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In a new study by Kamran Atabai and colleagues, the milk fat globule protein, Mfge8, is found to promote the uptake of dietary fat and the absorption of fatty acids by peripheral organs via activation of integrin signaling and the expression of fatty acid transporters. They also found that genetic deletion of Mfge8 protected mice from diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance.
Understanding how and where HIV-1 infection persists in the body is crucial for efforts to eradicate the viral reservoir. Now Mathias Lichterfeld and his colleagues report that HIV-1 can infect CD4+ T memory stem cells (TSCM cells) and that infected TSCM cells constitute a stable component of the viral reservoir in individuals treated with antiretroviral therapy.
PET imaging using 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose ([18F]FDG) has been widely used for the detection of plaque inflammation. Here, however, Nobuhiro Tahara and colleagues explore the possibility of using 18F-labeled mannose (2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-mannose, [18F]FDM), a structural analog to FDG, as an alternative and potentially more specific PET tracer than FDG for assessing the risk of acute vascular events in patients. The approach targets the mannose receptor–bearing macrophages that are abundant in high-risk atherosclerotic plaques, with feasibility demonstrated in a rabbit model of atherosclerosis.
Retinoic acid and arsenic therapies have shown considerable efficacy in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia, but their exact mechanism of action remains unclear. Here, Hugues de Thé and colleagues uncover a therapeutic effect mediated by nuclear body reformation and p53 activation that involves the induction of a senescence transcriptional program. These data suggest that redifferentiation and apoptosis induction may not be sufficient for the effect of these agents in patients and uncover alternative therapeutic routes that could be applied to other tumor and treatment types.
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind the stalk domain of the influenza hemagglutinin glycoprotein have been shown to have broadly neutralizing activity against diverse influenza subtypes. In this study, DiLillo et al. report that, unlike strain-specific anti–hemagglutinin head domain mAbs, anti-stalk mAbs can mediate antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity and require interactions with Fc receptors for their in vivo neutralizing activity.
The measurement of metabolites such as creatine, which are involved in the tissue creatine kinase reaction, enable the study of the effects of energy deprivation on the heart. Haris and colleagues introduce a new magnetic resonance imaging technique that maps the distribution of creatine in the heart that does not use radiation or exogenous contrast agents and offers higher sensitivity compared to proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods. Feasibility is demonstrated in vivo in infarcted swine myocardium using a standard clinical MRI scanner.
Dietary fibers are metabolized by the gut microbiota into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and have protective effects in inflammatory bowel disease. Here Benjamin J Marsland and colleagues report that mice fed a high-fiber diet have an altered microbiota and are protected from allergic airway inflammation. The SCFA propionate regulated allergic inflammation, bone marrow hematopoiesis and dendritic cell function. Taken together, these findings suggest that metabolites produced by the gut microbiota can influence hematopoiesis and immune responses in the lung.
