Pulmonary Cell News Volume 6.06 | Feb 16 2017

TOP STORY

Molecular Definition of a Metastatic Lung Cancer State Reveals a Targetable CD109-Janus Kinase-Stat Axis

The authors uncovered signaling mediated by Janus kinases and the transcription factor Stat3 as a critical, pharmacologically targetable effector of CD109-driven lung cancer metastasis. [Nat Med] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Genetic Control of Fatty Acid β-Oxidation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Scientists aimed to address how fatty acid oxidation, specifically β-oxidation (FAO), a key lipid metabolism pathway that provides energy to cells, contributes to cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) whether and how FAM13A, a well-replicated COPD genome-wide association studies gene, modulates FAO pathway. [Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol] Abstract

Respiratory Virus Infection Up-Regulates TRPV1, TRPA1 and ASICS3 Receptors on Airway Cells

Researchers used in vitro models of sensory neurons and human bronchial epithelium as well as primary human bronchial epithelial cells to study the effect of measles virus and respiratory syncytial virus infection on receptor expression. [PLoS One] Full Article

TIPE2 Inhibits the Expression of Asthma-Related Inflammatory Factors in Hyperstretched Bronchial Epithelial Cells through the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

The authors found that TIPE2 was poorly expressed in hyperstretched human bronchial epithelial cells. TIPE2 overexpression also significantly suppressed the stretch-induced secretion of asthma-related inflammatory factors. [Inflammation] Abstract

LUNG CANCER

Chemosensitive Relapse in Small Cell Lung Cancer Proceeds through an EZH2-SLFN11 Axis

Researchers modeled acquired chemoresistance in vivo using a series of patient-derived xenografts to generate paired chemosensitive and chemoresistant cancers. Multiple chemoresistant models demonstrated suppression of SLFN11, a factor implicated in DNA-damage repair deficiency. [Cancer Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

MUC16 Regulates TSPYL5 for Lung Cancer Cell Growth and Chemoresistance by Suppressing p53

To identify the functional role of MUC16, investigators carried out a stable knockdown in lung cancer cells with two different shRNAs. Clinical significance of MUC16 was evaluated in lung cancer patient’s tissues using IHC. They generated a genetically engineered mouse model to evaluate the preclinical significance of MUC16. [Clin Cancer Res] Abstract

The Nuclear Transport Receptor Importin-11 Is a Tumor Suppressor that Maintains PTEN Protein

Scientists showed that Importin-11 (Ipo11) is a transport receptor for phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) that is required to physically separate PTEN from elements of the PTEN degradation machinery. Mechanistically, they found that the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme and IPO11 cargo, UBE2E1, are limiting factors for PTEN degradation. Using in vitro and in vivo gene-targeting methods, they showed that Ipo11 loss results in degradation of Pten, lung adenocarcinoma, and neoplasia in mouse prostate with aberrantly high levels of Ube2e1 in the cytoplasm. [J Cell Biol] Full Article | Press Release

Extracellular Matrix Receptor Expression in Subtypes of Lung Adenocarcinoma Potentiates Outgrowth of Micrometastases

The authors showed how differential expression of a network of extracellular matrix molecules and their interacting proteins contributes to risk of relapse in distinct lung adenocarcinoma subtypes. [Cancer Res] Full Article | Abstract | Press Release

Downregulation of miR-218 Contributes to Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Tumor Metastasis in Lung Cancer by Targeting Slug/ZEB2 Signaling

Researchers found that miR-218 expression levels were significantly downregulated in lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues, and the levels of miR-218 were significantly associated with histological grades and lymph node metastasis. [Oncogene] Full Article

Overexpression of FAM83H-AS1 Indicates Poor Patient Survival and Knockdown Impairs Cell Proliferation and Invasion via MET/EGFR Signaling in Lung Cancer.

To delineate dysregulated long non-coding RNA in lung cancer, investigators analyzed RNA sequencing data from 461 lung adenocarcinomas and 156 normal lung tissues. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were decreased after FAM83H-AS1 knockdown using siRNAs in lung cancer cells. Flow cytometry analysis indicated the cell cycle was arrested at the G2 phase after FAM83H-AS1 knockdown. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Inhibition of Lung Cancer Cell Migration by AhR-Regulated Autophagy

Scientists found that aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-regulated autophagy positively modulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-small cell lung cancer cells. The motility of A549, H1299, and CL1-5 cells were correlated with different AhR expression levels. Invasive potential and cell morphology also changed when AhR protein expression was altered. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Therapeutic Strategies and Mechanisms of Drug Resistance in Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK)-Rearranged Lung Cancer

The author summarizes diverse ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) resistance mechanisms identified in non-small cell lung cancer with ALK rearrangements, and reviews potential therapeutic strategies to overcome ALK TKI resistance in these patients. [Pharmacol Ther] Abstract

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

Cancer Research UK Announces Inaugural Grand Challenge Teams to Answer the Biggest Questions in Cancer

Cancer Research UK announces that four international teams are the first recipients of its global £100 million Grand Challenge competition, which aims to overcome the biggest challenges facing cancer researchers in a global effort to beat cancer sooner. [Cancer Research UK] Press Release

Boehringer Ingelheim and Weill Cornell Medicine Announce New Collaboration to Discover Next Generation COPD Treatments

Boehringer Ingelheim announced a collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine to identify new treatment approaches for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in order to develop novel treatments that could possibly halt or even reverse the progression of the disease process. [Boehringer Ingelheim] Press Release

Broad Institute Wins Bitter Battle over CRISPR Patents

A panel of US Patent and Trademark Office judges have determined that a series of patents granted for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard will stand. [Nature News] Editorial

Henrietta Lacks’s Family Wants Compensation for Her Cells

The eldest son of Henrietta Lacks wants compensation from Johns Hopkins University and possibly others for the unauthorized use of her cells in research that led to decades of medical advances. The cells taken from the 31-year-old after she died of an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951 were the first to live outside the body in a glass tube. They were dubbed the HeLa cells and have become the most widely used human cells that exist in scientific research. [The Washington Post] Editorial

Ebola Funding Surge Hides Falling Investment in Other Neglected Diseases

Global funding for research on neglected diseases — which include tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria — is at its lowest level since 2007, according to the annual G-FINDER investment report by Policy Cures, a health-policy analysis firm in Sydney, Australia. [Nature News] Editorial

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says a ‘Vaccine Safety’ Commission Is Still in the Works

The vocal vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is still talking with President Donald Trump’s administration about establishing a commission to look into vaccine safety, Kennedy said at a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. [Science Insider] Editorial

NEW Stem Cells in Drug Discovery
March 6-7, 2017
Cambridge, United Kingdom

NEW Keystone Symposium: Engineered Cells and Tissues as Platforms for Discovery and Therapy
March 9-12, 2017
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Airway Biology (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

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

Research Associate – Chronic Respiratory Disease (University College London)

Postdoctoral Position – Lung Biology & Respiratory Infections (Boston University School of Medicine & Boston Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Lung Fibrosis (University of Oxford)

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)

Assistant Professor – Molecular Therapeutics of Cancer (Dartmouth College)

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

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