Volume 24 Issue 8, August 2018

Period-tracking apps offer new insights on women’s health.

Researchers hope the Veterans Affairs’ research agenda won’t change much if it integrates more private care.

The calcium channel blocker verapamil preserves beta cells in a clinical trial of individuals with adult-onset type I diabetes.

The human heart contains two macrophage populations with distinct self-maintenance and inflammatory functions. A shift in the balance between these macrophage populations correlates with left-ventricle remodeling and systolic function in patients with heart failure.

Targeting senescent cells with repurposed FDA-approved drugs improves phenotypes of aging in mice.

Intratumoral infusion of a nonpathogenic replication-competent recombinant polio-rhinovirus chimera (PVSRIPO) for recurrent glioblastoma demonstrates safety and promising preliminary treatment responses.

The delicate balance of microbial communities is maintained by competitive mechanisms that provide an avenue for new antimicrobial development.

Zika virus infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased rate of fetal loss in nonhuman primates, as reported in this multicenter analysis.

A phase 2 placebo-controlled randomized trial reveals that verapamil promotes beta cell function in adult subjects with recent-onset type 1 diabetes.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase normally suppresses inflammation, but knockout of its gene is metabolically beneficial as its depletion reshapes the gut microbiota.

Metformin reverses established lung fibrosis in a bleomycin model in mice.

Targeting a post-translational modification of Fas by recombinant Glrx reverses established lung fibrosis in a mouse model of age-related idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

ALS/FTD-related C9orf72 dipeptide-repeat proteins inhibit protein translation and impair stress granule dynamics, and they cause motor and cognitive deficits in mice.

Retroelements located in antisense orientation within interferon-regulated genes are reactivated in a subset of cancer cells and initiate a STING- and MAVS-dependent feed-forward inflammatory loop, driving antitumor immunity and exhaustion.

Small-molecule inhibitors of the serine dipeptidases DPP8 and DPP9 block AML progression by promoting CARD8-dependent pyroptosis of leukemic myeloid cells.

Oncogenic NOTCH1 controls transcriptional activation of the heat shock response in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and uncovers potential biomarkers of sensitivity to HSP90 inhibition.

Mapping of the clonal structure of bone marrow cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with the IDH2 inhibitor enasidenib reveals heterogeneity in the cellular differentiation response and in mechanisms of relapse.

Cross-talk between innate immune cells helps to enhance the antitumor T cell response during checkpoint blockade therapy.

An oncometabolite produced by tumor cells acts as a paracrine immunosuppressant dampening antitumor T cell responses in glioma.

Genomic and functional analysis of intratumor heterogeneity in pediatric glioma uncovers early clonal divergence and stable spontaneous cooperation between subclonal populations throughout tumor evolution.

A bacterial screen yields a Cas9 variant that retains high on-target activity when delivered in the RNP format. As proof of principle, this Cas9 variant enables high-level correction of the sickle cell disease mutation in patient-derived HSPCs.

Post-translational modification of microtubules by detyrosination is prevalent in failing human cardiomyocytes and inhibits cardiomyocyte contraction, suggesting a new therapeutic strategy for improving heart function.

Study of macrophage heterogeneity in human hearts reveals a subset of inflammatory macrophages that is associated with cardiac dysfunction in patients with heart failure.

Transfer of senescent cells into naive, young mice can induce physical dysfunction, and a senolytic can reverse this dysfunction and potently increase lifespan in aged mice.

Recovery of skilled motor function in rodents after stroke correlates with the restoration of low-frequency quasi-oscillatory activity in the motor cortex, and neuromodulatory electrical stimulation targeting this activity can further accelerate recovery.

A molecularly defined set of sensory fibers expressing MrgprA3 mediate ocular itch via specific anatomical projections to the conjunctiva, which can be targeted therapeutically in rodent models.

A comprehensive single-cell analysis of the lung cancer microenvironment reveals marked heterogeneity of transcriptional networks that defines novel clinically relevant stromal cell populations.