A common MET polymorphism harnesses HER2 signaling to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinoma.

c-MET receptors are activated in cancers through genomic events like tyrosine kinase domain mutations, juxtamembrane splicing mutation and amplified copy numbers, which can be inhibited by c-MET small molecule inhibitors. Here, we discover that the most common polymorphism known to affect MET gene (N375S), involving the semaphorin domain, confers exquisite binding affinity for HER2 and enables MET to interact with HER2 in a ligand-independent fashion. The resultant MET/HER2 dimer transduces potent proliferative, pro-invasive and pro-metastatic cues through the HER2 signaling axis to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCC) and lung (LUSC), and is associated with poor prognosis.

Performance evaluation of Cepheid Xpert Norovirus kit with a user-modified protocol.

The Cepheid Xpert® Norovirus kit automates sample processing, nucleic acid extraction, and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) to detect norovirus genogroups I (GI) and II (GII). Eighty-five stool samples collected between February 2015 and May 2017 were used to compare the performance of a user-modified Xpert assay against a clinically validated laboratory-developed test (LDT). Of the 85 samples, 54 were previously archived in -80°C freezer.