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Cherian CM, Reeves HR, De Silva D, Tsao S, Marshall KE, Rideout EJ. Consideration of sex as a biological variable in diabetes research across twenty years. Biol Sex Differ 2024; 15:19. [PMID: 38409052 PMCID: PMC10895746 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-024-00595-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences exist in the risk of developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and in the risk of developing diabetes-associated complications. Sex differences in glucose homeostasis, islet and β cell biology, and peripheral insulin sensitivity have also been reported. Yet, we lack detailed information on the mechanisms underlying these differences, preventing the development of sex-informed therapeutic strategies for persons living with diabetes. To chart a path toward greater inclusion of biological sex as a variable in diabetes research, we first need a detailed assessment of common practices in the field. METHODS We developed a scoring system to evaluate the inclusion of biological sex in manuscripts published in Diabetes, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association. We chose Diabetes as this journal focuses solely on diabetes and diabetes-related research, and includes manuscripts that use both clinical and biomedical approaches. We scored papers published across 3 years within a 20-year period (1999, 2009, 2019), a timeframe that spans the introduction of funding agency and journal policies designed to improve the consideration of biological sex as a variable. RESULTS Our analysis showed fewer than 15% of papers used sex-based analysis in even one figure across all study years, a trend that was reproduced across journal-defined categories of diabetes research (e.g., islet studies, signal transduction). Single-sex studies accounted for approximately 40% of all manuscripts, of which > 87% used male subjects only. While we observed a modest increase in the overall inclusion of sex as a biological variable during our study period, our data highlight significant opportunities for improvement in diabetes research practices. We also present data supporting a positive role for journal policies in promoting better consideration of biological sex in diabetes research. CONCLUSIONS Our analysis provides significant insight into common practices in diabetes research related to the consideration of biological sex as a variable. Based on our analysis we recommend ways that diabetes researchers can improve inclusion of biological sex as a variable. In the long term, improved practices will reveal sex-specific mechanisms underlying diabetes risk and complications, generating knowledge to enable the development of sex-informed prevention and treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celena M Cherian
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Hayley R Reeves
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- School of Molecular Biosciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Duneesha De Silva
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Orthopaedics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Serena Tsao
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
| | - Katie E Marshall
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Elizabeth J Rideout
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
- Life Sciences Center, 2350 Health Sciences Mall (RM3308), Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
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Li Y, Chang P, Sankaran S, Jang H, Nie Y, Zeng A, Hussain S, Wu JY, Chen X, Shi L. Bioorthogonal Stimulated Raman Scattering Imaging Uncovers Lipid Metabolic Dynamics in Drosophila Brain During Aging. GEN BIOTECHNOLOGY 2023; 2:247-261. [PMID: 37363411 PMCID: PMC10286263 DOI: 10.1089/genbio.2023.0017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Studies have shown that brain lipid metabolism is associated with biological aging and influenced by dietary and genetic manipulations; however, the underlying mechanisms are elusive. High-resolution imaging techniques propose a novel and potent approach to understanding lipid metabolic dynamics in situ. Applying deuterium water (D2O) probing with stimulated Raman scattering (DO-SRS) microscopy, we revealed that lipid metabolic activity in Drosophila brain decreased with aging in a sex-dependent manner. Female flies showed an earlier occurrence of lipid turnover decrease than males. Dietary restriction (DR) and downregulation of insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway, two scenarios for lifespan extension, led to significant enhancements of brain lipid turnover in old flies. Combining SRS imaging with deuterated bioorthogonal probes (deuterated glucose and deuterated acetate), we discovered that, under DR treatment and downregulation of IIS pathway, brain metabolism shifted to use acetate as a major carbon source for lipid synthesis. For the first time, our study directly visualizes and quantifies spatiotemporal alterations of lipid turnover in Drosophila brain at the single organelle (lipid droplet) level. Our study not only demonstrates a new approach for studying brain lipid metabolic activity in situ but also illuminates the interconnection of aging, dietary, and genetic manipulations on brain lipid metabolic regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yajuan Li
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Phyllis Chang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Shriya Sankaran
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Hongje Jang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Yuhang Nie
- Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Audrey Zeng
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Sahran Hussain
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Jane Y. Wu
- Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Xu Chen
- Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Lingyan Shi
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Congleton H, Kiser CA, Colom Diaz PA, Schlichting E, Walton DA, Long LJ, Reed LK, Martinez-Cruzado JC, Rele CP. Drosophila mojavensis - chico. MICROPUBLICATION BIOLOGY 2022; 2022:10.17912/micropub.biology.000677. [PMID: 36468157 PMCID: PMC9709638 DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 01/01/1970] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Chinmay P. Rele
- The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL USA
,
Correspondence to: Chinmay P. Rele (
)
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Regan JC, Lu YX, Ureña E, Meilenbrock RL, Catterson JH, Kißler D, Fröhlich J, Funk E, Partridge L. Sexual identity of enterocytes regulates autophagy to determine intestinal health, lifespan and responses to rapamycin. NATURE AGING 2022; 2:1145-1158. [PMID: 37118538 PMCID: PMC10154239 DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00308-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Pharmacological attenuation of mTOR presents a promising route for delay of age-related disease. Here we show that treatment of Drosophila with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin extends lifespan in females, but not in males. Female-specific, age-related gut pathology is markedly slowed by rapamycin treatment, mediated by increased autophagy. Treatment increases enterocyte autophagy in females, via the H3/H4 histone-Bchs axis, whereas males show high basal levels of enterocyte autophagy that are not increased by rapamycin feeding. Enterocyte sexual identity, determined by transformerFemale expression, dictates sexually dimorphic cell size, H3/H4-Bchs expression, basal rates of autophagy, fecundity, intestinal homeostasis and lifespan extension in response to rapamycin. Dimorphism in autophagy is conserved in mice, where intestine, brown adipose tissue and muscle exhibit sex differences in autophagy and response to rapamycin. This study highlights tissue sex as a determining factor in the regulation of metabolic processes by mTOR and the efficacy of mTOR-targeted, anti-aging drug treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer C Regan
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
- Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Yu-Xuan Lu
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Enric Ureña
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - James H Catterson
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Disna Kißler
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany
| | - Jenny Fröhlich
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany
| | - Emilie Funk
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany
| | - Linda Partridge
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.
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Adipose mitochondrial metabolism controls body growth by modulating systemic cytokine and insulin signaling. Cell Rep 2022; 39:110802. [PMID: 35545043 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals must adapt their growth to fluctuations in nutrient availability to ensure proper development. These adaptations often rely on specific nutrient-sensing tissues that control whole-body physiology through inter-organ communication. While the signaling mechanisms that underlie this communication are well studied, the contributions of metabolic alterations in nutrient-sensing tissues are less clear. Here, we show how the reprogramming of adipose mitochondria controls whole-body growth in Drosophila larvae. We find that dietary nutrients alter fat-body mitochondrial morphology to lower their bioenergetic activity, leading to rewiring of fat-body glucose metabolism. Strikingly, we find that genetic reduction of mitochondrial bioenergetics just in the fat body is sufficient to accelerate body growth and development. These growth effects are caused by inhibition of the fat-derived secreted peptides ImpL2 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)/Eiger, leading to enhanced systemic insulin signaling. Our work reveals how reprogramming of mitochondrial metabolism in one nutrient-sensing tissue can couple nutrient availability to whole-body growth.
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Millington JW, Biswas P, Chao C, Xia YH, Wat LW, Brownrigg GP, Sun Z, Basner-Collins PJ, Klein Geltink RI, Rideout EJ. A low-sugar diet enhances Drosophila body size in males and females via sex-specific mechanisms. Development 2022; 149:dev200491. [PMID: 35195254 PMCID: PMC10656461 DOI: 10.1242/dev.200491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In Drosophila, changes to dietary protein elicit different body size responses between the sexes. Whether these differential body size effects extend to other macronutrients remains unclear. Here, we show that lowering dietary sugar (0S diet) enhanced body size in male and female larvae. Despite an equivalent phenotypic effect between the sexes, we detected sex-specific changes to signalling pathways, transcription and whole-body glycogen and protein. In males, the low-sugar diet augmented insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway (IIS) activity by increasing insulin sensitivity, where increased IIS was required for male metabolic and body size responses in 0S. In females reared on low sugar, IIS activity and insulin sensitivity were unaffected, and IIS function did not fully account for metabolic and body size responses. Instead, we identified a female-biased requirement for the Target of rapamycin pathway in regulating metabolic and body size responses. Together, our data suggest the mechanisms underlying the low-sugar-induced increase in body size are not fully shared between the sexes, highlighting the importance of including males and females in larval studies even when similar phenotypic outcomes are observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason W. Millington
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Puja Biswas
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Charlotte Chao
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Yi Han Xia
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Lianna W. Wat
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - George P. Brownrigg
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Ziwei Sun
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Paige J. Basner-Collins
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Ramon I. Klein Geltink
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver V5Z 4H4, Canada
| | - Elizabeth J. Rideout
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada
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7
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Gao Y, Zhang X, Yuan J, Zhang C, Li S, Li F. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation on an insulin-like peptide encoding gene affects the growth of the ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:986491. [PMID: 36246877 PMCID: PMC9556898 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.986491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) play key roles in animal growth, metabolism and reproduction in vertebrates. In crustaceans, one type of ILPs, insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) had been reported to be related to the sex differentiations. However, the function of other types of ILPs is rarely reported. Here, we identified another type of ILPs in the ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda (EcILP), which is an ortholog of Drosophila melanogaster ILP7. Sequence characterization and expression analyses showed that EcILP is similar to vertebrate insulin/IGFs and insect ILPs in its heterodimeric structure and expression profile. Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, we generated EcILP knockout (KO) prawns. EcILP-KO individuals have a significant higher growth-inhibitory trait and mortality than those in the normal group. In addition, knockdown of EcILP by RNA interference (RNAi) resulted in slower growth rate and higher mortality. These results indicated that EcILP was an important growth regulator in E. carinicauda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Gao
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- School of Marine Science and Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xiaojun Zhang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Jianbo Yuan
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Chengsong Zhang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Shihao Li
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Fuhua Li
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
- *Correspondence: Fuhua Li,
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8
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Mank JE, Rideout EJ. Developmental mechanisms of sex differences: from cells to organisms. Development 2021; 148:272484. [PMID: 34647574 DOI: 10.1242/dev.199750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Male-female differences in many developmental mechanisms lead to the formation of two morphologically and physiologically distinct sexes. Although this is expected for traits with prominent differences between the sexes, such as the gonads, sex-specific processes also contribute to traits without obvious male-female differences, such as the intestine. Here, we review sex differences in developmental mechanisms that operate at several levels of biological complexity - molecular, cellular, organ and organismal - and discuss how these differences influence organ formation, function and whole-body physiology. Together, the examples we highlight show that one simple way to gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of animal development is to include both sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith E Mank
- Department of Zoology, Biodiversity Research Centre, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.,Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Elizabeth J Rideout
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
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9
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Millington JW, Brownrigg GP, Chao C, Sun Z, Basner-Collins PJ, Wat LW, Hudry B, Miguel-Aliaga I, Rideout EJ. Female-biased upregulation of insulin pathway activity mediates the sex difference in Drosophila body size plasticity. eLife 2021; 10:e58341. [PMID: 33448263 PMCID: PMC7864645 DOI: 10.7554/elife.58341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrient-dependent body size plasticity differs between the sexes in most species, including mammals. Previous work in Drosophila showed that body size plasticity was higher in females, yet the mechanisms underlying increased female body size plasticity remain unclear. Here, we discover that a protein-rich diet augments body size in females and not males because of a female-biased increase in activity of the conserved insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS). This sex-biased upregulation of IIS activity was triggered by a diet-induced increase in stunted mRNA in females, and required Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2, illuminating new sex-specific roles for these genes. Importantly, we show that sex determination gene transformer promotes the diet-induced increase in stunted mRNA via transcriptional coactivator Spargel to regulate the male-female difference in body size plasticity. Together, these findings provide vital insight into conserved mechanisms underlying the sex difference in nutrient-dependent body size plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason W Millington
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - George P Brownrigg
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Charlotte Chao
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Ziwei Sun
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Paige J Basner-Collins
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Lianna W Wat
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Bruno Hudry
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, and Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Irene Miguel-Aliaga
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, and Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth J Rideout
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
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