Review
Immunology
Baode Chen, Chenglin Mu, Zhiwei Zhang, Xuelin He, Xia Liu
Summary: Since its recognition as an essential cytokine in embryogenesis and tissue homeostasis, our understanding of the role of TGF-beta in mammalian development and disease, especially cancer, has been constantly updated. TGF-beta acts as the principal regulator of the immune system, but strengthening its signaling can limit immune response. The love-hate relationship between TGF-beta signaling and the immune system poses challenges in developing effective monotherapies, but recent studies on combination therapies have shown promising outcomes in cancer treatment.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Jeong-Yeon Mun, Sun-Hee Leem, Jun Ho Lee, Hyuk Soon Kim
Summary: The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of tumor cells, stromal cells, and immune cells. Understanding the interactions between these cellular components is crucial for precise therapeutic approaches in cancer treatment.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Junjie Gu, Chongying Su, Fei Huang, Yuwei Zhao, Jing Li
Summary: This article discusses the roles of circRNAs in immune-related diseases, including their expression profile analysis, potential biomarker research, impact on phenotypes, and applications and prospects in therapeutic target seeking.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Elena Velado-Alonso, Antonio Gomez-Sal, Alberto Bernues, Daniel Martin-Collado
Summary: Livestock breeds play a key role in providing ecosystem services, attracting attention in livestock research and policy-making for sustainable agriculture. They are studied for their ecological and cultural mediation, biodiversity components, and contributions to livestock system heterogeneity. Understanding these aspects can improve conservation efforts and policies for sustainable farming.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Dearbhla M. Kelly, Peter M. Rothwell
Summary: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an increased risk of cognitive disorders, and this could be attributed to the clustering of traditional risk factors or direct neuronal injury caused by uraemic toxins or dialysis-specific factors.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Kechen Dong, Jianping Liu, Wei Zhou, Guanglin Zhang
Summary: In this study, a prognostic signature based on senescence-related genes was developed and validated for colorectal cancer patients. The signature not only accurately predicted prognosis, but also showed correlation with immune cells infiltration, tumor immune microenvironment, immune checkpoints, immunotherapeutic efficacy, and chemotherapy sensitivity. This senescence-related prognostic model has the potential to guide individualized treatment and identify drug targets.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jia-Bin Wang, Qing-Zhu Qiu, Qiao-Ling Zheng, Ya-Jun Zhao, Yu Xu, Tao Zhang, Shuan-Hu Wang, Quan Wang, Qin-Wen Jin, Yin-Hua Ye, Ping Li, Jian-Wei Xie, Jian-Xian Lin, Jun Lu, Qi-Yue Chen, Long-Long Cao, Ying-Hong Yang, Chao-Hui Zheng, Chang-Ming Huang
Summary: In this study, a gastric cancer immunophenotypic score (IPS) was constructed based on the tumor microenvironment classification, which can predict the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The IPS provides a practical reference for implementing neoadjuvant ICI therapy for patients with gastric cancer.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Livnat Jerby-Arnon, Cyril Neftel, Marni E. Shore, Hannah R. Weisman, Nathan D. Mathewson, Matthew J. McBride, Brian Haas, Benjamin Izar, Angela Volorio, Gaylor Boulay, Luisa Cironi, Alyssa R. Richman, Liliane C. Broye, Joseph M. Gurski, Christina C. Luo, Ravindra Mylvaganam, Lan Nguyen, Shaolin Mei, Johannes C. Melms, Christophe Georgescu, Ofir Cohen, Jorge E. Buendia-Buendia, Asa Segerstolpe, Malika Sud, Michael S. Cuoco, Danny Labes, Simon Gritsch, Daniel R. Zollinger, Nicole Ortogero, Joseph M. Beechem, G. Petur Nielsen, Ivan Chebib, Tu Nguyen-Ngoc, Michael Montemurro, Gregory M. Cote, Edwin Choy, Igor Letovanec, Stephane Cherix, Nikhil Wagle, Peter K. Sorger, Alex B. Haynes, John T. Mullen, Ivan Stamenkovic, Miguel N. Rivera, Cigall Kadoch, Kai W. Wucherpfennig, Orit Rozenblatt-Rosen, Mario L. Suva, Nicolo Riggi, Aviv Regev
Summary: Single-cell transcriptional profiling of primary human synovial sarcoma tumors suggests that combinatorial treatment with HDAC and CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors could enhance tumor immunogenicity. The study demonstrates an interplay between immune evasion and oncogenic processes in SyS that can be co-targeted for potential therapeutic interventions in other malignancies.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Cansu Uzuner, Jason Mak, Fatima El-Assaad, George Condous
Summary: Endometriosis is a state of chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction plays a role in its development. Dysbiosis in the microbiome is believed to be both a cause and a consequence of endometriosis. Studies have examined the microbiome in the gut, peritoneal fluid, and female reproductive tract to identify specific signatures associated with endometriosis. Emerging research is focused on manipulating the microbiome for improved detection and treatment of endometriosis.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Nadiah Abu, Nurul Ainaa Adilah Rus Bakarurraini
Summary: The interdependency between cancer cells and immune cells is crucial to understanding cancer pathogenesis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by both cancer and immune cells act as messengers in this process. Tumor-derived EVs have been found to interact with immune cells, especially T cells, while T cell-derived EVs also play immunomodulatory roles. This mini-review aims to explore the impact of tumor-derived EVs and T cell-derived EVs on cancer immunosuppression, highlighting the interplay between different types of EVs and their effects on tumor immunity. The role of EVs in various types of T cells, including CD8(+), CD4(+) Th17, and Treg cells, is also discussed. Furthermore, limitations and future directions regarding this research are addressed, contributing to a better understanding of the functions of these tiny mediators.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Francisco Martinez-Jimenez, Peter Priestley, Charles Shale, Jonathan Baber, Erik Rozemuller, Edwin Cuppen
Summary: A pan-cancer analysis reveals the diversity of genetic immune escape mechanisms in primary and metastatic tumors, while a new tool called LILAC is presented for characterizing the HLA-I locus. The study found that one in four tumors have GIE alterations, with variability across cancer types. GIE prevalence is generally consistent between primary and metastatic tumors, and the loss of heterozygosity of HLA-I allele presents a large neoepitope repertoire.
Article
Oncology
Wataru Goto, Shinichiro Kashiwagi, Yuri Kamei, Chika Watanabe, Naoki Aomatsu, Katsumi Ikeda, Yoshinari Ogawa, Kosei Hirakawa, Masaichi Ohira
Summary: Good control of serum lipid metabolism may improve the tumor immune microenvironment and prognosis in postmenopausal HR-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer patients.
Article
Immunology
Fangyue Chen, Jun Yang, Youxiang Guo, Dongwei Su, Yuan Sheng, Yanmei Wu
Summary: This study found a correlation between tumor microbiome and cancer metabolic activity in breast cancer patients. It also predicted overall survival and identified associations with gene mutation, immune cell composition, and response to immunotherapy. Overall, it sheds light on the potential role of metabolism-related microbiome in breast cancer patients and suggests new treatment possibilities through further investigation of metabolic disturbances in host and intratumor microbial cells.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Linxian Zhao, Kai Zhang, Hongyu He, Yongping Yang, Wei Li, Tongjun Liu, Jiannan Li
Summary: Tumor dormancy, a clinically undetectable state of tumor, refers to the outgrowth of dormant tumor cells into overt metastases leading to cancer-related deaths. Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells play a role in regulating tumor dormancy, providing a new therapeutic approach to curing cancer.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Felipe Bravo, Ana Martin Ariza, Narangarav Dugarsuren, Cristobal Ordonez
Summary: The relationship between tree biomass and diversity in mixed forests has an impact on forest ecosystem services. Structural diversity impacts biomass yield differently for different species, with negative effects for Pinus nigra and positive effects for other species.
Article
Oncology
Karthikeyan Subbarayan, Chiara Massa, Sandra Leisz, Andre Steven, Daniel Bethmann, Katharina Biehl, Claudia Wickenhauser, Barbara Seliger
Summary: The extracellular matrix component biglycan (BGN) is reduced in K-RAS-associated malignancies, leading to altered growth properties, reduced immunogenicity, and worse patients' outcome.
Article
Oncology
Chiara Massa, Barbara Seliger
CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Anna M. Di Giacomo, Maximilian J. Mair, Michele Ceccarelli, Andrea Anichini, Ramy Ibrahim, Michael Weller, Michael Lahn, Alexander M. M. Eggermont, Bernard Fox, Michele Maio
Summary: The conditions that promote immunotherapy responses in primary or secondary brain malignancies were discussed during the V Siena Immuno-Oncology (IO) Think Tank meeting in 2021. Important publications in 2021 and 2022 have reinforced the core elements of these discussions. While current immunotherapies have failed to benefit patients with primary brain tumors like glioblastoma, they have shown positive responses in brain metastases. The differences between these conditions seem to be influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as driver mutations, the blood-brain barrier, and the immune suppressive microenvironment. Future therapeutic interventions may focus on rebalancing the immune cell population to enable better responses to current and future immunotherapies.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER
(2023)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Ines Simeone, Michele Ceccarelli
Summary: We developed a novel data-driven approach to identify shared oncogenic expression signatures among tumors and used it to classify patients and predict prognosis. We also discovered a mitochondrial sub-group of Luminal breast cancer patients with specific biological features and genetic regulation. These findings provide genomics evidence for personalized breast cancer patient treatments.
JOURNAL OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Christoforos K. K. Vaxevanis, Marcus Bauer, Karthikeyan Subbarayan, Michael Friedrich, Chiara Massa, Katharina Biehl, Haifa Kathrin Al-Ali, Claudia Wickenhauser, Barbara Seliger
Summary: The expression of BGN in MDS and sAML is associated with disease progression and inflammation. BGN is expressed in MDS cell lines and patient bone marrow biopsies, and is involved in regulating inflammasome activity. BGN expression is associated with patient survival in MDS and may serve as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dagmar Riemann, Steffi Turzer, Georgi Ganchev, Wolfgang Schuette, Barbara Seliger, Miriam Moeller
Summary: In this study, small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients were treated with chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors, and their blood immune cells were analyzed. The study found that certain blood cell parameters, such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, HLA-DRlow monocytes, and NK cell and dendritic cell numbers, were associated with disease progression and poor overall survival. When comparing SCLC with non-SCLC, SCLC had higher metastases frequency, higher neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, lower dendritic cell frequencies, and lower NK cell numbers. The study suggests that blood immune cell signature could improve prediction of SCLC patient outcomes and provide insights into the characteristics of this tumor entity.
Article
Oncology
Antonino A. A. Pane, Theresa Kordass, Agnes Hotz-Wagenblatt, Elke Dickes, Annette Kopp-Schneider, Rainer Will, Barbara Seliger, Wolfram Osen, Stefan B. B. Eichmueller
Summary: This study identified several miRNA species that can affect the susceptibility of melanoma cells to T cell-mediated killing. These miRNAs may represent attractive candidates for novel therapy approaches against melanoma and other tumors.
CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
R. Tyler McLaughlin, Maansi Asthana, Marc Di Meo, Michele Ceccarelli, Howard J. Jacob, David L. Masica
Summary: Accurately identifying somatic mutations is crucial for precision oncology and calculating tumor-mutational burden (TMB), which predicts response to immunotherapy. This study applies machine learning models to classify somatic vs germline mutations in tumor-only solid tumor samples, achieving state-of-the-art performance. The addition of a machine-learning classifier improves the concordance of TMB estimates and eliminates racial bias in tumor-only variant calling.
NPJ PRECISION ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chiara Massa, Yuan Wang, Nico Marr, Barbara Seliger
Summary: Interferons (IFNs) are secreted proteins that provide important information for understanding the immune system and cytokine signaling pathways. They have diverse physiological and pathophysiological activities, including modulation of host responses, tumor surveillance, and immune responses. However, tumor cells often develop resistance to IFNs, and loss-of-function mutations in IFN signaling components are associated with susceptibility to infectious diseases. This review summarizes the function and clinical relevance of IFNs, particularly their role in tumor immune evasion and pathogen clearance.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Antonio De Falco, Francesca Caruso, Xiao-Dong Su, Antonio Iavarone, Michele Ceccarelli
Summary: The authors develop SCEVAN, a variational algorithm for copy number-based clonal structure inference in single-cell RNA-seq data, which can characterize the evolution and heterogeneity in tumors and the microenvironment. SCEVAN can automatically and accurately discriminate between malignant and non-malignant cells, resulting in a practical framework to analyze tumors and their microenvironment.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Margaret R. Smith, Yuezhu Wang, Ralph D'Agostino, Yin Liu, Jimmy Ruiz, Thomas Lycan, George Oliver, Lance D. Miller, Umit Topaloglu, Jireh Pinkney, Mohammed N. Abdulhaleem, Michael D. Chan, Michael Farris, Jing Su, Kathryn F. Mileham, Fei Xing
Summary: Different therapy options are used for NSCLC based on tumor stage and genetic mutations. However, biomarkers to guide treatment selection are limited. A study collected clinical and sequencing data from 524 NSCLC patients to examine the association between mutation profiles and treatment response. Mutation composite scores (MCS) were generated for different treatments, and MCS showed superior predictive power compared to other biomarkers in immune therapy-treated patients.
NPJ PRECISION ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Helene Schaefer, Karthikeyan Subbarayan, Chiara Massa, Christoforos Vaxevanis, Anja Mueller, Barbara Seliger
Summary: Using bioinformatics analysis, we found that the expression of ECM protein PRELP is reduced in cutaneous melanoma and is associated with decreased patient survival. High PRELP expression is correlated with low expression of MHC class I antigen processing machinery (APM) and interferon (IFN)-γ pathway, as well as increased expression of TFGB1 and TGFBR1. Transfection of PRELP restores MHC class I surface expression and reduces cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in melanoma cells.
JOURNAL OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Miriam Moeller, Wolfgang Schuette, Steffi Turzer, Barbara Seliger, Dagmar Riemann
Summary: This pilot study conducted immune monitoring in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and found that low neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), low percentage of suppressive HLA-DRlow monocytes, and clearly detectable numbers of slan+ non-classical monocytes and dendritic cells might be predictive markers for therapy responses and treatment outcomes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Matthias Bache, Frauke Kadler, Olivia Struck, Daniel Medenwald, Christian Ostheimer, Antje Guettler, Jacqueline Kessler, Matthias Kappler, Anne Riemann, Oliver Thews, Barbara Seliger, Dirk Vordermark
Summary: The concentration of miR-16, miR-29a, and miR-144 in the plasma of NSCLC patients undergoing radiotherapy was evaluated, and their impact on patients' prognosis was assessed. The results showed that the plasma levels of miR-16, miR-29a, and miR-144 had prognostic value in NSCLC patients, while the level of miR-150 did not predict prognosis. Patients with low levels of these three miRs in their plasma at the end of radiotherapy had the worst prognosis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Luigi Ferraro, Giovanni Scala, Luigi Cerulo, Emanuele Carosati, Michele Ceccarelli
Summary: This study developed an artificial neural network model for predicting drug sensitivity, enhancing interpretability. The model utilized multiomics data from different tumor tissue sources and molecular descriptors encapsulating drug properties. Results showed favorable outcomes in predicting drug synergy, outperforming state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms in publicly available drug screening datasets.
