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The progress in understanding the mechanistic causes of anemias such as hemoglobinopathies and rare genetic disorders, as well as advances in therapies for anemias are reviewed.
A method for converting biopsy-size tissue samples into digital files containing the mass spectrometry–measurable proteome of the sample will allow analysis and re-analysis of limited tissue samples.
William Bishai and colleagues report that cyclic-di-adenosine monophosphate produced during infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces IFN-β and contributes to the innate sensing of tuberculosis.
Ovarian tumors with common mutations in the epigenetic regulator ARID1A are shown to be sensitive to inhibition of EZH2, another epigenetic regulator, showing a synthetic lethality that could potentially be exploited therapeutically
Ketone bodies are elevated in response to fasting, a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet or high-intensity exercise. Vishwa Deep Dixit and colleagues report that one metabolite, β-hydroxybutyrate, inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome. In vivo, β-hydroxybutyrate is anti-inflammatory and suppresses NLRP3-mediated inflammatory disease.
Recent studies have suggested that manipulating the tumor-associated macrophage phenotype is a valid therapeutic approach in cancer. In turn, these studies have given some insight into the factors that polarize macrophages, thereby suggesting alternative therapeutic avenues.
Pathogenic mutations of the genes encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and 2 (IDH2) occur in people with acute myeloid leukemia or other tumors. A new study identifies a dependence of IDH-mutated cells on the anti-apoptosis regulator BCL-2 and indicates a 'synthetic lethal' strategy for the treatment of leukemias.
Macrophages are responsive to local tissue signals and alter their phenotypes accordingly. In disease tissues this means that macrophage phenotypes may change with disease progression, exacerbating or facilitating the resolution of the pathology.
With the completion of The Cancer Genome Atlas, it is time to evaluate its impact and mine its data to gain a better understanding of cancer biology and therapy.