Medical Research
Functional inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase disrupts infection by intracellular bacterial pathogensMany intracellular pathogens hijack cholesterol. Inhibiting acid sphingomyelinase alters cholesterol traffic to target different intracellular bacteria, signifying a host-directed approach for treating infectious disease.
PISD is a mitochondrial disease gene causing skeletal dysplasia, cataracts, and white matter changesThis work demonstrates that pathogenic variants in PISD cause mitochondrial disease and suggests a novel mechanistic link whereby impaired lipid content in the inner mitochondrial membrane alters the activity of inner mitochondrial membrane proteases.
Innate extracellular vesicles from melanoma patients suppress β-catenin in tumor cells by miRNA-34aOperated cancer patients develop elevated levels of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in their blood stream, suppressing cancer cells through miRNA-34a.
Mucosa-associated microbiota drives pathogenic functions in IBD-derived intestinal iNKT cellsPro-inflammatory iNKT cells are enriched in IBD patients’ lamina propria. Exposure to the mucosa-associated microbiota drives their activation, inducing pathogenic activities against the epithelium.
Chromosome alignment maintenance requires the MAP RECQL4, mutated in the Rothmund–Thomson syndromeRECQL4, which is mutated in the Rothmund–Thomson syndrome characterized by premature aging and cancer susceptibility, is a microtubule-associated protein required for mitotic chromosome alignment.
Peroxisome biogenesis deficiency attenuates the BDNF-TrkB pathway-mediated development of the cerebellumPeroxisome biogenesis deficiency leads to increased expression of BDNF and of a truncated form of the BDNF receptor in the cerebellum, attenuates BDNF-TrkB signaling, and results in malformation of the cerebellum.
Extracellular vesicles from mature dendritic cells (DC) differentiate monocytes into immature DCMature dendritic cells (DC) secrete substantial amounts of vesicles that are primarily ingested by monocytes, leading to differentiation processes in these target cells towards monocyte-derived DC.
Loss of HDAC11 ameliorates clinical symptoms in a multiple sclerosis mouse modelIn an animal model for multiple sclerosis, the absence of HDAC11 reduces clinical severity, spinal cord demyelination, and immune cell infiltration, suggesting that HDAC11 is a promising target for MS treatment.
Identification of Plasmodium GAPDH epitopes for generation of antibodies that inhibit malaria infectionThis study reports on the identification of two Plasmodium GAPDH epitope peptides that are responsible for sporozoite–Kupffer cell interaction and act as antigens against malaria infection.
Discovery of a cofactor-independent inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhAAN12855 is a novel cofactor-independent inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhA. AN12855 has potent activity against M. tuberculosis, good oral bioavailability, and comparable efficacy to isoniazid in infection models.