Further Decoding the Molecular Relationship Between Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating malignancy, especially as there are no current reliable methods of screening. A significant relationship between PDAC and Diabetes Mellitus (DM), specifically a new onset of diabetes mellitus (NOD). The molecular network of PDAC and new onset DM is not completely understood. We sought to investigate the molecular network of these two diseases with the ultimate goal of identifying potential biomarkers to aid in the screening of PDAC. Methods: We conducted a review for relevant articles concerning the molecular relationship between PDAC and DM. We compiled a list of 74 genes which have been implicated in the relationship between PDAC and DM. These genes were used for the construction of gene interaction network (GIN) by using GeneMANIA on the bases of genetic interactions, co-expression, co-localization, pathway, physical interactions, predicted interaction and shared protein domains. The GIN input file was imported in the cytoscape for the pathways enrichment analyses by using KEGG plugin. The cytoscape was used for the construction of the final GIN of both normal and cancer genes separately. Results: GIN and pathways enrichment analyses of genes known to be altered during NOD/DM and PDAC indicate their association with different pathways. in this study we have mentioned around 20 enriched pathways in the associated tables and figures which promptly show the direct and indirect association with pancreatic cancer. The major signaling pathways that were observed to be upregulated include NABA Matrisome, protein phosphorylation, metabolic processes and proteins upregulated a s a result of hormone response. Out of all pathways, proteins that are more involved in metabolic processes were found most influenced. Conclusion: In conclusion, we have contributed to identifying the molecular network relating PDAC and DM. Our future aim is to investigate the genes associated in this pathway. We will use this data to design a panel for next generation sequencing in tissue samples of patients diagnosed with PDAC

Murine For a Bad Time: Prehospital Factor Associations With Murine Typhus Related ICU Admission

Introduction: Across South Texas rates of murine typhus related hospitalization have been on the rise (1). Murine typhus is flea borne febrile illness caused by the bacterium Rickettsia typhi. Murine typhus is easily treated with doxycycline but is commonly underdiagnosed (2). Rarely murine typhus can cause hospitalization and ICU admission (3). To gain a greater understanding of the clinical course of severe murine typhus, our team has set out to identify novel clinical findings associated severe murine typhus courses. Methods: Medical records were obtained from adults with suspected murine typhus admitted to Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Texas, between 01/01/2010 to 05/31/2020. Authors performed manual chart review on the patients meeting the inclusion criteria and documented aspects of the patient’s medical history. Descriptive statistics were calculated with a χ2 test, were P values =0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: We enrolled 198 hospitalized adults with suspected murine typhus in our study, 22 requiring ICU admission. No statistically significant relationships were found between ICU admission and PMH indications of: CKD, T2D, HTN, CAD or liver disease. Our results did not show significant relationships between ICU admission and sex, age, or insurance status. Conclusion: Our study did not identify statistically significant relationships between adults admitted to the ICU with suspected murine typhus and health history. The findings of our study may be useful for clinicians who practice in regions endemic to murine typhus. Our team will continue to attempt to identify clinical and laboratory findings associated with a more severe disease course of murine typhus

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Further Decoding the Molecular Relationship Between Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and Diabetes Mellitus

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating malignancy, especially as there are no current reliable methods of screening. Recently literature reports a significant relationship with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and diabetes mellitus (DM). The pathologic molecular mechanism is not completely understood but it may hold insights into the development of novel screening and treatment options. In our study we compiled a list of 74 proteins involved in the PDAC and DM pathway, with 47 showing increased expression levels and 11 with decreased expression levels. These proteins are currently undergoing further computational analysis to identify their pathway interactions