Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor signaling restores skeletal muscle stem cell regeneration in rats with muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe and progressive myopathy leading to motor and cardiorespiratory impairment. We analyzed samples from patients with DMD and a preclinical rat model of severe DMD and determined that compromised repair capacity of muscle stem cells in DMD is associated with early and progressive muscle stem cell senescence. We also found that extraocular muscles (EOMs), which are spared by the disease in patients, contain muscle stem cells with long-lasting regenerative potential. Using single-cell transcriptomics analysis of muscles from a rat model of DMD, we identified the gene encoding thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (Tshr) as highly expressed in EOM stem cells. Further, TSHR activity was involved in preventing senescence. Forskolin, which activates signaling downstream of TSHR, was found to reduce senescence of skeletal muscle stem cells, increase stem cell regenerative potential, and promote myogenesis, thereby improving muscle function in DMD rats. These findings indicate that stimulation of adenylyl cyclase leads to muscle repair in DMD, potentially providing a therapeutic approach for patients with the disease.

ORGANIZING PNEUMONIA: AN UNUSUAL SEQUELA OF COVID-19 INFECTION.

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a form of interstitial lung disease that develops in response to acute lung injury. SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide range of lung and extrapulmonary disease, but there are few data suggesting an association between COVID-19 and OP. We describe a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia who developed severe progressive OP with significant morbidity. LEARNING POINTS: COVID-19 pneumonia is one of the secondary causes of organizing pneumonia (OP).Early initiation of steroids in OP is associated with improvement in symptoms and prognosis.A prolonged course of steroids may be needed in COVID-induced OP.

Community capacity building: a collaborative approach to designing a training and education model.

BACKGROUND: Successful community-academic research partnerships require building the capacity of both community-based organizations (CBOs) and academics to conduct collaborative research of mutual interest and benefit. Yet, information about the needs and goals of research-interested CBOs is lacking. Our partnership aimed to conduct a community research needs assessment and to use results to develop future capacity-building programs for CBOs. METHODS: Based on our review of the literature, informal interviews with research-interested CBOs and community-engaged research groups locally and nationally, we developed a needs assessment survey. Key domains of this survey included history and experience with research collaboration, interest in specific research topics, and preference for learning format and structure. We trained community health workers (CHWs) to recruit senior leaders from CBOs in New York City (NYC) and encourage them to complete an on-line survey. RESULTS: Fully 54% (33/61) of CBOs completed the needs assessment. Most (69%) reported involvement with research or evaluation in the last 2 years and 33% had some funding for research. Although 75% had collaborated with academic institutions in the past, 58% did not rate this experience well. The four areas respondents prioritized for skills building were program evaluation, developing needs assessments, building surveys, and understanding statistical analyses. They were less interested in learning to build collaborations with academics. CONCLUSIONS: A formal needs assessment of research training and educational needs of CBOs revealed that most had experience, albeit negative, with academic collaborations. CBO leaders wanted to build skills to conduct and analyze assessments and program evaluations. Our community-academic partnership is using these findings to develop a research capacity-building course. Other partnerships should consider conducting such assessments to transform the capacity of CBOs to be active research partners and leaders.