These findings suggest HLHS may be associated with a fundamental
cellular defect in the heart muscle that can compromise blood flow in patients.
It's theorized that portions of the brain swell and decompress almost instantly during this stage, causing a host
of cellular defects throughout the brain.
Dr. Alaimo: My research is focused on discerning the
multifaceted cellular defects that contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders.
An example comes from a patient with familial hypercholesterolemia — a disease that causes high blood levels of «bad» LDL (low - density lipoprotein) cholesterol because
a cellular defect prevents the liver from absorbing LDL.
The cellular defects in DC created an opportunity for Agarwal and his collaborators to attempt immunosuppression - only pre-transplant conditioning.
When we co-cultured ASD neurons with normal astrocytes, we could rescue
the cellular defects.