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Biomedical subjects

Steven B Bleyl

Publications and source records attributed to Steven B Bleyl.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Elective genomic sequencing for adults in research, clinical and commercial contexts.

PURPOSE: Elective genomic sequencing (EGS) returns monogenic disease findings in multiple genes, including potentially novel variants, and may also provide participants with carrier status, pharmacogenomic and other health-related information. The PeopleSeq Study assessed participants' motivations for and concerns about EGS and the associated clinical and psychosocial outcomes across diverse EGS providers. METHODS: We administered a shared questionnaire to participants who chose to undergo EGS via 18 academic, clinical, or commercial EGS platforms. RESULTS: We enrolled 1575 participants, of whom 1147 (72.8%) completed a questionnaire after receiving their EGS results. A majority (60.3%) of the participants who completed a post-result questionnaire self-reported receiving results they assessed as important, including negative findings, and 75.9% reported a form of health-related utility. Among a subset (19.4%) who shared their EGS reports, 16.6% (37 of n = 223) received a monogenic finding and self-reported results deemed "important" were consistent with EGS reports. Most participants (74.1%) discussed their results with their family, but fewer discussed their results with a healthcare provider other than the site team (41.7%) or had one or more medical visits as a direct result of their EGS testing (23.1%). Participants expressed diverse motivations for EGS, with 91.4% expressing interest in their personal disease risk and 54% who expressed quasi-indication-based motivations related to family medical history. Individuals motivated by family history reported important results at a significantly higher rate. CONCLUSIONS: Early adopters of EGS are motivated by general interest in their health as well as quasi-indication-based considerations such as family history. A majority of participants learned results they considered medically important, but a much smaller segment engaged healthcare providers with their results.

Genomic testing↗

Restricted expression of Fgf16 within the developing chick inner ear.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling is required for otic placode induction and patterning of the developing inner ear. We have cloned the chick ortholog of Fgf16 and analyzed its expression pattern in the early chick embryo. Expression is restricted to the otic placode and developing inner ear through all the stages examined. By the closed otocyst stage, expression has resolved to anterior and posterior domains that partially overlap with those of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4), a marker of the developing sensory patches, the cristae of the anterior and posterior semicircular canals. Platelet-derived growth factor alpha (PDGFA), another growth factor with restricted otic expression, also overlaps with Fgf16 expression. The restricted expression pattern of Fgf16 suggests a role for FGF signaling in the patterning of the sensory cristae, together with BMP signaling.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Vasculogenesis drives pulmonary vascular growth in the developing chick embryo.

Formation of the pulmonary vasculature has been described as occurring by outgrowth of existing vessels (angiogenesis), de novo formation of new vessels (vasculogenesis), or a combination of both processes. Uncertainty about the contribution of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis to pulmonary vascular formation is partly due to methodologic approaches. Evidence in favor of angiogenesis stems from studies that used vascular-filling methods. Such methods identify only directly continuous lumina. Evidence for vasculogenesis has been provided by the use of molecular markers of blood vessel endothelium. Use of both methods has not been combined in the same species, however. We hypothesized, based on published evidence from quail and mouse, that chick pulmonary vascular formation occurs by vasculogenesis. To test that hypothesis, we used vascular filling, serial section, and immunohistochemical methods to analyze the developing lungs of chick embryos from Hamburger and Hamilton stages 20 to 43. Vascular filling suggested that the lumen of the pulmonary arteries sprouted from the sixth pharyngeal arch arteries. However, serial sections and immunohistochemical localization of fetal liver kinase-1 protein, the receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor, showed that the pulmonary arterial tree formed from endothelial cell precursors and coalescence of isolated blood vessels in the mediastinal splanchnic mesenchyme centrally to the developing lung tissue distally. Pulmonary veins grew from the left atrium to the developing lungs. Pulmonary blood vessel formation occurred continuously throughout the embryonic period studied. Our results show that vasculogenesis is the main process by which the pulmonary vasculature forms in the developing chick embryo.

Animals↗