[Pilatus Biosciences, Inc.] Pilatus Biosciences, Inc., announced that the Hong Kong Department of Health has granted the Certificate for Clinical Trial / Medicinal Test for lead investigational therapy, PLT012 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

[Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy] Scientists demonstrated the role of p21-activated kinase 4, an emerging therapeutic target, in the activating phosphorylation of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and subsequent hepatic stellate cell activation.

[Cell Reports] Investigators identified H3 lysine 9 lactylation (H3K9la) as a potential key target for driving resistance to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in HCC.

[JCI Insight] Researchers identified hepatocyte Hedgehog signaling as a central regulator of ferroptosis. Using mice with hepatocyte-specific deletion of Smoothened, a key Hedgehog pathway component, they showed that loss of hepatocyte Hedgehog signaling induces ferroptotic stress, lipid peroxidation, and cellular senescence.

[Biomedical Journal] The authors demonstrated that the antidepressant imipramine effectively inhibits tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Notably, imipramine enhances the anticancer efficacy of sorafenib, resulting in an additive suppression of tumor growth and cell migration.

[Journal of Biological Chemistry] Investigators demonstrated that sirtuin 5 knockdown induces ferroptosis in transforming growth factor-beta 1-treated LX-2 cells by decreasing glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) protein levels via desuccinylation.

[Translational Oncology] Scientists reported that an elevated proportion of Zinc Finger CCHC-type and RNA-Binding Motif 1 (ZCRB1) mRNA isoforms harboring short 3′UTRs was observed in HCC tissues, leading to upregulated ZCRB1 protein expression.

[Journal of Hepatology] The authors explores how these converging developments – including advances in hepatologic assessment, multidisciplinary downstaging and conversion strategies, evolving surgical techniques, and emerging biological markers – are redefining the role of surgery in primary liver cancer.

[Biomaterials Science] Scientists discuss emerging biomaterials strategies that leverage tunable biomaterial properties to disrupt key metabolic, transcriptional, and signaling pathways central to Treg-mediated immunosuppression in cancer.

[Immunology] The authors synthesize knowledge on medullary thymic epithelial cell biology, Aire- and Fezf2-dependent transcriptional programs, and advances in immunopeptidomics.

[Science Advances] Investigators demonstrated that plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in the thymus have two distinct subsets, accumulating in the thymus of tumor-bearing mice, contributing to immune tolerance through clonal deletion of tumor-specific T cells and reducing newly generated T cells.

[Journal of Clinical Investigation] Researchers identified the sterol regulatory element–binding protein 1c (SREBP1c) as a central regulator of Treg immunobiology. Tregs from Srebp1c-deficient mice displayed impaired suppressive function, reduced frequencies in circulation and lymphoid tissues, and diminished expression of functional markers.