Recent Citations

Vector Biolabs’ adenovirus/AAV products & services have been cited in over 1,000 peer-reviewed papers. You’ll find the most recent and notable of these publications here.

Brown adipose tissue thermogenic adaptation requires Nrf1-mediated proteasomal activity

Adipocytes possess remarkable adaptive capacity to respond to nutrient excess, fasting or cold exposure, and they are thus an important cell type for the maintenance of proper metabolic health. Although the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a critical organelle for cellular homeostasis, the mechanisms that mediate adaptation of the ER to metabolic challenges in adipocytes are […]

Accumbens dopamine D2 receptors increase motivation by decreasing inhibitory transmission to the ventral pallidu

Dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) regulate motivated behavior, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we show that selective upregulation of D2Rs in the indirect pathway of the adult NAc enhances the willingness to work for food. Mechanistic studies in brain slices reveal that D2R upregulation attenuates inhibitory transmission at […]

Inhibition of overactive TGF-ß attenuates progression of heterotopic ossification in mice

Acquired heterotopic ossification (HO) is a painful and debilitating disease characterized by extraskeletal bone formation after injury. The exact pathogenesis of HO remains unknown. Here we show that TGF-ß initiates and promotes HO in mice. We find that calcified cartilage and newly formed bone resorb osteoclasts after onset of HO, which leads to high levels […]

In utero CRISPR-mediated therapeutic editing of metabolic genes

In utero gene editing has the potential to prenatally treat genetic diseases that result in significant morbidity and mortality before or shortly after birth. We assessed the viral vector–mediated delivery of CRISPR–Cas9 or base editor 3 in utero, seeking therapeutic modification of Pcsk9 or Hpd in wild-type mice or the murine model of hereditary tyrosinemia […]

SOD3 improves the tumor response to chemotherapy by stabilizing endothelial HIF-2a

One drawback of chemotherapy is poor drug delivery to tumor cells, due in part to hyperpermeability of the tumor vasculature. Extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3) is an antioxidant enzyme usually repressed in the tumor milieu. Here we show that specific SOD3 re-expression in tumor-associated endothelial cells (ECs) increases doxorubicin (Doxo) delivery into and chemotherapeutic effect on […]

The histone demethylase Phf2 acts as a molecular checkpoint to prevent NAFLD progression during obesity

Aberrant histone methylation profile is reported to correlate with the development and progression of NAFLD during obesity. However, the identification of specific epigenetic modifiers involved in this process remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the histone demethylase Plant Homeodomain Finger 2 (Phf2) as a new transcriptional co-activator of the transcription factor Carbohydrate Responsive Element Binding […]

Lateral thalamic control of nociceptive response after whisker pad injection of varicella zoster virus

Pain is a common complication of herpes zoster (HZ) infection which results from reactivation of a latent varicella zoster virus (VZV). A third of HZ patients’ progress to a chronic pain state known as post herpetic neuralgia (PHN), and about a quarter of these patients’ have orofacial pain. The mechanisms controlling the pain responses are […]

Engrailed homeoprotein blocks degeneration in adult dopaminergic neurons through LINE-1 repression

LINE-1 mobile genetic elements have shaped the mammalian genome during evolution. A minority of them have escaped fossilization which, when activated, can threaten genome integrity. We report that LINE-1 are expressed in substantia nigra ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons, a class of neurons that degenerate in Parkinson disease. In Engrailed-1 heterozygotes, these neurons show a progressive […]