Shane T Grey's research while affiliated with University of South Wales and other places

Publications (192)

Article
Diabetes is a global public health burden and is characterized clinically by relative or absolute insulin deficiency. Therapeutic agents that stimulate insulin secretion and improve insulin sensitivity are in high demand as treatment options. CD47 is a cell surface glycoprotein implicated in multiple cellular functions including recognition of self...
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Full-text available
Islets prepared for transplantation into type 1 diabetes patients are exposed to compromising intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contribute to early graft failure, necessitating repeated islet infusions for clinical insulin independence. A lack of reliable pre-transplant measures to determine islet viability severely limits the success of islet t...
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Aims/hypothesis NF-κB activation unites metabolic and inflammatory responses in many diseases yet less is known about the role that NF-κB plays in normal metabolism. In this study we investigated how RELA impacts the beta cell transcriptional landscape and provides network control over glucoregulation. Methods We generated novel mouse lines harbou...
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The evolutionarily recent dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa (OoA) and across Eurasia provides a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of genetic selection as humans adapted to multiple new environments. Analysis of ancient Eurasian genomic datasets (~1,000 to 45,000 y old) reveals signatures of strong selection, includ...
Article
Aberrant AKT activation occurs in a number of cancers, metabolic syndrome, and immune disorders, making it an important target for the treatment of many diseases. To monitor spatial and temporal AKT activity in a live setting, we generated an Akt-FRET biosensor mouse that allows longitudinal assessment of AKT activity using intravital imaging in co...
Article
Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation is a deleterious molecular mechanism that drives acute kidney injury (AKI) and manifests in transplanted kidneys as delayed graft function. The TNFAIP3 gene encodes A20, a cytoplasmic ubiquitin ligase and a master negative regulator of the NF- κB signaling pathway. Common population-specific TNFAIP3 coding varia...
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Intrahepatic islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes is limited by the need for multiple infusions and poor islet viability posttransplantation. The development of alternative transplantation sites is necessary to improve islet survival and facilitate monitoring and retrieval. We tested a clinically proven biodegradable temporizing matrix (BTM),...
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The inflammatory microenvironment of solid tumors creates a protumorigenic milieu that resembles chronic inflammation akin to a subverted wound healing response. Here, we investigated the effect of converting the tumor microenvironment from a chronically inflamed state to one of acute microbial inflammation by injecting microbial bioparticles direc...
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Islets transplanted for type-1 diabetes have their viability reduced by warm ischemia, dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG; hypoxia model), oxidative stress and cytokine injury. This results in frequent transplant failures and the major burden of patients having to undergo multiple rounds of treatment for insulin independence. Presently there is no reliabl...
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Genome editing has the potential to revolutionize many investigative and therapeutic strategies in biology and medicine. In the field of regenerative medicine, one of the leading applications of genome engineering technology is the generation of immune evasive pluripotent stem cell-derived somatic cells for transplantation. In particular, as more f...
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The role of natural selection in shaping biological diversity is an area of intense interest in modern biology. To date, studies of positive selection have primarily relied on genomic datasets from contemporary populations, which are susceptible to confounding factors associated with complex and often unknown aspects of population history. In parti...
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Type 1 diabetes is a complex disease characterized by the lack of endogenous insulin secreted from the pancreatic β-cells. Although β-cell targeted autoimmune processes and β-cell dysfunction are known to occur in type 1 diabetes, a complete understanding of the cell-to-cell interactions that support pancreatic function is still lacking. To charact...
Preprint
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Background Islets prepared for transplantation into type 1 diabetes patients are exposed to compromising factors that contribute to early graft failure necessitating repeated islet infusions for clinical insulin independence. Lack of reliable pre-transplant measures to determine islet viability severely limits the success of islet transplantation....
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The notion that mobile units of nucleic acid known as transposable elements can operate as genomic controlling elements was put forward over six decades ago1,2. However, it was not until the advancement of genomic sequencing technologies that the abundance and repertoire of transposable elements were revealed, and they are now known to constitute u...
Preprint
Diabetes is a global public health burden and is characterized clinically by a relative or absolute insulin deficiency. Therapeutic agents that stimulate and improve insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity are in high demand as diabetic treatment. CD47 is a cell surface glycoprotein implicated in multiple cellular functions, including recognition...
Article
Background: The cytokine IL-33 is an activator of innate lymphoid cells 2 (ILC2s) in innate immunity and allergic inflammation. B cell activating factor (BAFF) plays a central role in B cell proliferation and differentiation, and high levels of this protein cause excess antibody production, including IgA. BAFF-transgenic mice overexpress BAFF and...
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Women with autoimmune and inflammatory aetiologies can exhibit reduced fecundity. TNFAIP3 is a master negative regulator of inflammation, and has been linked to many inflammatory conditions by genome wide associations studies, however its role in fertility remains unknown. Here we show that mice harbouring a mild Tnfaip3 reduction-of-function codin...
Preprint
Monogenic diseases can often manifest diverse clinical phenotypes and cause diagnostic dilemmas. While monoallelic loss-of-function variants in TNFAIP3 (Haploinsufficiency of A20; HA20) cause a highly penetrant autoinflammatory disease, the variable expressivity suggest a role for additional genetic and environmental disease modifiers. Here, we ide...
Preprint
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The evolutionarily recent dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) out of Africa and across Eurasia provides an opportunity to study rapid genetic adaptation to multiple new environments. Genomic analyses of modern human populations have detected limited signals of strong selection such as hard sweeps, but genetic admixture between populations...
Article
Background Neonatal porcine islets (NPIs) can restore glucose control in mice, pigs, and non‐human primates, representing a potential abundant alternative islet supply for clinical beta cell replacement therapy. However, NPIs are vulnerable to inflammatory insults that could be overcome with genetic modifications. Here, we demonstrate in a series o...
Article
The CRISPR-Cas9 and related systems offer a unique genome-editing tool allowing facile and efficient introduction of heritable and locus-specific sequence modifications in the genome. Despite its molecular precision, temporal and spatial control of gene editing with the CRISPR-Cas9 system is very limited. We developed a light-sensitive liposome del...
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Germline loss-of-function variation in TNFAIP3, encoding A20, has been implicated in a wide variety of autoinflammatory and autoimmune conditions, with acquired somatic missense mutations linked to cancer progression. Furthermore, human sequence data reveals that the A20 locus contains ~ 400 non-synonymous coding variants, which are largely unchara...
Preprint
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Neutrophils infiltrate most solid tumors and their presence is usually correlated with suppression of anti-tumor responses, metastasis and poor prognosis. Here we used microbial bioparticles administered into the tumor microenvironment to transform neutrophils into anti-tumor effectors. Microbially activated neutrophils acquired an effector phenoty...
Preprint
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The role of selection in shaping genetic diversity in natural populations is an area of intense interest in modern biology, especially the characterization of adaptive loci. Within humans, the rapid increase in genomic information has produced surprisingly few well-defined adaptive loci, promoting the view that recent human adaptation involved nume...
Preprint
Full-text available
Germline loss-of-function variation in TNFAIP3, encoding A20, has been implicated in a wide variety of autoinflammatory and autoimmune conditions, with acquired somatic missense mutations linked to cancer progression. Furthermore, human sequence data reveals that the A20 locus contains ~400 non-synonymous coding variants which are largely uncharact...
Article
Islet transplantation can restore lost glycemic control in type 1 diabetes subjects, but is restricted in its clinical application by limiting supplies of islets and the need for heavy immune suppression to prevent rejection. TNFAIP3, encoding the ubiquitin editing enzyme A20, regulates the activation of immune cells by raising NF-κB signalling thr...
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Resisting and tolerating microbes are alternative strategies to survive infection, but little is known about the evolutionary mechanisms controlling this balance. Here genomic analyses of anatomically modern humans, extinct Denisovan hominins and mice revealed a TNFAIP3 allelic series with alterations in the encoded immune response inhibitor A20. E...
Preprint
Full-text available
Islet transplantation can restore lost glycemic control in type 1 diabetes subjects, but is restricted in its clinical application by limiting supplies of islets and the need for heavy immune suppression to prevent rejection. TNFAIP3, encoding the ubiquitin editing enzyme A20, regulates the activation of immune cells by raising NF-kappaB signalling...
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Full-text available
Heterogeneous subtypes of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) coexist within pancreatic cancer tissues and can both promote and restrain disease progression. Here, we interrogate how cancer cells harboring distinct alterations in p53 manipulate CAFs. We reveal the existence of a p53-driven hierarchy, where cancer cells with a gain-of-function (GOF...
Preprint
Full-text available
Resisting or tolerating microbes are alternative strategies to survive infection, but little is known about the evolutionary mechanisms controlling this balance. Here, genomic analyses of anatomically modern humans, extinct Denisovan hominins, and mice revealed a series of missense variants in the immune response inhibitor A20 (encoded by TNFAIP3 )...
Article
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Beta cell replacement has the potential to restore euglycemia in patients with insulin dependent diabetes. While great progress has been made in establishing allogeneic islet transplantation from deceased donors as the standard of care for those with the most labile diabetes, it is also clear that the deceased donor organ supply cannot possibly tre...
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Islet transplantation is currently the only minimally-invasive therapy available for patients with type 1 diabetes that can lead to insulin-independence, however it is limited to only a small number of patients. Although clinical procedures have improved in the isolation and culture of islets, a large number of islets are still lost in the pre-tran...
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Failure to secrete sufficient quantities of insulin is a pathological feature of type-1 and type-2 diabetes, and also reduces the success of islet cell transplantation. Here we demonstrate that Y1 receptor signaling inhibits insulin release in β-cells, and show that this can be pharmacologically exploited to boost insulin secretion. Transplanting i...
Article
Purpose of review: Clinical islet transplantation does not enjoy the success seen for solid organ transplants, indicating a need for new therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcomes. This has prompted investigation into islet autonomous factors and pathways that may represent druggable targets. These have the potential to synergize with appr...
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Objective Extensive molecular heterogeneity of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), few effective therapies and high mortality make this disease a prime model for advancing development of tailored therapies. The p16-cyclin D-cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6-retinoblastoma (RB) protein (CDK4) pathway, regulator of cell proliferation, is deregulated in...
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The small GTPase RhoA is involved in a variety of fundamental processes in normal tissue. Spatiotemporal control of RhoA is thought to govern mechanosensing, growth, and motility of cells, while its deregulation is associated with disease development. Here, we describe the generation of a RhoA-fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor...
Article
Influenza A virus (IAV) infections lead to severe inflammation in the airways. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) characteristically have exaggerated airway inflammation and are more susceptible to infections with severe symptoms and increased mortality. The mechanisms that control inflammation during IAV infection and the m...
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Influenza A virus (IAV) infections lead to severe inflammation in the airways. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) characteristically have exaggerated airway inflammation and are more susceptible to infections with severe symptoms and increased mortality. The mechanisms that control inflammation during IAV infection and the m...
Article
The emerging standard of care for patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer is a combination of cytotoxic drugs gemcitabine and Abraxane, but patient response remains moderate. Pancreatic cancer development and metastasis occur in complex settings, with reciprocal feedback from microenvironmental cues influencing both disease progression and drug...
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Aims/hypothesis: Administration of anti-CD40 ligand (CD40L) antibodies has been reported to allow long-term islet allograft survival in non-human primates without the need for exogenous immunosuppression. However, the use of anti-CD40L antibodies was associated with thromboembolic complications. Targeting downstream intracellular components shared...
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Human mesenchymal stem cells pretreatment with IL-17A (MSC-17) potently enhances T cell immunosuppression but not their immunogenicity, in addition to avidly promoting the induction of suppressive regulatory T cells. The aim of this study was to identify potential mechanisms by which human MSC-17 mediate their superior immunomodulatory function. Un...
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Pancreatic islet transplantation is a promising clinical treatment for type I diabetes (T1D), but success is limited by extensive beta cell death in the immediate post-transplant period, and impaired islet function in the longer term. Following transplantation, appropriate vascular remodelling is crucial to ensure the survival and function of engra...
Data
Table S1, upregulated genes in MSC-γ vs. UT-MSC. Table S2, downregulated genes in MSC-γ vs. UT-MSC. Table S3, gene ontology terms for biological process of upregulated MSC-γ vs. UT-MSC genes. Table S4, gene ontology terms for biological process of downregulated MSC-γ vs. UT-MSC genes. Table S5, gene ontology terms for molecular functions of upregul...
Article
Compact bones (CB) are major reservoirs of mouse mesenchymal stem cells (mMSC). Here, we established a protocol to isolate MSC from CB and tested their immunosuppressive potential. Collagenase type II digestion of BM-flushed CB from C57B/6 mice was performed to liberate mMSC precursors from bone surfaces to establish nondepleted mMSC. CB cells were...
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Significance In this report we describe the generation of tissue-regenerative multipotent stem cells (iMS cells) by treating mature bone and fat cells transiently with a growth factor [platelet-derived growth factor–AB (PDGF-AB)] and 5-Azacytidine, a demethylating compound that is widely used in clinical practice. Unlike primary mesenchymal stem ce...
Article
Islet-specific memory T cells arise early in type 1 diabetes (T1D), persist for long periods, perpetuate disease and are rapidly reactivated by islet transplantation. As memory T cells are poorly controlled by 'conventional' therapies, memory T-cell mediated attack is a substantial challenge in islet transplantation and this will extend to applicat...
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E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell junctions play a prominent role in maintaining the epithelial architecture. The disruption or deregulation of these adhesions in cancer can lead to the collapse of tumor epithelia that precedes invasion and subsequent metastasis. Here we generated an E-cadherin-GFP mouse that enables intravital photobleaching and quant...
Data
Movie S1. Tissue-Specific and Induced Expression of E-cadherin-GFP, Related to Figure 1
Data
Movie S7. FRAP in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of PDAC Formation and following Drug Treatment, Related to Figures 5 and 6
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The nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway is a master regulator of inflammatory processes and is implicated in insulin resistance and pancreatic β cell dysfunction in the metabolic syndrome. Whereas canonical NF-κB signaling is well studied, there is little information on the divergent noncanonical NF-κB pathway in the context of pancreatic islet dysfu...
Article
Interferon-gamma preactivated mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-γ) are highly immunosuppressive but immunogenic in vivo due to their inherent expression of major histocompatibility (MHC) molecules. Here, we present an improved approach where we modified human bone-marrow derived MSC with interleukin-17A (MSC-17) to enhance T cell immunosuppression but no...
Article
Though the majority of kidney allografts are eventually lost to the process of chronic rejection, there are instances when kidney function is maintained after patients have stopped their immunosuppression. Baron and colleagues have examined the blood gene signature of patients with spontaneous kidney tolerance and identified a series of genes that...
Article
In this study, a critical and novel role for TNFR-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) is elucidated for peripheral CD8(+) T-cell and NKT-cell homeostasis. Mice deficient in TRAF2 only in their T cells (TRAF2TKO) show ∼40% reduction in effector-memory and ∼50% reduction in naïve CD8(+) T-cell subsets. IL-15-dependent populations were reduced further, as TRA...