Search

Presents a study which examined the ecology of coarse woody debris (CWD) in temperate ecosystems. Importance of CWD in temperate stream and forest ecosystems; Decomposition of CWD; Amount and distribution of CWD.

A major limitation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies is the poor persistence of these cells in vivo 1 . The expression of memory-associated genes in CAR T cells is linked to their long-term persistence in patients and clinical efficacy 2-6 , suggesting that memory programs may underpin durable CAR T cell function. Here we show that the transcription factor FOXO1 is responsible for promoting memory and restraining exhaustion in human CAR T cells. Pharmacological inhibition or gene editing of endogenous FOXO1 diminished the expression of memory-associated genes, promoted an exhaustion-like phenotype and impaired the antitumour activity of CAR T cells. Overexpression of FOXO1 induced a gene-expression program consistent with T cell memory and increased chromatin accessibility at FOXO1-binding motifs. CAR T cells that overexpressed FOXO1 retained their function, memory potential and metabolic fitness in settings of chronic stimulation, and exhibited enhanced persistence and tumour control in vivo. By contrast, overexpression of TCF1 (encoded by TCF7) did not enforce canonical memory programs or enhance the potency of CAR T cells. Notably, FOXO1 activity correlated with positive clinical outcomes of patients treated with CAR T cells or tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, underscoring the clinical relevance of FOXO1 in cancer immunotherapy. Our results show that overexpressing FOXO1 can increase the antitumour activity of human CAR T cells, and highlight memory reprogramming as a broadly applicable approach for optimizing therapeutic T cell states., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting CD19 have demonstrated impressive activity against relapsed or refractory B-cell cancers yet fail to induce durable remissions for nearly half of all patients treated. Enhancing the efficacy of this therapy requires detailed understanding of the molecular circuitry that restrains CAR-driven antitumor T-cell function. We developed and validated an in vitro model that drives T-cell dysfunction through chronic CAR activation and interrogated how CAR costimulatory domains, central components of CAR structure and function, contribute to T-cell failure. We found that chronic activation of CD28-based CARs results in activation of classical T-cell exhaustion programs and development of dysfunctional cells that bear the hallmarks of exhaustion. In contrast, 41BB-based CARs activate a divergent molecular program and direct differentiation of T cells into a novel cell state. Interrogation using CAR T cells from a patient with progressive lymphoma confirmed the activation of this novel program in a failing clinical product. Furthermore, we demonstrate that 41BB-dependent activation of the transcription factor FOXO3 is directly responsible for impairing CAR T-cell function. These findings identify that costimulatory domains are critical regulators of CAR-driven T-cell failure and that targeted interventions are required to overcome costimulation-dependent dysfunctional programs., (© 2023 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Background: Belize is a middle-income Caribbean country with poorly described cancer epidemiology and no comprehensive cancer care capacity. In 2018, GO, Inc., a US-based NGO, partnered with the Ministry of Health and the national hospital in Belize City to create the first public oncology clinic in the country. Here, we report demographics from the clinic and describe time intervals to care milestones to allow for public health targeting of gaps., Patients and Methods: Using paper charts and a mobile health platform, we performed a retrospective chart review at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) clinic from 2018 to 2022., Results: During this time period, 465 patients with cancer presented to the clinic. Breast cancer (28%) and cervical cancer (12%) were most common. Most patients (68%) presented with stage 3 or 4 disease and were uninsured (78%) and unemployed (79%). Only 21% of patients ever started curative intent treatment. Median time from patient-reported symptoms to a biopsy or treatment was 130 and 189 days. For the most common cancer, breast, similar times were seen at 140 and 178 days. Time intervals at the clinic: <30 days from initial visit to biopsy (if not previously performed) and <30 days to starting chemotherapy., Conclusion: This study reports the first clinic-based cancer statistics for Belize. Many patients have months between symptom onset and treatment. In this setting, the clinic has built infrastructure allowing for minimal delays in care despite an underserved population. This further affirms the need for infrastructure investment and early detection programs to improve outcomes in Belize., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.)

While chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 can cure a subset of patients with B cell malignancies, most patients treated will not achieve durable remission. Identification of the mechanisms leading to failure is essential to broadening the efficacy of this promising platform. Several studies have demonstrated that disruption of CD19 genes and transcripts can lead to disease relapse after initial response; however, few other tumor-intrinsic drivers of CAR T cell failure have been reported. Here we identify expression of the Golgi-resident intramembrane protease Signal peptide peptidase-like 3 (SPPL3) in malignant B cells as a potent regulator of resistance to CAR therapy. Loss of SPPL3 results in hyperglycosylation of CD19, an alteration that directly inhibits CAR T cell effector function and suppresses anti-tumor cytotoxicity. Alternatively, over-expression of SPPL3 drives loss of CD19 protein, also enabling resistance. In this pre-clinical model these findings identify post-translational modification of CD19 as a mechanism of antigen escape from CAR T cell therapy., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The disialoganglioside GD2 is overexpressed on several solid tumors, and monoclonal antibodies targeting GD2 have substantially improved outcomes for children with high-risk neuroblastoma. However, approximately 40% of patients with neuroblastoma still relapse, and anti-GD2 has not mediated significant clinical activity in any other GD2 + malignancy. Macrophages are important mediators of anti-tumor immunity, but tumors resist macrophage phagocytosis through expression of the checkpoint molecule CD47, a so-called 'Don't eat me' signal. In this study, we establish potent synergy for the combination of anti-GD2 and anti-CD47 in syngeneic and xenograft mouse models of neuroblastoma, where the combination eradicates tumors, as well as osteosarcoma and small-cell lung cancer, where the combination significantly reduces tumor burden and extends survival. This synergy is driven by two GD2-specific factors that reorient the balance of macrophage activity. Ligation of GD2 on tumor cells (a) causes upregulation of surface calreticulin, a pro-phagocytic 'Eat me' signal that primes cells for removal and (b) interrupts the interaction of GD2 with its newly identified ligand, the inhibitory immunoreceptor Siglec-7. This work credentials the combination of anti-GD2 and anti-CD47 for clinical translation and suggests that CD47 blockade will be most efficacious in combination with monoclonal antibodies that alter additional pro- and anti-phagocytic signals within the tumor microenvironment., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

T cell exhaustion limits immune responses against cancer and is a major cause of resistance to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapeutics. Using murine xenograft models and an in vitro model wherein tonic CAR signaling induces hallmark features of exhaustion, we tested the effect of transient cessation of receptor signaling, or rest, on the development and maintenance of exhaustion. Induction of rest through enforced down-regulation of the CAR protein using a drug-regulatable system or treatment with the multikinase inhibitor dasatinib resulted in the acquisition of a memory-like phenotype, global transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming, and restored antitumor functionality in exhausted CAR-T cells. This work demonstrates that rest can enhance CAR-T cell efficacy by preventing or reversing exhaustion, and it challenges the notion that exhaustion is an epigenetically fixed state., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells mediate anti-tumour effects in a small subset of patients with cancer 1-3 , but dysfunction due to T cell exhaustion is an important barrier to progress 4-6 . To investigate the biology of exhaustion in human T cells expressing CAR receptors, we used a model system with a tonically signaling CAR, which induces hallmark features of exhaustion 6 . Exhaustion was associated with a profound defect in the production of IL-2, along with increased chromatin accessibility of AP-1 transcription factor motifs and overexpression of the bZIP and IRF transcription factors that have been implicated in mediating dysfunction in exhausted T cells 7-10 . Here we show that CAR T cells engineered to overexpress the canonical AP-1 factor c-Jun have enhanced expansion potential, increased functional capacity, diminished terminal differentiation and improved anti-tumour potency in five different mouse tumour models in vivo. We conclude that a functional deficiency in c-Jun mediates dysfunction in exhausted human T cells, and that engineering CAR T cells to overexpress c-Jun renders them resistant to exhaustion, thereby addressing a major barrier to progress for this emerging class of therapeutic agents.

Objective: To examine potential differences in children's physical activity and parent support of their children's physical activity based on family income within the rural setting., Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 566 parents of children (5-15 years-old; mean = 7.7 years; standard deviation = 2.4) living in rural West Virginia from 2010 to 2011 was conducted. Children were recruited and had participated in a school-based health screening program., Results: Overall, parents from a rural setting reported that their children engaged in an average of five days of physical activity for at least 60 min. Upon closer examination, children from lower-income families engaged in more physical activity, on average, than children from higher income families per parent report (mean = 6.6 days, confidence interval 95% = 4.9-6.0 vs. middle-income mean = 5.0, confidence interval 95% = 4.4-5.3 and highest-income mean = 4.5, confidence interval 95% = 4.1-4.7; p = .01). Rural parents supported their children's physical activity in numerous ways. Parents with the lowest incomes were more likely than parents from higher income families to encourage their children to be active and use their immediate environment for play and to be directly involved in physical activity with their children. More affluent parents were more likely to transport their children to other activity opportunities than parents from the lower income brackets., Conclusions: Lower income families may utilize their immediate environment and encourage activity among their children whereas more affluent families focus on organized opportunity more often than lower income families. These findings emphasize the need to conceptualize the role family income plays in physical activity patterns and the potential benefit it provides to some families.

This paper discusses the formation of eLiposomes, defined as a liposome with internal emulsion droplets. Liposomes have been investigated as passively targeted drug carriers due to their ability to deliver drugs to a cancerous tumor via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. The enclosed emulsion droplets in an eLiposome add the ability to further control the location and time of release from the liposome with ultrasound. Emulsion droplets were formed from perfluorohexane (PFC6) by sonication at 20 kHz and stabilized with dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC). The size of the resulting droplets was reduced to approximately 100 nm or 50 nm by extrusion through polycarbonate filters of the same size at 50°C. Small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) were prepared from DPPC by thin film hydration and extrusion through a 50 nm filter. Interdigitated DPPC sheets were prepared from the SUVs by the addition of ethanol to a concentration of 3M. Excess ethanol was removed by centrifugation washing. The sheets were mixed with emulsion and the solution was heated to 50°C, resulting in the refolding of the DPPC sheets into closed vesicles. Emulsion droplets were encapsulated inside of the newly formed eLiposomes. The size of the eLiposomes was reduced by extrusion. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoTEM) and negative-staining TEM were used to image the emulsion droplets and the eLiposomes. Encapsulation of emulsion droplets was verified by rotating the microscope stage of cryoTEM samples., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Classical STAT1 activation in response to TLR agonists occurs by phosphorylation of the Y701 and S727 residues through autocrine type I IFN signaling and p38 MAPK signaling, respectively. In this study, we report that the TLR9 agonist CpG DNA induced Ifn-beta mRNA, as well as downstream type I IFN-dependent genes, in a MyD88-dependent manner in mouse myeloid dendritic cells. This pathway was required for maximal TNF and IL-6 secretion, as well as expression of cell surface costimulatory molecules. By contrast, neither A- nor B-type CpG-containing oligonucleotides induced Ifn-beta in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) and a CpG-B oligonucleotide did not induce IFn-beta in the macrophage-like cell line, J774. In BMM, STAT1 was alternatively activated (phosphorylated on S727, but not Y701), and was retained in the cytoplasm in response to CpG DNA. CpG DNA responses were altered in BMM from STAT1(S727A) mice; Il-12p40 and Cox-2 mRNAs were more highly induced, whereas Tlr4 and Tlr9 mRNAs were more repressed. The data suggest a novel inhibitory function for cytoplasmic STAT1 in response to TLR agonists that activate p38 MAPK but do not elicit type I IFN production. Indeed, the TLR7 agonist, R837, failed to induce Ifn-beta mRNA and consequently triggered STAT1 phosphorylation on S727, but not Y701, in human monocyte-derived macrophages. The differential activation of Ifn-beta and STAT1 by CpG DNA in mouse macrophages vs dendritic cells provides a likely mechanism for their divergent roles in priming the adaptive immune response.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are widely targeted in drug discovery. As macrophages are key cellular mediators of acute and chronic inflammation, we review here the role of GPCRs in regulating macrophage function, with a focus on contribution to disease pathology and potential therapeutic applications. Within this analysis, we highlight novel GPCRs with a macrophage-restricted expression profile, which provide avenues for further exploration. We also review an emerging literature, which documents novel roles for GPCR signaling components in GPCR-independent signaling in macrophages. In particular, we examine the crosstalk between GPCR and TLR signaling pathways and highlight GPCR signaling molecules which are likely to have uncharacterized functions in this cell lineage.

The family Anthocoridae (Hemiptera:Heteroptera) contains between 400 and 600 species distributed worldwide, chiefly on the continents but also on oceanic islands. They are small (1.4-4.5 mm) and common to a wide variety of habitats. Many are found in cryptic habitats such as galls, several widespread genera are surface feeders on small arthropods (Anthocoris, Orius, and Tetraphleps), and others can be found in ant nests and, especially, under bark. Wing polymorphism is common in this family, often associated with the cryptic habit. Most known species are predaceous, though some take plant food as well (e.g. Orius insidiosus, Orius pallidicornis). A few of these are believed to be entirely phytophagous (Paratriphleps laeviusculus). Their small size and often generalized feeding habits have resulted in about 30 introduced species, mostly accidental. A few have been introduced deliberately as biological control agents (Anthocoris spp., Montandoniola moraguesi, O. insidiosus, Orius tristicolor, and Tetraphleps spp.). Most nonindigenous species seem to have been distributed as a result of human activities, especially commerce. The predaceous habits of many Anthocoridae have attracted the attention of researchers who work in agroecosystems. Integrated pest management programs often include these predators, which has given us greater knowledge about these species than those found in natural ecosystems. Exciting discoveries about the attractiveness to these bugs of certain volatile plant and arthropod compounds are opening new areas of investigation into their chemical ecology. The reactions of these tiny predators will surely become better understood as a result.