Ramona

Padma Rajagopalan has received a $2.4 million National Institute of Health Small Business Innovation Research grant to design 3D liver organoids using patient derived cells and new microscopy imaging technology! This initiative is a collaboration with Ramona Optics and Wake Forest Medical School. You can read more about her research in the VT News article here! 👇 https://lnkd.in/e9vBr5qT

Our preprint, 'Origin of Ewing Sarcoma by Embryonic Reprogramming of Neural Crest to Mesoderm' is now available on bioRxiv & medRxiv! In this study, we explore the enigmatic origin of Ewing sarcoma using our zebrafish genetic cancer models. We revealed that neural crest cells can uniquely tolerate EWSR1::FLI1 expression, leading to tumor formation in vivo. A big thanks to our collaborators Claire Arata and Gage Crump for this adventurous journey! #AmatrudaLab In our model, targeted expression of EWSR1::FLI1 in neural crest cells resulted in the formation of tumors exhibiting mesenchymal features. But how does the trunk neural crest, a lineage that normally gives rise to glia, neurons, and pigment cells, produce mesenchymal tumors? By profiling chromatin accessibility and genome-wide EWSR1::FLI1 binding, we find that the fusion oncogene hijacks ETS sites containing developmental enhancers for neural crest to mesoderm reprogramming during cancer initiation. We also observed striking reprogramming of neural crest cells to a mesoderm-like state, resulting in ectopic fins throughout the body. EWSR1::FLI1 hijacked the developmental program that included activation of HOX genes and FGF signaling cascades during the formation of ectopic fins. Given that human Ewing sarcoma growth is significantly influenced by FGF signaling, we suggest that EWSR1::FLI1 may foster a favorable local signaling environment for tumor growth. Taken together, these findings show how a single mutation profoundly alters embryonic cell fate decisions reprogramming neural crest cells to a mesoderm-like state to initiate a devastating childhood cancer. #CellFate #CellReprogramming. #NeuralCrest #cancer #EwingSarcoma #zebrafish Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) USC Stem Cell 👉 https://lnkd.in/gGrRKRNP

The Champalimaud Foundation proudly hosted the Zebrafish Disease Models Society Annual Conference 🐟 from 8-10 October, bringing together 300 researchers for three jam-packed days of talks 🎤 and over 150 poster presentations 🙌. #ZDM17 #ZebrafishConference #ZebrafishScience #ResearchInnovation

A group of clinicians at Duke recently asked us if it was possible to 3D-scan and analyze entire cytopathology slides in under two minutes. Challenge accepted! 💪 Thanks to a great collaboration with Ramona Optics and lots of hard work by our team at Duke, we are happy to demonstrate our new multi-camera array scanner (MCAS), which rapidly digitizes entire microscope slides in 3D (100+ GB of image data per slide). Using custom-developed machine learning/AI software, the MCAS also automatically identifies and highlights key cytology specimen features that are relevant for cancer diagnosis. Please check out the video below to learn more about the MCAS and our recent publication in NPJ Imaging! https://lnkd.in/eNQsfqPk