Anastasija Neimane

RESEARCH OUTPUT

Selected publications

1. Generation of induced pluripotent stem cell lines from three LGMD R1 patients carrying CAPN3 hypomorphic intronic variant c.1746-20C > G.Stem cell research · 2025
   Calpainopathy is a progressive autosomal recessive limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD R1) caused by variants in the calpain 3 (CAPN3) gene. We have shown that the hypomorphic intronic mutation c.1746-20C > G, which is common in Latvia (MAF 0.237), causes incorrect splicing of the CAPN3 products that in combination with c.643 T > C variant in trans position leads to the development of LGMD clinical symptoms. Our project aims to generate calpainopathy patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and create a disease model that recapitulates unique CAPN3 variant.

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   PubMed
2. Personalized PDAC chip with functional endothelial barrier for tumour biomarker detection: A platform for precision medicine applications.Materials today. Bio · 2024
   Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive cancer characterised by poor survival rates and an increasing global incidence. Advances in the staging and categorization of pancreatic tumours, along with the discovery of functional mutations, have made precision treatments possible, which may lead to better clinical results. To further improve customized treatment approaches, in vitro models that can be used for functional drug sensitivity testing and precisely mimic the disease at the organ level are required. In this study, we present a workflow for creating a personalized PDAC chip utilising primary tumour-derived human pancreatic organoids (hPOs) and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) to simulate the vascular barrier and tumour interactions within a PDMS-free organ-on-a-chip system. The patient PDAC tissue, expanded as tumour hPOs, could be cultured as adherent cells on the chip for more than 50 days, allowing continuous monitoring of cell viability through outflows from tumour and endothelial channels. Our findings demonstrate a gradual increase in cell density and cell turnover in the pancreatic tumor channel. Tumour-specific biomarkers, including CA-19.9, TIMP-1, Osteopontin, MIC-1, ICAM-1 and sAXL were consistently detected in the PDAC chip outflows. Comparative analyses between tissue culture plates and microfluidic conditions revealed significant differences in biomarker secretion patterns, highlighting the advantages of the microfluidics approach. This PDAC chip provides a stable, reproducible tumour model system with a functional endothelial cell barrier, suitable for drug sensitivity and secretory biomarker studies, thus serving as a platform for functional precision medicine application and multi-organ chip development.

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   PubMed