Hsiao, Yu-Chiao Chiu, Pei-Yin Hsu, Tzu-Pin Lu, Liang-Chuan Lai, Mong-Hsun Tsai, Tim H.-M. Huang, Eric Y. Chuang Yidong Chen Abstract Several mutual information (MI)-based algorithms have been developed to identify dynamic gene-gene and function-function interactions governed by key modulators (genes, proteins, etc.). Due to intensive computation, however, these methods rely heavily on prior knowledge […]

Hyundai Hope on Wheels Awards $250,000 Research Grant to Ut Health Science Center San Antonio in Honor of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

September 12, 2016

San Antonio, TX – September 12 – Hyundai Hope On Wheels® (HHOW) and San Antonio-area Hyundai dealers will present UT Health Science Center San Antonio with a $250,000 Scholar Grant to be used to improve care and increase treatment options for kids with cancer. UT Health Science Center San Antonio was one of 24 recipients across the […]

BMC Genomics: Detection of high variability in gene expression from single-cell RNA-seq profiling

August 22, 2016

Hung-I Harry Chen, Yufang Jin, Yufei Huang & Yidong Chen Abstract Background The advancement of the next-generation sequencing technology enables mapping gene expression at the single-cell level, capable of tracking cell heterogeneity and determination of cell subpopulations using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Unlike the objectives of conventional RNA-seq where differential expression analysis is the integral component, the most important […]