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Chen, Mei

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Chen

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Mei

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Chen, Mei
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.7a6b0900-56f8-4354-b743-663730dbedb5

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    Leukotriene B4-Driven Neutrophil Recruitment to the Skin Is Essential for Allergic Skin Inflammation
    (Elsevier BV, 2012) Oyoshi, Michiko; He, Rui; Li, Yitang; Mondal, Subhanjan; Yoon, Juhan; Afshar, Roshi; Chen, Mei; Lee, David M.; Luo, Hongbo; Luster, Andrew; Cho, John S.; Miller, Lloyd S.; Larson, Allison; Murphy, George; Geha, Raif
    Scratching triggers skin flares in atopic dermatitis. We demonstrate that scratching of human skin and tape stripping of mouse skin cause neutrophil influx. In mice, this influx was largely dependent on the generation of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) by neutrophils and their expression of the LTB4 receptor BLT1. Allergic skin inflammation in response to epicutaneous (EC) application of ovalbumin to tape-stripped skin was severely impaired in \(Ltb4r1^{−/−}\) mice and required expression of BLT1 on both T cells and non-T cells. Cotransfer of wild-type (WT) neutrophils, but not neutrophils deficient in BLT1 or the LTB4-synthesizing enzyme LTA4H, restored the ability of WT \(CD4^+\) effector T cells to transfer allergic skin inflammation to \(Ltb4r1^{−/−}\) recipients. Pharmacologic blockade of LTB4 synthesis inhibited allergic skin inflammation elicited by cutaneous antigen challenge in previously EC-sensitized mice. Our results demonstrate that a neutrophil-T cell axis reliant on LTB4-BLT1 interaction is required for allergic skin inflammation.
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    Quantitative Analysis of Neonicotinoid Insecticide Residues in Foods: Implication for Dietary Exposures
    (American Chemical Society, 2014) Chen, Mei; Tao, Lin; McLean, John; Lu, Chensheng
    This study quantitatively measured neonicotinoids in various foods that are common to human consumption. All fruit and vegetable samples (except nectarine and tomato) and 90% of honey samples were detected positive for at least one neonicotinoid; 72% of fruits, 45% of vegetables, and 50% of honey samples contained at least two different neonicotinoids in one sample, with imidacloprid having the highest detection rate among all samples. All pollen samples from New Zealand contained multiple neonicotinoids, and five of seven pollens from Massachusetts detected positive for imidacloprid. These results show the prevalence of low-level neonicotinoid residues in fruits, vegetables, and honey that are readily available in the market for human consumption and in the environment where honeybees forage. In light of new reports of toxicological effects in mammals, the results strengthen the importance of assessing dietary neonicotinoid intakes and the potential human health effects.
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    Three Dimensional Human Neuro-Spheroid Model of Alzheimer’s Disease Based on Differentiated Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Lee, Han-Kyu; Velazquez Sanchez, Clara; Chen, Mei; Morin, Peter J.; Wells, John M.; Hanlon, Eugene B.; Xia, Weiming
    The testing of candidate drugs to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) requires clinical trials that are lengthy and expensive. Efforts to model the biochemical milieu of the AD brain may be greatly facilitated by combining two cutting edge technologies to generate three-dimensional (3D) human neuro-spheroid from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from AD subjects. We created iPSC from blood cells of five AD patients and differentiated them into 3D human neuronal culture. We characterized neuronal markers of our 3D neurons by immunocytochemical staining to validate the differentiation status. To block the generation of pathologic amyloid β peptides (Aβ), the 3D-differentiated AD neurons were treated with inhibitors targeting β-secretase (BACE1) and γ-secretases. As predicted, both BACE1 and γ-secretase inhibitors dramatically decreased Aβ generation in iPSC-derived neural cells derived from all five AD patients, under standard two-dimensional (2D) differentiation conditions. However, BACE1 and γ-secretase inhibitors showed less potency in decreasing Aβ levels in neural cells differentiated under 3D culture conditions. Interestingly, in a single subject AD1, we found that BACE1 inhibitor treatment was not able to significantly reduce Aβ42 levels. To investigate underlying molecular mechanisms, we performed proteomic analysis of 3D AD human neuronal cultures including AD1. Proteomic analysis revealed specific reduction of several proteins that might contribute to a poor inhibition of BACE1 in subject AD1. To our knowledge, this is the first iPSC-differentiated 3D neuro-spheroid model derived from AD patients’ blood. Our results demonstrate that our 3D human neuro-spheroid model can be a physiologically relevant and valid model for testing efficacy of AD drug.