Volume 100 Issue 12, December 2020

Fibronectin 1 (FN-1) promotes differentiation and mineralization of osteoblasts by activating the WNT/β-catenin pathway. Integrin β1 (ITGB1) acts as an indispensable signaling molecule for the interplay between FN-1 and β-catenin. Treatment with FN-1 and ITGB1 is a potential therapeutic strategy for improvement of bone formation in osteoporosis.

The authors demonstrate that mechanical strain enhances proliferation and migration of breast cancer (BCa) cells. Oscillatory strain (OS)-exposed triple negative breast cancer cells produced more exosomes with immunomodulatory potential. Preconditioning BCa cells with OS before transplantation in vivo increased tumor growth, infiltration of immunesuppressive myeloid-lineage cells, and enhanced exosome-mediated cellular cross-talk.

This study reports novel pro-tumorigenic functions for CD38 in cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). In vivo, CAF CD38 promotes melanoma expansion. Mechanistically, CD38 enhances CAF migration towards cancer cells as well as tumor cell migration and invasion. Further, CD38 enables de novo endothelial tube formation by upregulating angiogenic transcripts and pro-angiogenic secreted factors.

PCP4/PEP19 knockdown in neuroblastoma cells induce neurite outgrowth, upregulation of NeuroD1 and downregulation of Ascl1 expression, suggesting that PCP4/PEP19 can suppress neurite outgrowth and neuronal differentiation through the regulation of NeuroD1 and Ascl1. Immunohistochemistry shows nuclear localization of PCP4/PEP19 in neuroblastoma cells. PCP4/PEP19 may therefore be an intranuclear negative regulator of neuronal differentiation.

MiR-126-5p expression decreases abdominal aorta dilation in mice with Ang II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), and its agomirs limit experimental AAA formation. MiR-126-5p inhibits Ang II- and PDGF-BB-induced dedifferentiation of aortic smooth muscle cells (AoSMCs) in vitro. MiR-126-5p promotes contractile switching of AoSMCs exposed to Ang II by targeting VEPH1.

SOX2 is expressed frequently in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). ASCL1 is a potent driver of SOX2 expression and regulates INSM1 expression in the major subtype, SCLC-A (ASCL1). However, SOX2 also regulates distinct genes in the hippo pathway in the minor subtype SCLC-Y (YAP1). These results show that ASCL1-SOX2 axis is a potential therapeutic target in SCLC.

HNRNPA2B1 regulates the splicing of MST1R and promotes the expression of a cancer-specific isoform, RON∆165, in head and neck cancer cells. RON∆165 activates the Akt/PKB pathway and leads to increased expression of epithelial to mesenchymal transition regulators such as TWIST2, E-cadherin, vimentin, and ZEB1 and promotes the invasive behavior of head and neck cancer.

The authors investigated the role of extracellular cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (eCIRP) in acute pancreatitis (AP) and found that eCIRP acts as a potent regulator of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation in AP. They observed that eCIRP itself is one of the NETs associated proteins. Furthermore, they demonstrate that C23 (a potent eCIRP inhibitor) reduces NETs formation and inflammation in AP.