Biology subjects

Brooks, E. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Brooks, E. G..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Amyloid-beta is present in the spinal cord of APP/PS1 mice and may contribute to neuropathology manifesting as lower urinary tract dysfunction

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common and debilitating comorbidity in Alzheimers disease (AD), yet its underlying pathophysiology remains poorly defined. While UI in dementia has traditionally been attributed to functional impairment, emerging clinical and urodynamic data suggest that neurologic mechanisms may contribute to lower urinary tract dysfunction in this population. Here, we investigated urinary function and neuropathological changes in aged APP/PS1 mice (AD mice), a widely used model of amyloid pathology. Using functional voiding assays, we identified a pattern of urinary dysfunction characterized by increased urinary frequency, small-volume voiding, shortened void duration, and reduced bladder compliance in the absence of bladder outlet obstruction or gross changes in bladder or prostate morphology. These findings are most consistent with a storage-phase abnormality accompanied by impaired voiding coordination rather than classic detrusor overactivity or underactivity. We examined spinal cord and peripheral components involved in bladder innervation and identified amyloid-beta deposition throughout the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, ventral roots, cauda equina, and associated meningeal structures in AD mice. Importantly, amyloid deposition was accompanied by reduced expression of vesicular acetylcholine transporter and decreased neuronal activation in bladder-innervating pathways, without evidence of increased apoptosis. Taken together, these data demonstrate that AD mice develop a mixed lower urinary tract dysfunction phenotype associated with amyloid-beta deposition and altered neuronal signaling within the spinal cord and peripheral micturition pathways. These findings support a neurogenic contribution to urinary dysfunction in AD and highlight the spinal cord as a novel site of pathology that may influence urinary symptoms in Alzheimers dementia.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Structural and Immunological Alterations at the Human Cribriform Plate in Streptococcus pyogenes Meningitis: A Case Study

Streptococcus pyogenes or group A Streptococcus (GAS) meningitis is a rare but deadly infection with a high mortality. Its mechanisms of invasion are unknown, but it has been proposed to enter either through the cribriform plate olfactory nerve bundles or the blood brain barrier. Knowledge of how GAS impacts the cribriform plate olfactory nerves can help us better understand GAS pathogenesis and invasion, as well as how it impacts the olfactory nerve bundles. Here we present the case of a 39-year-old otherwise healthy man who presented to the local emergency department with altered mental status and expired the following day. Neuropathologic examination revealed bacterial leptomeningitis; blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures both grew Streptococcus pyogenes. Examination of the cribriform plate was notable for perineural accumulation of GAS around certain olfactory nerve bundles. The accumulation around nerves seems to be random and not correlated to size. Nerves that are impacted by GAS as well as nerves that are not impacted display similar levels of gliosis markers GFAP and podoplanin. Neuropeptide Y, a neuropeptide that implicated in neuro-proliferation and hunger was found to colocalize with CD68 positive immune cells within the nasal epithelium, leading to speculations of its involvement in the inflammatory profile during this case of GAS meningitis. Cribriform plate skull channels had undergone width expansion within the patient, pointing towards local bone marrows involvement during infections. These findings are essential to better understanding the human cribriform plates role in CNS immune response and drainage.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Comparative proteomic analysis of the ECM composition of the human omentum and mesentery, the main sites of ovarian cancer metastasis

Due to its limited symptoms, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) has frequently metastasized extensively throughout the peritoneal cavity prior to its diagnosis, resulting in an overall five-year survival rate of less than 50%. The greater omentum and the small bowel mesentery are two of the most common metastatic sites in advanced HGSOC. However, the mechanisms underlying HGSOC metastatic tropism remain unknown. The extracellular matrix is a complex and dynamic meshwork of proteins that provides biochemical and mechanical signals to surrounding cells and has been shown to drive the dissemination of several cancer types to preferential distant sites. Here, using histological assessment and proteomics, we examined the composition of the extracellular matrix of paired omentum and mesentery samples from disease-free adult females. We found that the fibrillar collagen content of the mesothelial layer of the omentum was significantly higher than that of the mesentery. Using ECM-focused proteomics, we further defined the ECM composition - or matrisome - of these two tissues. We found that over 90% of the proteins detected were shared between the omentum and mesentery. Our analysis also revealed small subsets of tissue-specific ECM proteins. Future work will aim to test the possible functional contributions of these ECM proteins to HGSOC metastatic tropism. To facilitate the reuse of our dataset, we have deposited the raw mass spectrometry data and accompanying metadata files to the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the dataset identifier PXD061586.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Fibronectin Composition and Transglutaminase 2 Cross-linking Cooperatively Regulate Ovarian Cancer Cell Adhesion in ECM-Mimetic Constructs

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a crucial role in tumor progression. Here, we analyzed collagen I and cellular fibronectin (cFN) in normal omentum and metastatic omentum from high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). The levels of both proteins were significantly elevated and collagen I fibers were significantly thicker in HGSOC metastases. Moreover, the ECM cross-linking enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2) was increased in omental metastases, where it is enzymatically active in the extracellular environment. This information was used to develop ECM constructs recapitulating these key changes, alone and in combination, to investigate their impact on HGSOC cell adhesion. To our knowledge, this is the first report using TG2 as a cross-linking agent to generate constructs from multiple ECM components. Low levels of HGSOC cell adhesion were observed on colIagen-only (coll) gels, while inclusion of cFN or plasma fibronection (pFN) increased cell adhesion. TG2-mediated cross-linking of colI/cFN hydrogels promoted HGSOC cell adhesion, while cross-linking of coll/pFN had no effect. Cell adhesion was dependent on ligand identity and fiber diameter. When fiber thickness was held constant, the inclusion of cFN led to greater HGSOC cell adhesion relative to pFN or coll, due to interactions of {beta}1 integrins with the EDA and RGD domains of cFN. Meanwhile, when gel composition was held constant, HGSOC cell adhesion increased as fiber thickness was increased through modifications to gelation temperature. Combined, our results demonstrate how ECM changes associated with omental metastasis can support tumor progression and provide insights into methods to tailor biomaterials to support cell adhesion.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

Characterization of osteoarthritis phenotypes by global metabolomic profiling of human synovial fluid

ObjectiveOsteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease with etiological heterogeneity. The objective of this study was to classify OA subgroups by generating metabolic phenotypes of OA from human synovial fluid.\n\nDesignPost mortem synovial fluids (n=75) were analyzed by high performance-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) to measure changes in the global metabolome. Comparisons of healthy (grade 0), early OA (grades I-II), and late OA (grades III-IV) donor populations were considered to reveal phenotypes throughout disease progression.\n\nResultsGlobal metabolomic profiles in synovial fluid were distinct between healthy, early OA, and late OA donors. Pathways differentially activated among these groups included structural deterioration, glycerophospholipid metabolism, inflammation, central energy metabolism, oxidative stress, and vitamin metabolism. Within disease states (early and late OA), subgroups of donors revealed distinct phenotypes. Phenotypes of OA exhibited increased inflammation (early and late OA), oxidative stress (late OA), or structural deterioration (early and late OA) in the synovial fluid.\n\nConclusionThese results revealed distinct metabolic phenotypes of OA in human synovial fluid, provide insight into pathogenesis, represent novel biomarkers and assist in developing personalized interventions for subgroups of OA patients.

pathology↗