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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; color: black;"><img alt="Dissertation Defense Announcement at the Cullen College of Engineering" id="x_Picture_x0020_2" width="600" height="170" style="width: 6.25in; height: 1.7812in; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-outlook-trace="F:1|T:1" src="cid:image001.png@01DA9B00.BCE5C110"></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; color: rgb(200, 16, 46);">Identification of Autoantibody in Autoimmune diseases.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(13, 13, 13); background-color: white;"><b>Using a novel microwell-based antigen array system (MAAS) to Identify autoantibody in lupus nephritis </b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; color: black;"><b>Neda Ostadnejad</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">May 1th, 2024; 4:00 pm - 5 pm (CST)</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Location: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); background-color: white;"> SERC 2013</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>Committee Chair:</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Tianfu Wu, Ph.D.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>Committee Members:</b><br>
Chandra Mohan, Ph.D. | Ran An, Ph.D.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><u><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19*3ameeting_YzNhMWY0NTAtN2YxMC00NmE1LThiNTktZDI0Nzk4YmE1OTJk*40thread.v2/0?context=*7b*22Tid*22*3a*22170bbabd-a2f0-4c90-ad4b-0e8f0f0c4259*22*2c*22Oid*22*3a*22ecdf667b-4eac-4429-9789-216b9d0d8b9a*22*7d__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!LkSTlj0I!GERGuUnPo1xZXpoPQDLD20QPERKU2tXtCQvAFK0Vd5i7sWUhMksvTWjxdCloGW0neuWEtFYxE6jANjfx2X9uWYfanWg$" title="https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YzNhMWY0NTAtN2YxMC00NmE1LThiNTktZDI0Nzk4YmE1OTJk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22170bbabd-a2f0-4c90-ad4b-0e8f0f0c4259%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ecdf667b-4eac-4429-9789-216b9d0d8b9a%22%7d" data-auth="NotApplicable" style="color: rgb(0, 120, 215); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" id="OWA5a422eea-e643-e189-f4b8-b3eebf3a3fce" class="OWAAutoLink" data-loopstyle="linkonly">https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YzNhMWY0NTAtN2YxMC00NmE1LThiNTktZDI0Nzk4YmE1OTJk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22170bbabd-a2f0-4c90-ad4b-0e8f0f0c4259%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ecdf667b-4eac-4429-9789-216b9d0d8b9a%22%7d</a></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(200, 16, 46);"><b>Abstract</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(13, 13, 13); background-color: white;">Lupus nephritis (LN) is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with high mortality. Existing diagnostic methods of LN, such as urine analysis and kidney
biopsy, are limited by accuracy and invasiveness, necessitating non-invasive approaches to guide LN management. Serum biomarkers, notably autoantibodies targeting tissues, offer promise in monitoring LN progression and treatment response. This study focuses
on the validation of newly discovered potential serum autoantibodies specific to LN using a novel microwell-based antigen array system (MAAS). Implementing MAAS enables high-throughput screening of multiple samples and multiple antigens simultaneously, reducing
sample and reagent consumption. Comprehensive pretesting was performed to optimize a variety of experimental conditions such as the number of printing drops, antigen concentration, serum dilution factor, concentration of detection antibody as well as the concentration
of fluorescent reporter. We used this optimized array and tested IgG anti-human polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) antibody in the serum of LN patients, compared to healthy individuals. We found serum levels of IgG anti-pIgR antibody were significantly
elevated in LN, compared to healthy controls. Importantly, serum IgG anti-pIgR antibody levels were strongly correlated with clinical and pathological parameters of LN, including urinary red blood cell (RBC) counts and renal pathology chronicity index (CI).</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; color: black;"><img alt="Engineered For What's Next" id="x_Picture_x0020_1" width="600" height="81" style="width: 6.25in; height: 0.8541in; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-outlook-trace="F:1|T:1" src="cid:image002.png@01DA9B00.BCE5C110"></span></p>
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