Publications

We describe a small-animal blood exchange approach developed for aging research as an alternative to heterochronic parabiosis or plasma injections. In parabiosis, animals are surgically coupled, which has several disadvantages, including difficulty controlling experimental procedure, the effects of shared organs, environmental enrichment from jointly exploring the housing enclosure, involuntary exercise and an imprecise onset of […]

Mehdipour, M., Amiri, P., Liu, C. et al. Small-animal blood exchange is an emerging approach for systemic aging research. Nat Protoc (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-022-00731-5

Ageing is the largest risk factor for many chronic diseases. Studies of heterochronic parabiosis, substantiated by blood exchange and old plasma dilution, show that old-age-related factors are systemically propagated and have pro-geronic effects in young mice. However, the underlying mechanisms how bloodborne factors promote ageing remain largely unknown […]

Jeon, O.H., Mehdipour, M., Gil, TH. et al. Systemic induction of senescence in young mice after single heterochronic blood exchange. Nat Metab (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00609-6

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by a progressive loss of motor neurons (MNs), leading to paralysis, respiratory failure and death within 2–5 years of diagnosis. The exact mechanisms of sporadic ALS, which comprises 90% of all cases, remain unknown. In familial ALS, mutations in superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause 10% of cases. The secretome of PSCs […]

Kim, D., Kim, S., Sung, A. et al. Autologous treatment for ALS with implication for broad neuroprotection. Transl Neurodegener 11, 16 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-022-00290-5

Metabolic proteomics has been widely used to characterize dynamic protein networks in many areas of biomedicine, including in the arena of tissue aging and rejuvenation. Bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) is based on mutant methionine-tRNA synthases (MetRS) that incorporates metabolic tags, for example, azidonorleucine [ANL], into newly synthesized proteins. BONCAT revolutionizes metabolic proteomics, because […]

Chao Liu, Nathan Wong, Etsuko Watanabe, William Hou, Leonardo Biral, Jonalyn DeCastro, Melod Mehdipour, Kiana Aran, Michael J. Conboy, and Irina M. Conboy.Mechanisms and Minimization of False Discovery of Metabolic Bioorthogonal Noncanonical Amino Acid Proteomics. Rejuvenation Research. Apr 2022.95-109.http://doi.org/10.1089/rej.2022.0019

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