Volume 21 Issue 11, November 2022

Could Vertex’s Nav1.8 blocker tap the elusive analgesic potential of voltage-gated sodium channels?

Macrophages can promote tumorigenesis and enhance the antitumour response. This Review discusses the molecular mechanisms underlying the reprogramming of macrophages in the tumour microenvironment and provides an overview of macrophage-targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer.

This Review provides an update on the application of small-molecule drugs in immuno-oncology, discussing current development of small molecules designed to stimulate the antitumour immune response directly and indirectly, and the rapidly increasing efforts towards the discovery of small molecules that target T cell checkpoints.

Emerging understanding of biomolecular condensates — transient liquid-like droplets made up of proteins and nucleic acids — in normal and aberrant cellular states is providing new insights into human diseases. This Perspective proposes that such insights could enable a previously unexplored drug discovery approach based on identifying condensate-modifying therapeutics, and discusses the strategies, techniques and challenges involved.