Biology subjects

Stromberg, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Stromberg, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

A Murine Delayed-Healing Model Associates Immune Response with Functional Bone Regeneration after Trauma

Delayed and non-healing fractures, affecting 5-10% of cases, are associated with prolonged disability and diminished quality of life. Although acute inflammation is required to initiate repair, persistent mechanical instability can sustain maladaptive immune and fibrotic responses that impede regeneration. Existing animal models do not adequately recapitulate mechanical instability, the principal driver of hypertrophic nonunion in clinical settings, thereby limiting translational relevance. In this study, we developed a murine model of delayed fracture healing using tunable intramedullary fixation to impose controlled interfragmentary strain. High-strain conditions (low-stiffness nail, 15-30% strain) produced enlarged calluses characterized by delayed ossification, increased fibrotic tissue (2.9-fold, p = 0.0099), and reduced biomechanical integrity (1.6-fold decrease in stiffness, p = 0.024) relative to low-strain controls (high-stiffness nail, <5% strain). Spatial transcriptomic analysis identified persistent fibrotic niches in high-strain calluses enriched with fibroblast-associated genes (e.g., Pdgfrb, Lgals3) and dysregulated macrophage-fibroblast signaling (Spp1, Mmp9). Systemically, high-strain fractures were associated with distinct immune signatures in which CD206 macrophages and CD25 regulatory T cells predicted healing outcomes (R = 0.72, p = 0.004), suggesting early immune polarization as a determinant of repair trajectory. Elevated CD8 T cell responses were also observed, consistent with a sustained inflammatory state associated with impaired healing. These findings identify mechanical instability as a driver of pathological immune-stromal interactions and establish a preclinical platform for investigating mechanobiology-informed therapeutic strategies. This work supports a conceptual framework in which hypertrophic nonunion is understood as a disorder arising from dysregulated interactions between mechanical cues and immune responses. TeaserMechanical strain hijacks immune signaling to induce fibrosis and block bone regeneration in unstable fractures.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

Androgen aggravates aortic aneurysms via suppressing PD-1 in mice

Androgen has long been recognized for its pivotal role in the sexual dimorphism of cardiovascular diseases, including aortic aneurysms, a devastating vascular disease with a higher prevalence and mortality rate in men than women. However, the molecular mechanism by which androgen mediates aortic aneurysms is largely unknown. Here, we report that male but not female mice develop aortic aneurysms in response to aldosterone and high salt (Aldo-salt). We demonstrate that both androgen and androgen receptors (AR) are crucial for the sexually dimorphic response to Aldo-salt. We identify T cells expressing programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), an immune checkpoint molecule important in immunity and cancer immunotherapy, as a key link between androgen and aortic aneurysms. We show that intraperitoneal injection of anti-PD-1 antibody reinstates Aldo-salt-induced aortic aneurysms in orchiectomized mice. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that AR binds to the PD-1 promoter to suppress its expression in the spleen. Hence, our study reveals an important but unexplored mechanism by which androgen contributes to aortic aneurysms by suppressing PD-1 expression in T cells. Our study also suggests that cancer patients predisposed to the risk factors of aortic aneurysms may be advised to screen for aortic aneurysms during immune checkpoint therapy. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=134 SRC="FIGDIR/small/525073v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (35K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@2e8406org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1dde495org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c9f42eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@be2799_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

pathology↗

bioRxiv2022

Validated Preclinical Murine Model for Therapeutic Testing against Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The rise in infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria is outpacing the development of new antibiotics. The ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) are a group of clinically important bacteria that have developed resistance to multiple antibiotics and are commonly referred to as multidrug resistant (MDR). The medical and research communities have recognized that without new antimicrobials, infections by MDR bacteria will soon become a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, there is an ever growing need to expedite the development of novel antimicrobials to combat these infections. Toward this end, we set out to refine an existing murine model of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection to generate a robust preclinical tool that can be used to rapidly and accurately predict novel antimicrobial efficacy. This refinement was achieved by characterizing the virulence of a panel of genetically diverse MDR P. aeruginosa strains in this model, both by LD50 analysis and natural history studies. Further, we defined two antibiotic regimens (aztreonam and amikacin) that can be used a comparators during the future evaluation of novel antimicrobials, and validated that the model can effectively differentiate between successful and unsuccessful treatment as predicted by in vitro inhibitory data. This validated model represents an important tool in our arsenal to develop new therapies to combat MDR P. aeruginosa, with the ability to provide rapid preclinical evaluation of novel antimicrobials that can also serve to support data from clinical studies during the investigational drug development process.

microbiology↗