Alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas in conditional Pax3:Fkhr mice: cooperativity of Ink4a/ARF and Trp53 loss of function.

Journal ArticleAlveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive childhood muscle cancer for which outcomes are poor when the disease is advanced. Although well-developed mouse models exist for embryonal and pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcomas, neither a spontaneous nor a transgenic mouse model of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma has yet been reported. We report the first mouse model of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma using a conditional Pax3:Fkhr knock-in allele whose activation in late embryogenesis and postnatally is targeted to terminally differentiating Myf6-expressing skeletal muscle. In these mice, alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas occur but at low frequency, and Fkhr haploinsufficiency does not appear to accelerate tumorigenesis. However, Pax3:Fkhr homozygosity with accompanying Ink4a/ARF or Trp53 pathway disruption, by means of conditional Trp53 or Ink4a/ARF loss of function, substantially increases the frequencies of tumor formation. These results of successful tumor generation postnatally from a target pool of differentiating myofibers are in sharp contrast to the birth defects and lack of tumors for mice with prenatal and postnatal satellite cell triggering of Pax3:Fkhr. Furthermore, these murine alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas have an immunohistochemical profile similar to human alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, suggesting that this conditional mouse model will be relevant to study of the disease and will be useful for preclinical therapeutic testing

Cross-cutting principles for planetary health education

Since the 2015 launch of the Rockefeller Foundation Lancet Commission on planetary health,1 an enormous groundswell of interest in planetary health education has emerged across many disciplines, institutions, and geographical regions. Advancing these global efforts in planetary health education will equip the next generation of scholars to address crucial questions in this emerging field and support the development of a community of practice. To provide a foundation for the growing interest and efforts in this field, the Planetary Health Alliance has facilitated the first attempt to create a set of principles for planetary health education that intersect education at all levels, across all scales, and in all regions of the world—ie, a set of cross-cutting principles

ART 460 - COVID dances across the sea

Painting done for ART 460, taught by Professor James Linehan in Spring 2020. These works were created by University of Maine student Cheryl Coffin at home after the University of Maine ceased its on-campus classes and transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester. The works are water based mixed media, including watercolor, collage and black ink, on a variety of papers, including traditional watercolor paper, rice paper, and a map from an old atlas of the world. Coffin stated that the image of coronavirus has captivated me, despite its potential lethality, ever since I saw the first electron micrographs and published models of the virus, so I decided to confront the subject directly and go where my visual and cognitive imagination led.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/c19_teach_img/1002/thumbnail.jp

ART 460 - COVID dances through the air

Painting done for ART 460, taught by Professor James Linehan in Spring 2020. These works were created by University of Maine student Cheryl Coffin at home after the University of Maine ceased its on-campus classes and transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester. The works are water based mixed media, including watercolor, collage and black ink, on a variety of papers, including traditional watercolor paper, rice paper, and a map from an old atlas of the world. Coffin stated that the image of coronavirus has captivated me, despite its potential lethality, ever since I saw the first electron micrographs and published models of the virus, so I decided to confront the subject directly and go where my visual and cognitive imagination led.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/c19_teach_img/1001/thumbnail.jp

ART 460 - COVID ablaze

Painting done for ART 460, taught by Professor James Linehan in Spring 2020. These works were created by University of Maine student Cheryl Coffin at home after the University of Maine ceased its on-campus classes and transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester. The works are water based mixed media, including watercolor, collage and black ink, on a variety of papers, including traditional watercolor paper, rice paper, and a map from an old atlas of the world. Coffin stated that the image of coronavirus has captivated me, despite its potential lethality, ever since I saw the first electron micrographs and published models of the virus, so I decided to confront the subject directly and go where my visual and cognitive imagination led.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/c19_teach_img/1003/thumbnail.jp

ART 460 - Coltsfoot and COVID

Painting done for ART 460, taught by Professor James Linehan in Spring 2020. These works were created by University of Maine student Cheryl Coffin at home after the University of Maine ceased its on-campus classes and transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester. The works are water based mixed media, including watercolor, collage and black ink, on a variety of papers, including traditional watercolor paper, rice paper, and a map from an old atlas of the world. Coffin stated that the image of coronavirus has captivated me, despite its potential lethality, ever since I saw the first electron micrographs and published models of the virus, so I decided to confront the subject directly and go where my visual and cognitive imagination led.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/c19_teach_img/1004/thumbnail.jp

ART 460 - COVID dances around the world

Painting done for ART 460, taught by Professor James Linehan in Spring 2020. These works were created by University of Maine student Cheryl Coffin at home after the University of Maine ceased its on-campus classes and transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester. The works are water based mixed media, including watercolor, collage and black ink, on a variety of papers, including traditional watercolor paper, rice paper, and a map from an old atlas of the world. Coffin stated that the image of coronavirus has captivated me, despite its potential lethality, ever since I saw the first electron micrographs and published models of the virus, so I decided to confront the subject directly and go where my visual and cognitive imagination led.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/c19_teach_img/1000/thumbnail.jp