Travis Lantz

All Publications

• Intranasal Sertraline for the Investigation of Nose-to-Brain Delivery to Mitigate Systemic Exposure. ACS pharmacology & translational science Williams, S. C., Lantz, T., Doulames, V., Alakesh, A., Ramos Mejia, D., Jons, C. K., Huang, Z. Y., Eckman, N., Appel, E. A. 2025; 8 (10): 3669-3676

  Abstract

  Antenatal depression, or depression during pregnancy, is a common psychiatric disorder and poses significant risks to both the mother and the fetus. Despite these risks, it is frequently left untreated due to fears of side effects caused by antidepressant medications which cross through the placental barrier. It is therefore desirable to develop formulation strategies to mitigate systemic exposure to psychotropics while maintaining their efficacy. In this work, we develop formulations of sertraline, a common antidepressant, to target delivery to the brain through intranasal administration. Formulation engineering enables successful solubilization of sertraline at high concentrations over months at room temperature. Using mice, we compare sertraline biodistribution following intranasal administration and standard oral administration. Intranasal administration of our candidate formulation provides comparable brain exposure at half the dose compared to oral treatment and lowers the maximum plasma exposure. These findings suggest that intranasal administration may provide selectivity for drug exposure in the central nervous system over systemic exposure.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsptsci.5c00560

  View details for PubMedID 41098574

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12519257

• Intranasal Sertraline for the Investigation of Nose-to-Brain Delivery to Mitigate Systemic Exposure ACS PHARMACOLOGY & TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE Williams, S. C., Lantz, T., Doulames, V., Alakesh, A., Ramos Mejia, D., Jons, C. K., Huang, Z., Eckman, N., Appel, E. A. 2025

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsptsci.5c00560

  View details for Web of Science ID 001577267800001

• RAPIDASH: Tag-free enrichment of ribosome-associated proteins reveals composition dynamics in embryonic tissue, cancer cells, and macrophages. Molecular cell Susanto, T. T., Hung, V., Levine, A. G., Chen, Y., Kerr, C. H., Yoo, Y., Oses-Prieto, J. A., Fromm, L., Zhang, Z., Lantz, T. C., Fujii, K., Wernig, M., Burlingame, A. L., Ruggero, D., Barna, M. 2024

  Abstract

  Ribosomes are emerging as direct regulators of gene expression, with ribosome-associated proteins (RAPs) allowing ribosomes to modulate translation. Nevertheless, a lack of technologies to enrich RAPs across sample types has prevented systematic analysis of RAP identities, dynamics, and functions. We have developed a label-free methodology called RAPIDASH to enrich ribosomes and RAPs from any sample. We applied RAPIDASH to mouse embryonic tissues and identified hundreds of potential RAPs, including Dhx30 and Llph, two forebrain RAPs important for neurodevelopment. We identified a critical role of LLPH in neural development linked to the translation of genes with long coding sequences. In addition, we showed that RAPIDASH can identify ribosome changes in cancer cells. Finally, we characterized ribosome composition remodeling during immune cell activation and observed extensive changes post-stimulation. RAPIDASH has therefore enabled the discovery of RAPs in multiple cell types, tissues, and stimuli and is adaptable to characterize ribosome remodeling in several contexts.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.08.023

  View details for PubMedID 39260367

• A p53-dependent translational program directs tissue-selective phenotypes in a model of ribosomopathies. Developmental cell Tiu, G. C., Kerr, C. H., Forester, C. M., Krishnarao, P. S., Rosenblatt, H. D., Raj, N., Lantz, T. C., Zhulyn, O., Bowen, M. E., Shokat, L., Attardi, L. D., Ruggero, D., Barna, M. 2021

  Abstract

  In ribosomopathies, perturbed expression of ribosome components leads to tissue-specific phenotypes. What accounts for such tissue-selective manifestations as a result of mutations in the ribosome, a ubiquitous cellular machine, has remained a mystery. Combining mouse genetics and in vivo ribosome profiling, we observe limb-patterning phenotypes in ribosomal protein (RP) haploinsufficient embryos, and we uncover selective translational changes of transcripts that controlling limb development. Surprisingly, both loss of p53, which is activated by RP haploinsufficiency, and augmented protein synthesis rescue these phenotypes. These findings are explained by the finding that p53 functions as a master regulator of protein synthesis, at least in part, through transcriptional activation of 4E-BP1. 4E-BP1, a key translational regulator, in turn, facilitates selective changes in the translatome downstream of p53, and this thereby explains how RP haploinsufficiency may elicit specificity to gene expression. These results provide an integrative model to help understand how in vivo tissue-specific phenotypes emerge in ribosomopathies.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.06.013

  View details for PubMedID 34242585