Tyrone DeSpenza Jr, MD, PhD
About
Research
Publications
2025
Autonomic modulation of the immune response and implications for CNS malignancies
Wachsmuth L, Srinivasan E, Puviindran B, Haskell-Mendoza A, DeSpenza T, Fecci P. Autonomic modulation of the immune response and implications for CNS malignancies. Npj Precision Oncology 2025, 9: 168. PMID: 40483275, PMCID: PMC12145445, DOI: 10.1038/s41698-025-00957-y.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsCentral nervous systemAntitumor immune responseImmune responseAutonomic nervous systemNervous systemCentral nervous system malignanciesCentral nervous system inflammationModulation of immune responsesCentral nervous system inputImmune cell functionRegulate immune responsesIntracranial malignanciesImmune cellsMalignancyAutonomic modulationNeuro-immunologyCell functionImmune organsSignaling pathwayGlobal physiological processesTripartite interactionResponseInflammationCancerPhysiological processesClinical phenotypes among patients with familial forms of Chiari malformation type 1.
Mekbib K, Muñoz W, Allington G, Zhao S, Mehta N, Fortes C, Shohfi J, Fan B, Nelson-Williams C, DeSpenza T, Butler W, Alper S, Jackson E, Kahle K. Clinical phenotypes among patients with familial forms of Chiari malformation type 1. Journal Of Neurosurgery Pediatrics 2025, 36: 109-118. PMID: 40315599, PMCID: PMC12558010, DOI: 10.3171/2025.1.peds24187.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsChiari malformation type 1Connective tissue disordersClinical phenotypeNeurological comorbiditiesType 1Family membersCerebellar tonsillar herniationPatient-parent triosEhlers-Danlos syndromeWhole-exome sequencingNeck painTonsillar herniationCraniocervical junctionNeural compressionCSF obstructionTissue disordersUnivariate analysisCohort studyFamily historyClinical symptomsNeurosurgical managementNeurodevelopmental conditionsVariable symptomsForamen magnumPatientsPTEN mutations impair CSF dynamics and cortical networks by dysregulating periventricular neural progenitors
DeSpenza T, Kiziltug E, Allington G, Barson D, McGee S, O’Connor D, Robert S, Mekbib K, Nanda P, Greenberg A, Singh A, Duy P, Mandino F, Zhao S, Lynn A, Reeves B, Marlier A, Getz S, Nelson-Williams C, Shimelis H, Walsh L, Zhang J, Wang W, Prina M, OuYang A, Abdulkareem A, Smith H, Shohfi J, Mehta N, Dennis E, Reduron L, Hong J, Butler W, Carter B, Deniz E, Lake E, Constable R, Sahin M, Srivastava S, Winden K, Hoffman E, Carlson M, Gunel M, Lifton R, Alper S, Jin S, Crair M, Moreno-De-Luca A, Luikart B, Kahle K. PTEN mutations impair CSF dynamics and cortical networks by dysregulating periventricular neural progenitors. Nature Neuroscience 2025, 28: 536-557. PMID: 39994410, PMCID: PMC12038823, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01865-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNeural progenitor cellsCongenital hydrocephalusCSF dynamicsIncreased CSF productionDe novo mutationsFrequent monogenic causeEverolimus treatmentCSF shuntingNonsurgical treatmentPTEN mutationsAqueductal stenosisInhibitory interneuronsVentriculomegalyProgenitor cellsChoroid plexusMonogenic causeCortical networksIncreased SurvivalBrain ventriclesCortical deficitsNeural progenitorsGene PTENCSF productionNkx2.1PTEN
2024
Pathogenic variants in autism gene KATNAL2 cause hydrocephalus and disrupt neuronal connectivity by impairing ciliary microtubule dynamics
DeSpenza T, Singh A, Allington G, Zhao S, Lee J, Kiziltug E, Prina M, Desmet N, Dang H, Fields J, Nelson-Williams C, Zhang J, Mekbib K, Dennis E, Mehta N, Duy P, Shimelis H, Walsh L, Marlier A, Deniz E, Lake E, Constable R, Hoffman E, Lifton R, Gulledge A, Fiering S, Moreno-De-Luca A, Haider S, Alper S, Jin S, Kahle K, Luikart B. Pathogenic variants in autism gene KATNAL2 cause hydrocephalus and disrupt neuronal connectivity by impairing ciliary microtubule dynamics. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2024, 121: e2314702121. PMID: 38916997, PMCID: PMC11228466, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2314702121.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsCongenital hydrocephalusCerebral ventriculomegalyPathogenic variantsPrefrontal pyramidal neuronsGenetic subsets of patientsDevelopment of ventriculomegalyRadial gliaSubsets of patientsHigh-frequency firingNeuronal connectivityHeterozygous germline variantsAutism spectrum disorderVentricular-subventricular zoneMicrotubule dynamicsImpaired spermatogenesisCSF shuntingExcitatory driveMicrotubule-severing ATPasePyramidal neuronsDisrupt neuronal connectivityGermline variantsVentriculomegalyCSF homeostasisDisrupt microtubule dynamicsPlanar cell polarity
2023
A novel SMARCC1 BAFopathy implicates neural progenitor epigenetic dysregulation in human hydrocephalus
Singh A, Allington G, Viviano S, McGee S, Kiziltug E, Ma S, Zhao S, Mekbib K, Shohfi J, Duy P, DeSpenza T, Furey C, Reeves B, Smith H, Sousa A, Cherskov A, Allocco A, Nelson-Williams C, Haider S, Rizvi S, Alper S, Sestan N, Shimelis H, Walsh L, Lifton R, Moreno-De-Luca A, Jin S, Kruszka P, Deniz E, Kahle K. A novel SMARCC1 BAFopathy implicates neural progenitor epigenetic dysregulation in human hydrocephalus. Brain 2023, 147: 1553-1570. PMID: 38128548, PMCID: PMC10994532, DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad405.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAqueductal stenosisDe novo variantsCardiac defectsCerebral ventriculomegalyPatient cohortFetal brain transcriptomeStructural brain disordersTranscription factor NeuroD2Large patient cohortCorpus callosum abnormalitiesHuman fetal brainOptical coherence tomographyWhole-exome sequencingNeural stem cellsCH patientsHuman hydrocephalusControl cohortClinical managementCommon disorderCallosum abnormalitiesFetal brainBrain disordersBrain surgeryCH pathogenesisPatientsMutation of key signaling regulators of cerebrovascular development in vein of Galen malformations
Zhao S, Mekbib K, van der Ent M, Allington G, Prendergast A, Chau J, Smith H, Shohfi J, Ocken J, Duran D, Furey C, Hao L, Duy P, Reeves B, Zhang J, Nelson-Williams C, Chen D, Li B, Nottoli T, Bai S, Rolle M, Zeng X, Dong W, Fu P, Wang Y, Mane S, Piwowarczyk P, Fehnel K, See A, Iskandar B, Aagaard-Kienitz B, Moyer Q, Dennis E, Kiziltug E, Kundishora A, DeSpenza T, Greenberg A, Kidanemariam S, Hale A, Johnston J, Jackson E, Storm P, Lang S, Butler W, Carter B, Chapman P, Stapleton C, Patel A, Rodesch G, Smajda S, Berenstein A, Barak T, Erson-Omay E, Zhao H, Moreno-De-Luca A, Proctor M, Smith E, Orbach D, Alper S, Nicoli S, Boggon T, Lifton R, Gunel M, King P, Jin S, Kahle K. Mutation of key signaling regulators of cerebrovascular development in vein of Galen malformations. Nature Communications 2023, 14: 7452. PMID: 37978175, PMCID: PMC10656524, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43062-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEphrin receptor B4Galen malformationBrain arteriovenous malformationsP120 RasGAPTransmitted variantsArteriovenous malformationsDe novo variantsSingle-cell transcriptomesSignificant burdenCerebrovascular developmentIntegrative genomic analysisEndothelial cellsVenous networkAdditional probandsMalformationsNovo variantsMissense variantsGenomic analysisDevelopmental angiogenesisVascular developmentDamaging variantsVeinRasGAPIntegrated analysisPatientsHuman genetics and molecular genomics of Chiari malformation type 1
Mekbib K, Muñoz W, Allington G, McGee S, Mehta N, Shofi J, Fortes C, Le H, Nelson-Williams C, Nanda P, Dennis E, Kundishora A, Khanna A, Smith H, Ocken J, Greenberg A, Wu R, Moreno-De-Luca A, DeSpenza T, Zhao S, Marlier A, Jin S, Alper S, Butler W, Kahle K. Human genetics and molecular genomics of Chiari malformation type 1. Trends In Molecular Medicine 2023, 29: 1059-1075. PMID: 37802664, DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2023.08.013.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsConceptsWhole-exome sequencingChiari malformation type 1Recent whole-exome sequencingDevelopmental signalingTranscription regulationCandidate genesGenetic studiesMolecular genomicsHuman geneticsSignificant genetic contributionGenetic contributionType 1De novo germlineExome sequencingStructural brain disordersTreatment failureSurgical approachSpinal canalCerebellar tonsilsCraniocervical junctionCaudal displacementBrain disordersNeurophysiological endophenotypesGenomicsGermlineThe choroid plexus links innate immunity to CSF dysregulation in hydrocephalus
Robert S, Reeves B, Kiziltug E, Duy P, Karimy J, Mansuri M, Marlier A, Allington G, Greenberg A, DeSpenza T, Singh A, Zeng X, Mekbib K, Kundishora A, Nelson-Williams C, Hao L, Zhang J, Lam T, Wilson R, Butler W, Diluna M, Feinberg P, Schafer D, Movahedi K, Tannenbaum A, Koundal S, Chen X, Benveniste H, Limbrick D, Schiff S, Carter B, Gunel M, Simard J, Lifton R, Alper S, Delpire E, Kahle K. The choroid plexus links innate immunity to CSF dysregulation in hydrocephalus. Cell 2023, 186: 764-785.e21. PMID: 36803604, PMCID: PMC10069664, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.017.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPost-infectious hydrocephalusTLR4-dependent immune responseBlood-cerebrospinal fluid barrierSmall molecule pharmacotherapyCell cross talkPharmacological immunomodulationCytokine stormNeuroimmune disordersBrain infectionDrug treatmentImmune responseAcquired hydrocephalusHydrocephalus modelChoroid plexusFluid barrierHydrocephalusEpithelial cellsCSFMulti-omics investigationsCross talkHypersecretionHemorrhagePharmacotherapyImmunomodulationPlexus
2021
PTEN mutations in autism spectrum disorder and congenital hydrocephalus: developmental pleiotropy and therapeutic targets
DeSpenza T, Carlson M, Panchagnula S, Robert S, Duy PQ, Mermin-Bunnell N, Reeves BC, Kundishora A, Elsamadicy AA, Smith H, Ocken J, Alper SL, Jin SC, Hoffman EJ, Kahle KT. PTEN mutations in autism spectrum disorder and congenital hydrocephalus: developmental pleiotropy and therapeutic targets. Trends In Neurosciences 2021, 44: 961-976. PMID: 34625286, PMCID: PMC8692171, DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.08.007.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsConceptsDevelopmental pleiotropyPTEN-PI3KMTOR pathwayMolecular pathophysiologyPTEN mutationsMolecular similarityTherapeutic targetCommon underlying mechanismNeurodevelopmental disordersUnderlying mechanismTherapeutic promisePleiotropyBiologyPhenotypicMutationsLimited understandingPathwayCommon neurodevelopmental disorderAutism spectrum disorderSimilarityTarget