Volume 99 Issue 2, February 2019

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common, destructive and pre-malignant airway disease often seen in smokers. We know remarkably little about the underlying driving mechanisms. Scientists have recently made important observations indicating that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is central to these pathologies, with heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor as an emerging novel therapeutic target to ameliorate EMT in smokers and patients with COPD.

Bronchial epithelium is now believed to participate in the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma. In this report, the authors show that the ΔNp63 transcription factor, expressed in the basal layer of bronchus, modulates distinctive survival and immune-related bronchial epithelial responses. These results suggest functional significance of the epithelial shedding found in the pathology of bronchial asthma.

High expression of the transcription factor ZNF326 correlates with low differentiation and high pTNM stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. ZNF326 promotes proliferation, invasion, and tumorigenesis of NSCLC cells in vivo and in vitro. ZNF326 directly targets ERCC1, a DNA excision repair protein, binding to its promoter region, thereby promoting cyclinB1 synthesis and cell cycle progression.

Having previously demonstrated that p17 from HIV can influence both lymphoma tumor growth and angiogenesis, here the authors investigated the mechanism of these findings. They show that p17 activates the epidermal growth factor-receptor on brain endothelial cells stimulating down-stream signalling responsible for initiating angiogenesis.

Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier1 (MPC1) is a key factor that controls pyruvate transportation in mitochondria. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients with higher MPC1 expression in tumors exhibit longer overall survival rate than those with lower MPC1. This study shows that MPC1 is a novel prognostic biomarker to predict patient.

Tetraspanin CD9 is essential for sperm–egg fusion and contributes to uterine repair through microexosome formation. In the present study, we report that CD9 repositioning and release affect both membrane structures and mitochondrial state in the uterine epithelium, and contribute to female fertility.

The trigeminal sensory nerve is critical for maintenance of corneal epithelial stem cells in the corneal limbus and is essential to the homeostasis of the tissue. TRPV4 signal mediated gene expression in the nerve drives expression of stem cell markers and nerve growth factor in the limbal stem cells as well as potentiates their proliferation.

Schistosome flukes induce pathology due to trapped parasite eggs, producing a granulomatous-immune response delineated by fibrosis and the deposition of collagen in the liver. The authors present whole animal imaging for the quantitation of hepatic collagen deposition during the early stages of pathology.

Under hyperglycemic conditions, there is aberrant activation of the Hedgehog pathway due to increased O-GlcNAcylation of the GLI1 and GLI2 transcription factors; this modification enhances their transcriptional activity. This study lays a foundation for inhibiting O-GlcNAcylation, particularly in cancer patients with diabetes or metabolic disease, in order to control metabolism, progression and/or drug resistance of breast cancer.

Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) is expressed in primary osteoblasts and is upregulated during osteoblast differentiation. The authors show that KLF2 promotes osteoblast differentiation and mineralization by increasing expression of the transcription factor Runx2, which is necessary for osteoblast function. Therefore, KLF2 might be a novel therapeutic target for bone disease.