Publications

Blood exchanges between young and old partners demonstrate old blood has a detrimental effect on brain health of young animals. Previous studies primarily investigate soluble blood factors, such as transforming growth factor-beta, on the brain and the blood–brain barrier (BBB). However, the role of blood cellular components, particularly erythrocytes, has not been defined. Erythrocyte morphology […]

Amiri, P., DeCastro, J., Littig, J., Lu, H.-W., Liu, C., Conboy, I., Aran, K., Erythrocytes, a New Contributor to Age-Associated Loss of Blood–Brain Barrier Integrity. Adv. Sci. 2021, 8, 2101912. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202101912

Increasing access to modern clinical practices concomitantly extends lifespan, ironically revealing new classes of degenerative and inflammatory diseases of later years. Here, an electronic graphene field-effect transistor (gFET) is reported, termed EV-chip, for label-free, rapid identification and quantification of exosomes (EV) associated with aging through specific surface markers, CD63 and CD151. Studies suggest that blood-derived […]

Hajian, R., DeCastro, J., Parkinson, J., Kane, A., Camelo, A. F. R., Chou, P. P., Yang, J., Wong, N., Hernandez, E. D. O., Goldsmith, B., Conboy, I., Aran, K., Rapid and Electronic Identification and Quantification of Age-Specific Circulating Exosomes via Biologically Activated Graphene Transistors. Adv. Biology 2021, 5, 2000594. https://doi.org/10.1002/adbi.202000594

Simple and fast methods for the detection of target genes with single-nucleotide specificity could open up genetic research and diagnostics beyond laboratory settings. We recently reported a biosensor for the electronic detection of unamplified target genes using liquid-gated graphene field-effect transistors employing an RNA-guided catalytically deactivated CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) anchored to a graphene monolayer. […]

Balderston, S., Taulbee, J.J., Celaya, E. et al. Discrimination of single-point mutations in unamplified genomic DNA via Cas9 immobilized on a graphene field-effect transistor. Nat Biomed Eng 5, 713–725 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00706-z

Aging is associated with the impairment of stem cell activation, leading to the functional decline of tissues and increasing the risk for age-associated diseases. The old, damaged or unrepaired tissues disturb distant tissue homeostasis by secreting factors into the circulation, which may not only serve as biomarkers for specific age-associated pathologies but also induce a variety of degenerative […]

Melod Mehdipour, Jessy Etienne, Chao Liu, Taha Mehdipour, Cameron Kato, Michael Conboy, Irina Conboy, Dobri D. Kiprov, Attenuation of age-elevated blood factors by repositioning plasmapheresis: A novel perspective and approach, Transfusion and Apheresis Science , Volume 60, Issue 3, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transci.2021.103162.

Aging is a gradual biological process characterized by a decrease in cellular and organism functions. Aging-related processes involve changes in the expression and activity of several proteins. Here, we identified the transmembrane protease serine 11a (TMPRSS11a) as a new age-specific protein that plays an important role in skin wound healing. TMPRSS11a levels increased with age […]

Fernandez, C, Burgos, A, Morales, D, et al. TMPRSS11a is a novel age-altered, tissue specific regulator of migration and wound healing. The FASEB Journal. 2021; 35:e21597. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202002253RRR

Flow cytometry (FCM) is an analytic technique that is capable of detecting and recording the emission of fluorescence and light scattering of cells or particles (that are collectively called “events”) in a population1. A typical FCM experiment can produce a large array of data making the analysis computationally intensive2. Current FCM data analysis platforms (FlowJo3, […]

Wong, N., Kim, D., Robinson, Z. et al. K-means quantization for a web-based open-source flow cytometry analysis platform. Sci Rep 11, 6735 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86015-6

As the fields of aging and neurological disease expand to liquid biopsies, there is a need to identify informative biomarkers for the diagnosis of neurodegeneration and other age-related disorders such as cancers. A means of high-throughput screening of biomolecules relevant to aging can facilitate this discovery in complex biofluids, such as blood. Exosomes, the smallest […]

DeCastro J, Littig J, Chou PP, Mack-Onyeike J, Srinivasan A, Conboy MJ, Conboy IM, Aran K. The Microfluidic Toolbox for Analyzing Exosome Biomarkers of Aging. Molecules. 2021; 26(3):535. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26030535

Our recent study has established that young blood factors are not causal, nor necessary, for the systemic rejuvenation of mammalian tissues. Instead, a procedure referred to as neutral blood exchange (NBE) that resets signaling milieu to a pro-regenerative state through dilution of old plasma, enhanced the health and repair of the muscle and liver, and […]

Many patients with COVID-19 experience a range of debilitating symptoms months after being infected, a syndrome termed long-haul COVID. A 68-year-old male presented with lung opacity, fatigue, physical and cognitive weaknesses, loss of smell and lymphocytopenia. After rounds of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), the patient returned to normal activities and work. Mechanistically in the patient’s […]

Skeletal muscle is among the most age-sensitive tissues in mammal organisms. Significant changes in its resident stem cells (i.e., satellite cells, SCs), differentiated cells (i.e., myofibers), and extracellular matrix cause a decline in tissue homeostasis, function, and regenerative capacity. Based on the conservation of aging across tissues and taking advantage of the relatively well-characterization of […]