The Helaine Lab focuses on studying antibiotic persistence and mechanisms of growth arrest in bacteria. Many bacteria live a growth arrested life, particularly when they are facing stresses such as those mounted against pathogens by host immune cells. In this growth arrested state, bacteria display remarkable properties and features that allow them to withstand attacks from their environment, including antibiotic exposure. Using Salmonella Typhimurium as a model organism, we decipher the molecular mechanisms of survival of the growth arrested pathogen and its interaction with its host.
Read the Publication This week we profile a recent publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation from the lab of Dr. Kent Mouw (pictured) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus? My lab studies the impact of alterations in DNA repair…
Read the Publication This week we profile a recent publication in Advanced Healthcare Materials from the labs of Dr. Yu Shrike Zhang (pictured, second row, ninth from left) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Drs. Dharminder Chauhan and Kenneth Anderson at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus? While Dr. Anderson/Dr. Chauhan’s…
Accurate DNA sequencing is crucial in biomedicine. Underlying the most accurate methods is the assumption that a mutation is true if altered bases are present on both strands of the DNA duplex. We now show that this assumption can be wrong. We establish that current methods to prepare DNA for sequencing, via ‘End Repair/dA-Tailing,’ may substantially resynthesize strands, leading amplifiable…
Megakaryocytes (MKs), the largest of the hematopoietic cells, are responsible for producing platelets by extending and depositing long proplatelet extensions into the bloodstream. The traditional view of megakaryopoiesis describes the cellular journey from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) along the myeloid branch of hematopoiesis. However, recent studies suggest that MKs can be generated from multiple pathways, some of which do not…
Removal of damaged organelles via the process of selective autophagy constitutes a major form of cellular quality control. Damaged organelles are recognized by a dedicated surveillance machinery, leading to the assembly of an autophagosome around the damaged organelle, prior to fusion with the degradative lysosomal compartment. Lysosomes themselves are also prone to damage and are degraded through the process of…
Mechanical signaling through cell-matrix interactions plays a major role in progressive vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) is an interstitial collagenase involved in regulating inflammation and fibrosis of the lung and systemic vasculature, but its role in PAH pathogenesis remains unexplored. To evaluate MMP-8 as a modulator of pathogenic mechanical signaling in PAH. MMP-8 levels were…
Hyperlipidemia induces accelerated rejection of cardiac allografts and resistance to tolerance induction using costimulatory molecule blockade in mice due in part to anti-donor Th17 responses and reduced regulatory T cell function. Accelerated rejection in hyperlipidemic mice is also associated with increased serum levels of IL-6. Here, we examined the role of IL-6 in hyperlipidemia-induced accelerated rejection and resistance to tolerance.…
The cell adhesion molecule transmembrane and immunoglobulin (Ig) domain containing1 (TMIGD1) is a novel tumor suppressor that plays important roles in regulating cell–cell adhesion, cell proliferation and cell cycle. However, the mechanisms of TMIGD1 signaling are not yet fully elucidated. TMIGD1 binds to the ERM family proteins moesin and ezrin, and an evolutionarily conserved RRKK motif on the carboxyl terminus…
P-glycoprotein (P-gp) plays a critical role in protection of the intestinal epithelia by mediating efflux of drugs/xenobiotics from the intestinal mucosa into the gut lumen. Recent studies bring to light that P-gp also confers a critical link in communication between intestinal mucosal barrier function and the innate immune system. Yet, despite knowledge for over 10 years that P-gp plays a…