Review

[Experimental & Molecular Medicine] Given the high risk of malignancies associated with PSC-IBD, it is critical to identify patients at high risk and implement appropriate surveillance and monitoring strategies. The authors provide an overview of PSC-IBD, which exemplifies the gut–liver axis.

[Nature Immunology] Scientists review recent advances in the understanding of the fibrotic microenvironment in human diseases, with a focus on immune cell profiles and functional immune–stromal interactions.

[Chemical Communications] Investigators introduce the challenge of animal-derived decellularised extracellular matrices in organoid culture, and summarize the categories of biomimetic hydrogels currently used for organoid culture.

[Current Opinion in Genetics & Development] The authors summarize recent advances in derivation of human trophoblast stem cells (hTSCs), with a focus on derivation from naive and primed hPSCs, as well as via reprogramming of somatic cells into induced hTSCs.

[Journal Of Cancer Research And Clinical Oncology] Head and neck cancer cells belonging to the stem cell population are distinguished by the high expression of certain surface proteins (e.g., CD10, CD44, CD133), pluripotency-related transcription factors (SOX2, OCT4, NANOG), and increased activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Chemotherapy itself increases the percentage of stem-like cells.

[Journal Of Clinical Investigation] The authors discuss the involvement of the lung mesenchyme in various aspects of lung biology and health, with special emphasis on lung fibroblast subsets and smooth muscle cells, intercellular communication, and intrinsic mesenchymal mechanisms that drive such events throughout development, regeneration, and aging.