Pulmonary Cell News Volume 6.03 | Jan 26 2017

TOP STORY

Myeloid STAT3 Promotes Lung Tumorigenesis by Transforming Tumor Immunosurveillance into Tumor-Promoting Inflammation

One of the most fundamental and challenging questions in the cancer field is how immunity in cancer patients is transformed from tumor immunosurveillance to tumor-promoting inflammation. The authors identified the transcription factor STAT3 as the culprit responsible for this pathogenic event in lung cancer development. [Cancer Immunol Res] Abstract

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The Green Microalga Tetraselmis suecica Reduces Oxidative Stress and Induces Repairing Mechanisms in Human Cells

Researchers investigated the biological activity of an ethanol/water extract of the marine green microalga T. suecica containing high levels of carotenoids such as the xanthophylls lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, antheraxanthin and loroxanthin esters. This extract has a strong antioxidant and repairing activity in the human lung cancer cell line (A549) as shown by the increased expression of dehydrocholesterol reductase-24 and prostaglandin reductase 1 genes and proteins. [Sci Rep] Full Article

IL-17A Blockade Attenuates Obliterative Bronchiolitis and IFNγ Cellular Immune Response in Lung Allografts

To determine the specific role of IL-17A in the development of obliterative bronchiolitis (OB), the authors treated lung allograft recipients with an IL-17A antagonistic antibody. After IL-17A blockade, the incidence of OB was significantly reduced in lung allografts. IL-17A blockade also significantly attenuated the severity of acute rejection and overall lung fibrosis. [Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol] Abstract

3D Pulmospheres Serve as a Personalized and Predictive Multicellular Model for Assessment of Antifibrotic Drugs

Researchers developed a model system that exploits the invasive phenotype of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lung tissue. This ex vivo 3D model used lung tissue from patients to develop pulmospheres. They tested the pulmospheres of 20 subjects with IPF and nine control subjects to evaluate the responsiveness of individual patients to antifibrotic drugs. [JCI Insight] Full Article | Press Release

LUNG CANCER

LncRNA GAS5 Inhibits Tumorigenesis and Enhances Radiosensitivity by Suppressing miR-135b Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

GAS5 has been demonstrated to be correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and serve as a tumor suppressor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the underlying mechanism of competing endogenous RNA regulatory network involving GAS5 in NSCLC remains to be elucidated. qRT-PCR results showed that GAS5 was down-regulated and miR-135b was up-regulated in NSCLC tissues and cells. [Oncol Res] Abstract

Suppression of EIF4G2 by miR-379 Potentiates the Cisplatin Chemosensitivity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Investigators showed that miR-379 expression is significantly downregulated in chemoresistant non-small cell lung cancer tissues and cells. Manipulation of miR-379 levels could alter the in vitro and in vivo cisplatin resistance in lung cancer cells. [FEBS Lett] Abstract

F-Box Protein FBXO22 Mediates Polyubiquitination and Degradation of CD147 to Reverse Cisplatin Resistance of Tumor Cells

Scientists found that deletion of the CD147 intracellular domain (CD147-ICD) prolonged the half-life of CD147 in HEK293T cells, and they identified that CD147-ICD interacts with FBXO22 using mass spectrometry and Western blot. They demonstrated that FBXO22 mediates the polyubiquitination and degradation of CD147 by recognizing CD147-ICD. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Benzyl Isothiocyanate Induces Protective Autophagy in Human Lung Cancer Cells through an Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Mechanism

The authors investigated the effects of benzyl isothiocyanate on autophagy induction in human lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. BITC induced autophagy in the lung cancer cells, which protected the cancer cells against the inhibitory action of BITC; the autophagy induction was mediated by the endoplasmic reticulum stress response. [Acta Pharmacol Sin] Abstract

Autophagy Is a Regulator of TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis in NSCLC A549 Cells

Scientists examined the effect of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) on autophagy in A549 cells and explored the underlying mechanisms. They showed that TRAIL promoted autophagosome formation, as detected by the levels of LC3-II, and its effect on promoting autophagy was dependent on the expression of the autophagy related genes (ATGs) Atg5, Atg7, and beclin-1. [J Cell Commun Signal] Abstract

Long Noncoding RNA LINC01186, Regulated by TGF-β/SMAD3, Inhibits Migration and Invasion through Epithelial-Mesenchymal-Transition in Lung Cancer

Researchers identified 291 long noncoding RNAs which were differentially expressed in lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Of these, the gene body or vicinity of 19 transcripts were also bound by SMAD3. The expression of LINC01186 was significantly decreased in A549 cells treated with TGF-β1. [Gene] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

NEAT1: A Novel Cancer-Related Long Non-Coding RNA

The authors provide an overview of current evidence concerning the oncogenic role and potential clinical utilities of nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1). [Cell Prolif] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the pulmonary cell research field.

OSE Immunotherapeutics Announces that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) Recommends Continuation of Pivotal Phase III Clinical Trial of Tedopi^® in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OSE Immunotherapeutics SA announced that the IDMC for the company’s international pivotal Phase III clinical study of Tedopi^® for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer has unanimously recommended continuation of the trial, without asking for modifications. [OSE Immunotherapeutics SA] Press Release

Concert Pharmaceuticals Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for CTP-656 for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis

Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for CTP-656, Concert’s next generation cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator potentiator being developed for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. Concert initiated a Phase II trial in the U.S. evaluating CTP-656 in cystic fibrosis patients with gating mutations. [Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Bristol-Myers Squibb Provides Regulatory Update in First-Line Lung Cancer

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced that it has decided not to pursue an accelerated regulatory pathway for the combination of Opdivo plus Yervoy in first-line lung cancer in the U.S. based on a review of data available at this time. [Bristol-Myers Squibb Company] Press Release

Statement From FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. Announcing FDA Oncology Center of Excellence Launch

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the Oncology Center of Excellence and appointed Dr. Richard Pazdur as its director. This will make oncology the first disease area to have a coordinated clinical review of drugs, biologics and devices across the agency’s three medical product centers. [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] Press Release

World’s Foremost Institute on Death and Disease Metrics Gets Massive Cash Boost

The world’s premier centre for health metrics — the science of measuring and analysing global health problems, and how they relate to healthcare and biomedical research funding — will receive a US$279-million cash injection from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The cash will go towards expanding the institute’s work over the next decade and consolidating its primacy in the field. It is considered by far the biggest and most influential research centre for health metrics, and its work informs the funding and policy decisions of many national governments and local, regional and global organizations, including the World Bank and the US National Institutes of Health. [Nature News] Editorial

What Trump’s Nominees Have Said About Science at Their Senate Hearings

This is the third week of U.S. Senate hearings on President Donald Trump’s nominees to his Cabinet. The nominees that senators have heard from include representative Tom Price, the nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of the National Institutes of Health. His opening statement included a nod to biomedical research at the department of Health and Human Services. Price says he will support science-based policies, rejects vaccine-autism and abortion–breast cancer links. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Candidates from Ethiopia, United Kingdom, and Pakistan Will Compete for WHO’s Top Slot

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced who will be up for election to the post of director-general in May. They are: former Ethiopian health minister and minister of foreign affairs Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; British physician and United Nations official David Nabarro; and Pakistani cardiologist and former science minister Sania Nishtar. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Gordon Research Conferences: Cilia, Mucus & Mucociliary Interactions
February 12-17, 2017
Galveston, Texas, United States

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Principal Scientist – Translational Development (Celgene Corporation)

Postdoctoral Position – Cellular Therapeutics in Chronic Lung Disease (Helmholtz Zentrum München)

Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Lung Development and Infectious Disease (University of Texas Health)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Lung Cancer (Massachusetts General Hospital)

Allergy and Immunology – Postdoctoral Fellow (New York University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Lung Injury and Repair (National Jewish Health)

PhD Positions – Heart and Lung Research (Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research)

Postdoctoral Position – Cancer Epigenetics (Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus)

Postdoctoral Position – Targeted Approaches to Lung Cancers (University of California San Francisco)

Assistant Professor – Molecular Therapeutics of Cancer (Dartmouth College)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Cancer Genetics/Epigenetics (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

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