Publications

Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition. One of the unmet medical needs in PD, are tools for better diagnosis, prognosis, and efficacy of treatment, which reflects the disease course of the individual patient. Alpha-Synuclein (α-Synuclein) is a hallmark of synucleinopathies such as PD, where α-Synuclein aggregates are deposited. Calpain-1 is an enzyme, […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by microvasculopathy, autoantibody production, and fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Disrupted collagen turnover in SSc leads to excessive collagen accumulation, but the remodeling of type VII collagen, a key component of the skin’s basement membrane, is not well understood. This study investigates […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by recurrent inflammation and challenging disease monitoring, with invasive endoscopy as the primary diagnostic tool despite the inadequacy of standard noninvasive biomarkers. This study evaluates serum extracellular matrix (ECM) fragments, which reflect the remodeling of mucosa and submucosa, as potential indicators of disease burden and treatment efficacy. We […]

Abstract BACKGROUND The collagen-rich tumor stroma plays a crucial role in biliary tract cancer (BTC). Collagen biomarkers of type I collagen (reC1M), type III collagen (PRO-C3), type IV collagen (C4G), type VIII collagen (PRO-C8), type XI collagen (PRO-C11), type XVII collagen (PRO-C17) and type VIII collagen (TUM) may be used as potential non-invasive biomarkers. METHODS […]

Abstract OBJECTIVES Current knowledge on the fibro-inflammatory process underlying chronic pancreatitis originates from animal studies or human studies based on circulating biomarkers. To provide new insight into the underlying fibro-inflammatory processes, we simultaneously assessed fibrosis biomarkers in pancreatic fluid collections and the systemic circulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective observational cross-sectional study included patients with […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Severe and critical COVID-19 is characterized by pulmonary viral infection with SARS-CoV-2 resulting in local and systemic inflammation. Dexamethasone (DEX) has been shown to improve outcomes in critically ill patients; however, its effect on tissue remodeling, particularly collagen turnover, remains unclear. This study investigated the association between circulating extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling neo-epitopes […]

Abstract Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition, which is highly heterogeneous upon diagnosis. Brain extracellular matrix (ECM) accounts for 10-20 % of the total brain volume and is responsible for the physical organization of neuronal and glia cells. Blood-based biomarkers quantifying ECM fragments holds the potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Here we evaluated […]

Abstract Understanding how inflammatory cytokines influence profibrogenic wound healing responses in fibroblasts is important for understanding the pathogenesis of fibrosis. TNF-α and IL-13 are key cytokines in Th1 and Th2 immune responses, respectively, while TGF-β1 is the principal pro-fibrotic mediator. We show that 12-day fibroblast culture with TNF-α or IL-13 induces fibrogenesis, marked by progressively […]

Abstract OBJECTIVE To assess the longitudinal stability of biomarker-based molecular endotypes of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) participants from APPROACH and to evaluate the consistency of findings in an independent KOA population. METHODS Nineteen biomarkers were measured longitudinally in 295 KOA participants from the APPROACH cohort. K-means clustering was used to identify the structural damage, inflammation, and […]

Abstract Blood-based extracellular matrix (ECM) fragments have been identified as potential pharmacologic biomarkers in spondyloarthritis and diagnostic biomarkers in psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis vulgaris. This study aimed to explore whether ECM fragments can differentiate patients with psoriasis from healthy controls (HC) and determine their potential as biomarkers for response to treatment in psoriasis. The study […]