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Biomedical subjects

Maria de la Luz Garcia-Hernandez

Publications and source records attributed to Maria de la Luz Garcia-Hernandez.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Pathogenesis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: Insights from animal models and single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses of skin, synovium and entheses.

Psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are immune-mediated diseases characterized by chronic systemic inflammation, including inflammation of the skin and joints. Recent advances in animal models, single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, and proteomics have greatly enhanced our understanding of disease pathogenesis. Mouse models exhibit key features of skin and joint inflammation, facilitating analysis of molecular pathways, and identification of therapeutic targets. Single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses have revealed cell-type-specific contributions to inflammation, highlighting interactions between keratinocytes, T cells, fibroblasts, and dendritic cells that drive psoriatic pathology. In psoriatic synovium, type 17 tissue-resident memory T cells, monocytes, and fibroblasts contribute to local inflammation and joint damage, whereas the roles of B cells and plasma cells are less clear. Proteomic and metabolomic profiling in patients with PsA has identified circulating protein signatures and metabolites associated with disease progression, sex-specific differences, and response to therapy. The integration of these multiomic approaches provides a detailed map of immune-stromal-epithelial crosstalk across skin, synovium, and entheses, uncovering mechanisms that were previously inaccessible. These insights have implications for predicting disease progression, identifying novel therapeutic targets, and optimizing treatment strategies. Collectively, advances in animal models and multiomic profiling are reshaping our understanding of PsO and PsA, providing a framework for future research, disease monitoring, and therapeutic development.

Animals

Evaluation of Vaccinia Virus Infection in Mice Using Two-Reporter Recombinant Virus.

The family Poxviridae comprises multiple viruses with large double-stranded (ds) DNA genomes that can infect numerous vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, including humans. The development of genetic engineering methods for Vaccinia virus (VACV), the prototypic member in the family, have allowed the manipulation of the genomes of poxviruses for the generation of recombinant (r)VACV expressing easily traceable luciferase and/or fluorescent reporter genes. These recombinant viruses have significantly contributed to progress in the field of poxvirus research and accelerated the development of novel prophylactic vaccines and therapeutic antiviral treatments. Recently, we described two reporter rVACV expressing luciferase (Nluc) and fluorescent (GFP or Scarlet) proteins to easily track viral infections in different systems, overcoming the limitations associated with the use of rVACV expressing a single luciferase or fluorescent reporter gene. Here, we describe the experimental procedures to carry out in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo studies using these novel bireporter-expressing rVACV, which also represent an excellent option to study the biology of VACV, including the use of these reporter viruses for testing new antivirals and vaccines, using cultured cells and/or well-characterized animal models of infection.

Animals