Lindsey Mehl

All Publications

• Microglia in brain development and regeneration. Development (Cambridge, England) Mehl, L. C., Manjally, A. V., Bouadi, O., Gibson, E. M., Leng Tay, T. 2022; 149 (8)

  Abstract

  It has recently emerged that microglia, the tissue-resident macrophages of the central nervous system, play significant non-innate immune roles to support the development, maintenance, homeostasis and repair of the brain. Apart from being highly specialized brain phagocytes, microglia modulate the development and functions of neurons and glial cells through both direct and indirect interactions. Thus, recognizing the elements that influence the homeostasis and heterogeneity of microglia in normal brain development is crucial to understanding the mechanisms that lead to early disease pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. In this Review, we discuss recent studies that have elucidated the physiological development of microglia and summarize our knowledge of their non-innate immune functions in brain development and tissue repair.

  View details for DOI 10.1242/dev.200425

  View details for PubMedID 35502782

• Multi-omics analysis of spatially distinct stromal cells reveals tumor-induced O-glycosylation of the CDK4-pRB axis in fibroblasts at the invasive tumor edge. Cancer research Bouchard, G., Garcia-Marques, F. J., Karacosta, L. G., Zhang, W., Bermudez, A., Riley, N. M., Varma, S., Mehl, L. C., Benson, J. A., Shrager, J. B., Bertozzi, C. R., Pitteri, S. J., Giaccia, A. J., Plevritis, S. K. 2021

  Abstract

  The invasive leading edge represents a potential gateway for tumor metastasis. The role of fibroblasts from the tumor edge in promoting cancer invasion and metastasis has not been comprehensively elucidated. We hypothesize that crosstalk between tumor and stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) results in activation of key biological pathways depending on their position in the tumor (edge vs core). Here we highlight phenotypic differences between tumor-adjacent-fibroblasts (TAF) from the invasive edge and tumor core fibroblasts (TCF) from the tumor core, established from human lung adenocarcinomas. A multi-omics approach that includes genomics, proteomics, and O-glycoproteomics was used to characterize crosstalk between TAFs and cancer cells. These analyses showed that O-glycosylation, an essential post-translational modification resulting from sugar metabolism, alters key biological pathways including the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (CDK4-pRB) axis in the stroma and indirectly modulates pro-invasive features of cancer cells. In summary, the O-glycoproteome represents a new consideration for important biological processes involved in tumor-stroma crosstalk and a potential avenue to improve the anti-cancer efficacy of CDK4 inhibitors.

  View details for DOI 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-1705

  View details for PubMedID 34853070