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A new study provides a rationale for the use of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors to trigger irreparable DNA damage as a therapeutic approach in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It also provides support for combining PARP inhibitors with agents that reduce HOXA9 protein levels.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating X-linked disease that is characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and caused by mutations in dystrophin. Dystrophin is critical for myofiber structural integrity, but a new study reveals an additional important role for this protein in muscle stem cells.
Neutralization breadth is thought to be an important feature of an effective vaccine against HIV-1. A study in one individual has now identified the specific viral variant that engaged the necessary antibody precursor, as well as the viral immunotypes that drove neutralization breadth, improving understanding of how to mimic this process with a vaccine.
Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide. A new study presents a promising therapeutic strategy in which Toll-like receptor (TLR) 5 stimulation enables the analgesic compound, QX-314, to specifically enter and silence large fiber sensory neurons, which convey pain in the setting of injury.
Cancer cachexia leads to involuntary weight loss resulting from the atrophy of skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. Now, in metastatic mouse models of cancer, investigators reveal a cross talk pathway between bone and muscle that provides a new understanding of wasting in advanced cancers.
A new study using human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived human pancreatic organoids to model neoplastic transformation and cancer-derived human pancreatic tumor organoids for drug testing provides new personalized approaches to modeling and treating this malignancy.
The role of CD47—often expressed on tumor cells—as a 'don't eat me' signal that inhibits macrophage phagocytosis is well established. But new work reveals a major role for other immune cell types—T cells and dendritic cells—in the anti-tumor effects of therapeutic CD47 blockade.
During viral infections, antigen-presenting cells (APC) have traditionally been thought to recruit and activate CD4+ T cells by presenting fragments of viral proteins captured from the extracellular environment. A new study indicates that the material the APCs need to present is much closer: in fact, APCs need to make it themselves.
Several independent groups question the reliability of an antibody-based method that is used to isolate oogonial stem cells from the ovaries of adult humans, nonhuman primates and mice.
Depression is mechanistically not well understood. A new study investigates the expression of chromatin-remodeling complexes in a mouse model for depression and describes an epigenetic pathway that may explain why some individuals are more susceptible to stress-induced depression than others.
Kidney fibrosis is a main pathological component of chronic kidney disease. Two new studies pinpoint a partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition as a mechanism driving the development of kidney fibrosis, thus paving the way for novel treatments of fibrosis-associated diseases.
A new study identifies the RAS-MAPK pathway to be an Achilles' heel of EML4-ALK fusion-positive lung cancer and suggests that up-front combination therapy directed against both pathways can achieve sustained suppression of tumor growth.
Seven years after the launch of the Human Microbiome Project, we still lack sufficient tools to visualize the microbiome in a living host. A new study provides experimental tools to label and track live anaerobic bacteria in the microbial communities in the mouse gut and beyond.
Aging is a major risk factor for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. A new study identified β2-microglobulin as a blood-borne factor that detrimentally influences the brain during the aging process.
A new study shows that astrocytes are involved in the development of chronic itch in a mouse model. This is dependent on upregulation of lipocalin 2 (LCN2) by the transcription factor STAT-3 and astrogliosis.
Engraftment of progenitor cells to effect repair of injured lungs has been a major challenge. A new study combines a conditioning strategy adopted from bone marrow transplantation with a lung injury model to bring this potential therapeutic approach closer to reality.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating autoimmune disorder, the etiology of which is poorly understood. A new study reveals dysbiosis in gut and oral microbiomes of affected individuals, potentially providing a basis for patient stratification and clues to pathophysiological mechanisms of RA onset and progression.
Muscle fibrosis after acute injury can be debilitating, but in chronic muscle disease it can be lethal. A new study reveals that shifts in macrophage phenotype in injured or diseased muscle can influence whether connective tissue production by fibro/adipogenic precursors in muscle is beneficial or pathological.
Adipocyte progenitors have the capacity to differentiate into mature brown adipocytes with thermogenic capabilities. Two new studies identify novel markers to help prospectively isolate these and mature adipocytes from human brown fat biopsies.
