Charles S. Dela Cruz

Epithelial QKI Protects Against Emphysema by Maintaining Mitochondrial Integrity

This study identifies QKI as a regulator of mitochondrial integrity in COPD, showing its protective role against emphysema through maintenance of mitochondrial function.

Heme orchestrates a tissue stress response to proteolytic damage

The paper identifies a conserved tissue-level stress response to proteolytic damage, characterized by heme release and oxidative stress, and shows how alveolar macrophages and fibroblasts respond to mitigate damage.

Integrative Single-Cell RNA and ATAC Sequencing Reveals the Impact of Chronic Cigarette Smoking on Lung Epithelial Responses to Influenza and Hyperoxia

This study uses scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq to show chronic cigarette smoke exposure enhances inflammatory and survival pathways in lung epithelial responses to influenza and hyperoxia.

Damage sensing through TLR9 Regulates Inflammatory and Antiviral Responses During Influenza Infection

This study shows that TLR9 sensing of tissue damage during influenza infection promotes inflammation and antiviral responses, but its absence leads to impaired viral clearance and prolonged lung injury.

ProtAnno, an Automated Cell Type Annotation Tool for Single Cell Proteomics Data that Integrates Information from Multiple Reference Sources

ProtAnno automates cell type annotation for single cell proteomics data by integrating multiple reference sources, achieving accurate and robust results on manually labeled datasets.

Multiscale PHATE Exploration of SARS-CoV-2 Data Reveals Multimodal Signatures of Disease

The paper introduces Multiscale PHATE, a method for exploring high-dimensional biomedical data, and applies it to identify immune cell signatures associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes.

The fungal ligand chitin directly binds and signals inflammation dependent on oligomer size and TLR2

This study identifies chitin oligomers as the smallest immunologically active motif and TLR2 as the primary receptor for chitin, showing size-dependent signaling and therapeutic potential.