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Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a type of cancer that affects the mucosa of the oral cavity, nasal cavity, and throat. Its occurrence is often associated with tobacco exposure, alcohol abuse, and viral infections. Currently, researchers are unclear about the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection status and molecular characteristics of HNSCC.
Most currently approved gene therapies, including those involving CRISPR-Cas9, involve gene editing of cells removed from the body outside the body and then infusing the edited cells back into the patient. This technology is ideal for targeting blood cells. Newly approved CRISPR gene therapies to treat blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia use this approach, in which gene-edited blood cells are reinfused into the patient after chemotherapy has destroyed the patient's bone marrow.
Recently, Zhang Feng's team from the Broad Institute published a research paper titled "Human paraneoplastic antigen Ma2 (PNMA2) forms icosahedral capsids that can be engineered for mRNA delivery" online in PNAS. The study systematically explored human PNMA proteins and found that human cells secrete many PNMAs.
Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a central regulator of the body's innate immunity. It can mainly recognize bacterial lipopolysaccharide cell wall components and induce the release of cytokines. Recently, in a research report titled "RHBDL4-triggered downregulation of COPII adapter protein TMED7 suppresses TLR4-mediated inflammatory signaling" published in Nature Communications, scientists from the University of Cologne and other institutions found that the intramembrane protease RHBDL4 may be able to effectively prevent the body's excessive immune response. In the article, the researchers found that cleavage of cargo receptors by so-called intramembrane proteases reduces the localization of central immune receptors on the cell surface, thereby reducing the risk of an overreaction by the body's immune system.
Every hug, every handshake, every deft movement requires tactile perception, so it is important to understand the molecular basis behind the occurrence of touch. Until now, researchers knew that an ion channel called Piezo2 was required for touch perception, but it became clear that the protein alone did not explain the body's entire touch perception.
Jaehyuk Choi's team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Kole Roybal's team at the University of California, San Francisco published a research paper titled "Naturally occurring T cell mutations enhance engineered T cell therapies" in the journal Nature.
Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are a type of natural or recombinant viruses that can selectively infect and kill tumor cells without damaging normal cells. Oncolytic viruses have the advantages of good targeting, few adverse reactions, multiple ways to kill tumors, and are not prone to drug resistance. And oncolytic virus combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy has a synergistic effect. In recent years, with the continuous development of technology and the deepening of research, the selectivity and effectiveness of oncolytic virus products on tumor cells have been continuously improved, while the impact on normal cells has been further reduced, and they have gradually become a research and development hotspot.
Recently, researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China published a paper titled "Base editing effectively prevents early-onset severe cardiomyopathy in Mybpc3 mutant mice" in the journal Cell Research. This study developed an effective, PAM sequence-extended dual AAV vector-delivered adenine base editor-SpRY-ABE8e, which can effectively and precisely correct Mybpc3 gene mutations in mouse models, thereby preventing cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in mouse models. These trial results demonstrate the great potential of base editing as a new treatment modality for inherited cardiomyopathies and lay the foundation for future clinical applications.
The mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) encodes the basic mechanisms of oxidative phosphorylation and metabolic homeostasis. The mtDNA of tumor cells is one of the most mutation-prone regions in cancer genomes. However, there is still some controversy in the scientific community whether these mutations will affect the biological characteristics of tumors.
Modulating tumor PD-L1 expression is critical to improve researchers' understanding of tumor immune evasion and improve current anti-tumor immunotherapies. Recently, in a research report titled "CRISPR screening identifies the deubiquitylase ATXN3 as a PD-L1–positive regulator for tumor immune evasion" published in the international journal Journal of Clinical Investigation, scientists from Northwestern University and other institutions have identified a previously unknown tumor immune escape regulator through research, which may be expected to help improve the efficacy of current and future anti-tumor immunotherapies.
