Harold C. Slavkin: A Transformative Leader of Our Times

Harold (Hal) C. Slavkin, DDS, the 22nd president of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (1993 to 1994), died on December 22, 2023. During a career that spanned almost 6 decades, Hal distinguished himself as an international authority on craniofacial biology and an advocate for oral health equity. He served as dean of the University of Southern California's dental school, founded the school's Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, created the nation's first PhD program in craniofacial biology, and served as the sixth director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Hal's studies of the molecular and cellular underpinnings of craniofacial malformations prepared him to champion translational research later in his career, when his work with patient advocates revealed the importance of applying new discoveries to clinical practice. A visionary thinker, skilled administrator, progressive educator, compelling communicator, researcher, scholar, and mentor, Hal was known as a Renaissance leader. He rejoiced in fostering collaborative synergies among people and organizations. Throughout his life, family was his central grounding force. He and his wife, Lois, advanced a wide range of social and community initiatives and took great pride in their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We remember Hal for his indelible spirit, unflappable enthusiasm for science, fierce advocacy for social justice, and infectious zest for life. Here, we outline his multidimensional accomplishments through the lenses of academia, government, and nonprofit organizations. Although it is with heavy hearts that we bid goodbye to this remarkable man, our spirits are lightened by the many gifts he left behind.

3D Printing of a Vascularized Mini-Liver Based on the Size-Dependent Functional Enhancements of Cell Spheroids for Rescue of Liver Failure

The emerging stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) are the alternative cell sources of hepatocytes for treatment of highly lethal acute liver failure (ALF). However, the hostile local environment and the immature cell differentiation may compromise their therapeutic efficacy. To this end, human adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (hASCs) are engineered into different-sized multicellular spheroids and co-cultured with 3D coaxially and hexagonally patterned human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in a liver lobule-like manner to enhance their hepatic differentiation efficiency. It is found that small-sized hASC spheroids, with a diameter of ≈50 µm, show superior pro-angiogenic effects and hepatic differentiation compared to the other counterparts. The size-dependent functional enhancements are mediated by the Wnt signaling pathway. Meanwhile, co-culture of hASCs with HUVECs, at a HUVECs/hASCs seeding density ratio of 2:1, distinctly promotes hepatic differentiation and vascularization both in vitro and in vivo, especially when endothelial cells are patterned into hollow hexagons. After subcutaneous implantation, the mini-liver, consisting of HLC spheroids and 3D-printed interconnected vasculatures, can effectively improve liver regeneration in two ALF animal models through amelioration of local oxidative stress and inflammation, reduction of liver necrosis, as well as increase of cell proliferation, thereby showing great promise for clinical translation.

Search for Gamma-Ray Spectral Lines from Dark Matter Annihilation up to 100 TeV toward the Galactic Center with MAGIC

Linelike features in TeV γ rays constitute a "smoking gun" for TeV-scale particle dark matter and new physics. Probing the Galactic Center region with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes enables the search for TeV spectral features in immediate association with a dense dark matter reservoir at a sensitivity out of reach for satellite γ-ray detectors, and direct detection and collider experiments. We report on 223 hours of observations of the Galactic Center region with the MAGIC stereoscopic telescope system reaching γ-ray energies up to 100 TeV. We improved the sensitivity to spectral lines at high energies using large-zenith-angle observations and a novel background modeling method within a maximum-likelihood analysis in the energy domain. No linelike spectral feature is found in our analysis. Therefore, we constrain the cross section for dark matter annihilation into two photons to ⟨σv⟩≲5×10^{-28}  cm^{3} s^{-1} at 1 TeV and ⟨σv⟩≲1×10^{-25}  cm^{3} s^{-1} at 100 TeV, achieving the best limits to date for a dark matter mass above 20 TeV and a cuspy dark matter profile at the Galactic Center. Finally, we use the derived limits for both cuspy and cored dark matter profiles to constrain supersymmetric wino models.

Effects of plasma-induced grafting modification on the adhesive strength and mechanical properties of fiber posts

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the effects of plasma grafting modification on the micro-push-out adhesive strength and mechanical properties of fiber posts and to assess the stability of these treatment effects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Glass-fiber posts were divided into four groups based on the treatment methods used, as follows: (1) Group NT: no treatment; (2) Group PT: Helium (He) plasma treatment; (3) Group PIG: He-plasma-induced post-irradiation grafting; and (4) Group SIG: He-plasma-induced syn-irradiation grafting. The treated fiber posts were bonded using self-adhesive resin cement exposure to air for 0, 1, 6 or 12 hours separately after surface treatment. Micro-push-out adhesive strength, flexural modulus, and flexural strength were measured.

RESULTS

Plasma treatment, post-irradiation grafting, and syn-irradiation grafting improved adhesive strength at the 0-hours level. However, the improved adhesive strength disappeared in group PT after exposure for one or more hours. In group PIG, the adhesive strength after 1-hour exposure was 20.5% lower than that of 0-hour exposure (adhesive immediately after treatment), and no statistically significant differences in adhesive strength were observed between the 1, 6, and 12-hour exposure. In group SIG, no statistically significant differences in adhesive strength were observed among the 0, 1, and 6-hour exposure. Although the adhesive strength was 23% lower at the 12-hour exposure than that of 0-hour exposure in group SIG, the adhesive strength of fiber posts received syn-irradiation grafting still presented the best adhesive strength compared with the other treatment methods. The three-point flexural modulus and strength remained unaffected by the treatment methods used.

CONCLUSIONS

Plasma-induced syn-irradiation grafting provided the ideal improvement and stability in adhesive strength in fiber posts. In addition, plasma-induced grafting modification successfully overcame the surface aging effect caused by plasma treatment alone without affecting the bulk mechanical properties of fiber posts.

FaceBase: A Community-Driven Hub for Data-Intensive Research

The FaceBase Consortium, funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health, was established in 2009 with the recognition that dental and craniofacial research are increasingly data-intensive disciplines. Data sharing is critical for the validation and reproducibility of results as well as to enable reuse of data. In service of these goals, data ought to be FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The FaceBase data repository and educational resources exemplify the FAIR principles and support a broad user community including researchers in craniofacial development, molecular genetics, and genomics. FaceBase demonstrates that a model in which researchers "self-curate" their data can be successful and scalable. We present the results of the first 2.5 y of FaceBase's operations as an open community and summarize the data sets published during this period. We then describe a research highlight from work on the identification of regulatory networks and noncoding RNAs involved in cleft lip with/without cleft palate that both used and in turn contributed new findings to publicly available FaceBase resources. Collectively, FaceBase serves as a dynamic and continuously evolving resource to facilitate data-intensive research, enhance data reproducibility, and perform deep phenotyping across multiple species in dental and craniofacial research.

[Development of an APRT-deficient CHO cell line and its ability of expressing recombinant protein]

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the preferred host cells for the production of complex recombinant therapeutic proteins. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) is a key enzyme in the purine biosynthesis step that catalyzes the condensation of adenine with phosphoribosylate to form adenosine phosphate AMP. In this study, the gene editing technique was used to knock out the aprt gene in CHO cells. Subsequently, the biological properties of APRT-KO CHO cell lines were investigated. A control vector expressed an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and an attenuation vector (containing an aprt-attenuated expression cassette and EGFP) were constructed and transfected into APRT-deficient and wild-type CHO cells, respectively. The stable transfected cell pools were subcultured for 60 generations and the mean fluorescence intensity of EGFP in the recombinant CHO cells was detected by flow cytometry to analyze the EGFP expression stability. PCR amplification and sequencing showed that the aprt gene in CHO cell was successfully knocked out. The obtained APRT-deficient CHO cell line had no significant difference from the wild-type CHO cells in terms of cell morphology, growth, proliferation, and doubling time. The transient expression results indicated that compared with the wild-type CHO cells, the expression of EGFP in the APRT-deficient CHO cells transfected with the control vector and the attenuation vector increased by 42%±6% and 56%±9%, respectively. Especially, the EGFP expression levels in APRT-deficient cells transfected with the attenuation vector were significantly higher than those in wild-type CHO cells (P < 0.05). The findings suggest that the APRT-deficient CHO cell line can significantly improve the long-term expression stability of recombinant proteins. This may provide an effective cell engineering strategy for establishing an efficient and stable CHO cell expression system.

Inhibiting Hh Signaling in Gli1+ Osteogenic Progenitors Alleviates TMJOA

The increased prevalence of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) in children and adolescents has drawn considerable attention as it may interfere with mandibular condyle growth, resulting in dento-maxillofacial deformities. However, treatments for osteoarthritis have been ineffective at restoring the damaged bone and cartilage structures due to poor understanding of the underlying degenerative mechanism. In this study, we demonstrate that Gli1+ cells residing in the subchondral bone contribute to bone formation and homeostasis in the mandibular condyle, identifying them as osteogenic progenitors in vivo. Furthermore, we show that, in a TMJOA mouse model, derivatives of Gli1+ cells undergo excessive expansion along with increased but uneven distribution of osteogenic differentiation in the subchondral bone, which leads to abnormal subchondral bone remodeling via Hedgehog (Hh) signaling activation and to the development of TMJOA. The selective pharmacological inhibition and specific genetic inhibition of Hh signaling in Gli1+ osteogenic progenitors result in improved subchondral bone microstructure, attenuated local immune inflammatory response in the subchondral bone, and reduced degeneration of the articular cartilage, providing in vivo functional evidence that targeting Hh signaling in Gli1+ osteogenic progenitors can modulate bone homeostasis in osteoarthritis and provide a potential approach for treating TMJOA.

Pyroelectric effect mediated infrared photoresponse in Bi2Te3/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 optothermal ferroelectric field-effect transistors

The responses of material properties to multi-field stimulation are often exploited to construct new types of multi-functional devices. Here, we demonstrate electrical, optical and thermal modulation of the electronic properties of optothermal ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) which are fabricated by growing Bi₂Te₃ films on (111)-oriented 0.71Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-0.29PbTiO ₃ (PMN-PT) ferroelectric single-crystal substrates. Using the electric field to switch the polarization direction of PMN-PT, the carrier density and resistance of Bi₂Te₃ films are in situ, reversibly, and nonvolatilely modulated via the ferroelectric field effect. Moreover, through infrared light illumination on the bottom of PMN-PT substrates, the resistance of Bi₂Te₃ films in two polarization states could be further modulated, which is ascribed to the decreased polarization intensity at higher temperature due to the pyroelectric effect. Taking advantage of these two effects, the Bi₂Te₃/PMN-PT optothermal FeFETs exhibit multiple responses to optical and electric field stimulation at room temperature. Our work provides a strategy to design optoelectronic devices with both photodetector and memory functionalities.

Bounds on Lorentz Invariance Violation from MAGIC Observation of GRB 190114C

On January 14, 2019, the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescopes detected GRB 190114C above 0.2 TeV, recording the most energetic photons ever observed from a gamma-ray burst. We use this unique observation to probe an energy dependence of the speed of light in vacuo for photons as predicted by several quantum gravity models. Based on a set of assumptions on the possible intrinsic spectral and temporal evolution, we obtain competitive lower limits on the quadratic leading order of speed of light modification.

Non-invasive and real-time proliferative activity estimation based on a quantitative radiomics approach for patients with acromegaly: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Proliferative activity prediction is important for determining individual treatment strategies for patients with acromegaly, and tumor proliferative activity is usually measured by the expression of Ki-67.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the value of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics approach in predicting the Ki-67 index of acromegaly patients.

METHODS

A total of 138 patients with acromegaly were retrospectively reviewed and randomly assigned to primary and validation cohorts. Radiomics features were extracted from MR images, and then the elastic net and recursive feature elimination algorithms were applied to determine critical radiomics features for constructing a radiomics signature. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to select the most informative clinical features, and a radiomics nomogram incorporating a radiomics signature and selected clinical features was constructed for individual predictions. Twenty-five acromegaly patients were enrolled for multicenter model validation.

RESULTS

Seventeen radiomics features were selected to construct a radiomics signature that achieved an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.96 and 0.89 in the primary cohort and the validation cohort, respectively. A radiomics nomogram that incorporated the radiomics signature and eight selected clinical features was constructed and showed good discrimination and calibration, with an AUC of 0.94 in the primary cohort and 0.91 in the validation cohort. The radiomics signature in the multicenter validation achieved an accuracy of 88.2%. The analysis of the decision curve showed that the radiomics signature and radiomics nomogram were clinically useful for patients with acromegaly.

CONCLUSIONS

The radiomics signature developed in this study could aid neurosurgeons in predicting the Ki-67 index of patients with acromegaly and could contribute to non-invasive measurement of proliferative activity, affecting individual treatment strategies.

0060 Morning Locus Coeruleus Activation During the PVT Predicts Later-Day Sleepiness

Introduction

The locus coeruleus (LC) plays a key role in the regulation of arousal and autonomic function. Homeostatic sleep pressure refers to the drive for sleep that increases as a saturating exponential when we stay awake and decreases exponentially when we sleep. The current study used arterial spin labeling (ASL) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the relationship between homeostatic sleep pressure (sleepiness) and LC activity during the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT).

Methods

We analyzed sleepiness and ASL imaging data from N=70 health adults (40 males, age range 21–50 years) who participated in a controlled in-laboratory sleep study. All participants were scanned at rest and during the PVT on the morning between 0700h-1000h after 9 hour time-in-bed (TIB) baseline sleep. LC regions-of-interest (ROI) were defined by standard templates from Keren et al. (2009). Sleepiness was assessed by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) every two hours from 10:30 am to 10:30 pm.

Results

Sleepiness scores gradually increased over wakefulness time and reached its peak in the evening at about 10:20pm. PVT-induced CBF changes did not correlate with sleepiness scores on the morning (p &gt; 0.05), but showed significant negative correlations with sleepiness scores on later day when sleep pressure became higher, especially during the night-time (r = -0.41, p &lt; 0.001). Specifically, LC CBF showed significant increases during the PVT scan as compared to the resting scan (p = 0.04) in individuals with less nigh-time sleepiness (KSS &lt; 4), but no differences (p &gt; 0.1) in individuals with greater nigh-time sleepiness (KSS ≥ 5). After controlling for age, gender, and total sleep time, PVT-induced regional CBF difference in the LC still negatively predicted sleepiness (β = -0.325, p = 0.005).

Conclusion

Our findings showed that individuals with greater LC CBF increases during the PVT were less sleepy during the night, supporting the key role of LC activity in promoting wakefulness and maintaining sleep homeostasis. PVT-induced LC activation may provide a non-invasive bio-marker of homeostatic sleep pressure in healthy adults.

Support

Supported in part by NIH grants R01-HL102119, R01-MH107571, R21-AG051981. CTRC UL1RR024134, and P30-NS045839.

Transcriptome analysis of the response provided by Lasiopodomys mandarinus to severe hypoxia includes enhancing DNA repair and damage prevention

Background

Severe hypoxia induces a series of stress responses in mammals; however, subterranean rodents have evolved several adaptation mechanisms of energy metabolisms and O₂ utilization for hypoxia. Mammalian brains show extreme aerobic metabolism. Following hypoxia exposure, mammals usually experience irreversible brain damage and can even develop serious diseases, such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and brain edema. To investigate mechanisms underlying the responses of subterranean rodents to severe hypoxia, we performed a cross-species brain transcriptomic analysis using RNA sequencing and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the subterranean rodent Lasiopodomys mandarinus and its closely related aboveground species L. brandtii under severe hypoxia (5.0% O₂, 6 h) and normoxia (20.9% O₂, 6 h).

Results

We obtained 361 million clean reads, including 69,611 unigenes in L. mandarinus and 69,360 in L. brandtii. We identified 359 and 515 DEGs by comparing the hypoxic and normoxia groups of L. mandarinus and L. brandtii, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that upregulated DEGs in both species displayed similar terms in response to severe hypoxia; the main difference is that GO terms of L. brandtii were enriched in the immune system. However, in the downregulated DEGs, GO terms of L. mandarinus were enriched in cell proliferation and protein transport and those of L. brandtii were enriched in nuclease and hydrolase activities, particularly in terms of developmental functions. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that upregulated DEGs in L. mandarinus were associated with DNA repair and damage prevention as well as angiogenesis and metastasis inhibition, whereas downregulated DEGs were associated with neuronal synaptic transmission and tumor-associated metabolic pathways. In L. brandtii, upregulated KEGG pathways were enriched in the immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems and particularly in cancer-related pathways, whereas downregulated DEGs were associated with environmental information processing and misregulation in cancers.

Conclusions

L. mandarinus has evolved hypoxia adaptation by enhancing DNA repair, damage prevention, and augmenting sensing, whereas L. brandtii showed a higher risk of tumorigenesis and promoted innate immunity toward severe hypoxia. These results reveal the hypoxic mechanisms of L. mandarinus to severe hypoxia, which may provide research clues for hypoxic diseases.

Phase 2 study of the Exportin 1 inhibitor selinexor in patients with recurrent gynecological malignancies

BACKGROUND

Selinexor is an oral inhibitor of the nuclear export protein Exportin 1 (XPO1) with demonstrated antitumor activity in solid and hematological malignancies. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of selinexor in heavily pretreated, recurrent gynecological malignancies.

METHODS

In this phase 2 trial, patients received selinexor (35 or 50 mg/m2 twice-weekly [BIW] or 50 mg/m2 once-weekly [QW]) in 4-week cycles. Primary endpoint was disease control rate (DCR) including complete response (CR), partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) ≥12 weeks. Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and safety.

RESULTS

114 patients with ovarian (N = 66), endometrial (N = 23) or cervical (N = 25) cancer were enrolled. Median number of prior regimens for ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancer was 6 (1-11), 2 (1-5), and 3 (1-6) respectively. DCR was 30% (ovarian 30%; endometrial 35%; cervical 24%), which included confirmed PRs in 8%, 9%, and 4% of patients with ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancer respectively. Median PFS and OS for patients with ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancer were 2.6, 2.8 and 1.4 months, and 7.3, 7.0, and 5.0 months, respectively. Common Grade 3/4 adverse events (AEs) were thrombocytopenia (17%), fatigue (14%), anemia (10%), nausea (9%) and hyponatremia (9%). Patients with ovarian cancer receiving 50 mg/m2 QW had fewer high-grade AEs with similar efficacy as BIW treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Selinexor demonstrated single-agent activity and disease control in patients with heavily pretreated ovarian and endometrial cancers. Side effects were a function of dose level and treatment frequency, similar to previous reports, reversible and mitigated with supportive care.

P04.13 Prognostic role of single stranded DNA binding protein 2 in IDH wild type lower grade glioma

Comprehensive and integrative characterizations of genomic analysis including somatic alterations and molecular subtypes of glioma have been established. However, diffuse gliomas (World Health Organization grades II and III, hereafter referred to collectively as lower-grade gliomas,LGG) consist of highly variable clinical behaviors, leading to emerging studies to identify prognostic factors. Through comparative analyses of 516 cases of primary LGG patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset, we reported that the expression level and methylation level of SSBP2 (encoding single stranded DNA-binding protein 2) gene vary among LGG patients and SSBP2 expression or gene body methylation can be served as prognostic biomarkers for LGG survival. Cox regression results confirmed that SSBP2 as an independent predictor of survival in LGG, with a cox coefficient of 0.534 indicating a worse prognosis. Furthermore, lower-grade glioma was statistically ranked first among 21 different cancer types according to the FDR correction. We further investigated the combination of SSBP2 with other known genetic prognostic factors(IDH mutation and 1p19q co-deletion) of LGG. By matching gene expression profile of LGG patients, IDH-mutant gliomas had decreased expression of SSBP2 compared with IDH-wildtype gliomas and 1p19q intact gliomas had increased expression of SSBP2 compared with 1p19q codeletion gliomas. Moreover, we found that the combination of IDH or 1p19q status with SSBP2 identified LGG subsets with significantly diverse survival effects. Patients with low SSBP2 expression had significantly better 5-, 10-, and 15-year OS in IDH wild type, but not in the cohorts of IDH mutant. Our findings offer an explanation for the specificity of SSBP2 effect on survival rate in IDH wild type LGG patients.

Benign esophageal schwannoma: A case report and review of literature

Esophageal schwannoma was extremely rare and difficult to differentiate from other submucosal tumors. We present a case of a 55-year-old woman who suffered from dysphagia and retrosternal pain for a month. Endoscopic ultrasonography revealed a submucosal tumor, located 23-25cm from the incisors arising from the esophagus. The patient underwent subtotal esophagectomy. The histopathological finding confirmed the diagnosis of esophageal schwannoma. Her postoperative course was uneventful and free of recurrence 2 years after the operation.

Omental herniation through the diaphragmatic defect: Two cases mimicking mediastinal lipomas

Omental herniation through a diaphragmatic defect without involvement of the stomach is rare and has often been misdiagnosed as mediastinal lipoma. We herein report two cases of intrathoracic omental herniation through adiaphragmatic defect in patients that were misdiagnosed as a mediastinal lipoma at presentation. They both underwent successful laparoscopic diaphragmatic hernia repairs with full resolution of their symptoms. Doctors should pay attention to the differential diagnosis between diaphragmatic hernia and mediastinal lipoma when a fatty mass is found in the mediastinum at the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan.

Regulatory Mechanisms of Soft Palate Development and Malformations

Orofacial clefting is the most common congenital craniofacial malformation, appearing in approximately 1 in 700 live births. Orofacial clefting includes several distinct anatomic malformations affecting the upper lip and hard and soft palate. The etiology of orofacial clefting is multifactorial, including genetic or environmental factors or their combination. A large body of work has focused on the molecular etiology of cleft lip and clefts of the hard palate, but study of the underlying etiology of soft palate clefts is an emerging field. Recent advances in the understanding of soft palate development suggest that it may be regulated by distinct pathways from those implicated in hard palate development. Soft palate clefting leads to muscle misorientation and oropharyngeal deficiency and adversely affects speech, swallowing, breathing, and hearing. Hence, there is an important need to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of soft palate development. Significantly, the anatomy, function, and development of soft palatal muscles are similar in humans and mice, rendering the mouse an excellent model for investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms of soft palate clefts. Cranial neural crest-derived cells provide important regulatory cues to guide myogenic progenitors to differentiate into muscles in the soft palate. Signals from the palatal epithelium also play key roles via tissue-tissue interactions mediated by Tgf-β, Wnt, Fgf, and Hh signaling molecules. Additionally, mutations in transcription factors, such as Dlx5, Tbx1, and Tbx22, have been associated with soft palate clefting in humans and mice, suggesting that they play important regulatory roles during soft palate development. Finally, we highlight the importance of distinguishing specific types of soft palate defects in patients and developing relevant animal models for each of these types to improve our understanding of the regulatory mechanism of soft palate development. This knowledge will provide a foundation for improving treatment for patients in the future.

BMP Signaling in Regulating Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Incisor Homeostasis

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling performs multiple essential functions during craniofacial development. In this study, we used the adult mouse incisor as a model to uncover how BMP signaling maintains tissue homeostasis and regulates mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) fate by mediating WNT and FGF signaling. We observed a severe defect in the proximal region of the adult mouse incisor after loss of BMP signaling in the Gli1+ cell lineage, indicating that BMP signaling is required for cell proliferation and odontoblast differentiation. Our study demonstrates that BMP signaling serves as a key regulator that antagonizes WNT and FGF signaling to regulate MSC lineage commitment. In addition, BMP signaling in the Gli1+ cell lineage is also required for the maintenance of quiescent MSCs, suggesting that BMP signaling not only is important for odontoblast differentiation but also plays a crucial role in providing feedback to the MSC population. This study highlights multiple important roles of BMP signaling in regulating tissue homeostasis.

Pulmonary extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymph tissue: A case report and literature review

Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymph tissue (MALT lymphoma) is a rare subtype of marginal zone B-cell lymphoma. Most primary MALT lymphoma occurs in the stomach, while lung is an uncommon site of MALT lymphoma. We herein report a case of MALT lymphoma in a 44-year-old female who underwent a pulmonary lobectomy and received rituximab plus CHOP chemotherapy regimen. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and a good prognosis without tumor recurrence for 3 years.

Protein Arginine Methyltransferase PRMT1 Is Essential for Palatogenesis

Cleft palate is among the most common birth defects. Currently, only 30% of cases have identified genetic causes, whereas the etiology of the majority remains to be discovered. We identified a new regulator of palate development, protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1), and demonstrated that disruption of PRMT1 function in neural crest cells caused complete cleft palate and craniofacial malformations. PRMT1 is the most highly expressed of the protein arginine methyltransferases, enzymes responsible for methylation of arginine motifs on histone and nonhistone proteins. PRMT1 regulates signal transduction and transcriptional activity that affect multiple signal pathways crucial in craniofacial development, such as the BMP, TGFβ, and WNT pathways. We demonstrated that Wnt1-Cre;Prmt1 ^fl/fl mice displayed a decrease in palatal mesenchymal cell proliferation and failure of palatal shelves to reach the midline. Further analysis in signal pathways revealed that loss of Prmt1 in mutant mice decreased BMP signaling activation and reduced the deposition of H4R3me2a mark. Collectively, our study demonstrates that Prmt1 is crucial in palate development. Our study may facilitate the development of a better strategy to interrupt the formation of cleft palate through manipulation of PRMT1 activity.