Decoding the secret of extracellular vesicles in the immune tumor microenvironment of the glioblastoma: on the border of kingdoms.

Over the last decades, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have become increasingly popular for their roles in various pathologies, including cancer and neurological and immunological disorders. EVs have been considered for a long time as a means for normal cells to get rid of molecules it no longer needs. It is now well established that EVs play their biological roles also following uptake or by the interaction of EV surface proteins with cellular receptors and membranes.

Phospholipase C zeta: a hidden face of sperm for oocyte activation and early embryonic development.

Oocyte activation is a fundamental event in mammalian fertilization and is initiated by a cascade of calcium signaling and oscillation pathways. Phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) is involved in modulating cortical granule exocytosis, releasing oocyte meiotic arrest, regulating gene expression, and early embryogenesis. These processes are considered to be initiated and controlled by PLCζ activity via the inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate pathway.

CAR T-cells for colorectal cancer immunotherapy: Ready to go?

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells represent a new genetically engineered cell-based immunotherapy tool against cancer. The use of CAR T-cells has revolutionized the therapeutic approach for hematological malignancies. Unfortunately, there is a long way to go before this treatment can be developed for solid tumors, including colorectal cancer.

Why Do We Need Serological Tests for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Diagnosis?

Considering the COVID-19 emerging and rapidly evolving situation associated with increased levels of mortality and infectivity risks, the detection and identification of new tests in a fast, safe, and accurate measures would have a high impact regarding prompt clinical and epidemiological management decisions. The combination of real-time polymerase chain reaction and the immunoglobulin class M-immunoglobulin class G antibody serology testing can be a powerful strategy for more accurate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosis with less false results slipping through the cracks. The following viewpoint is describing the immunological response to SARS-Cov-2 infection and its implication in the selection of the appropriate diagnosis tools.

microRNA-10 and -221 modulate differential expression of Hippo signaling pathway in human astroglial tumors.

Gliomas represent over 70% of all brain tumors, they are highly invasive and structurally vascular neoplasms. Despite the latest technological advance in neuro-surgery the survival of patients with high-grade glioma remains poor. The lack of robust treatment options has propelled the search for new markers that may able allow the identification of patients who can benefit from molecularly targeted therapies.

Serum Lipidomic Profiling in Breast Cancer to Identify Screening, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Biomarkers.

Breast cancer is the major mortality cause of women worldwide. In the course of management of breast cancer, the identification of a biomarker is important in enhancing our knowledge on cancer pathology, predicting the response to treatment, and selecting the patients who are more favorable to receive certain treatments. These biomarkers have a prognostic value.

Decoding colorectal cancer epigenomics.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is very heterogeneous and presents different types of epigenetic alterations including DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs. These changes are considered as characteristics of various observed clinical phenotypes. Undoubtedly, the discovery of epigenetic pathways with novel epigenetic-related mechanisms constitutes a promising advance in cancer biomarker discovery.

KIR3DL2/CpG ODN interaction mediates Sézary syndrome malignant T cell apoptosis.

We previously identified the NK cell receptor KIR3DL2 as a valuable diagnostic and prognostic marker for the detection of the tumoral T cell burden of Sézary syndrome (SS) patients. However, the function of this receptor on the malignant T lymphocyte population remained unexplored. We here demonstrate that engagement of KIR3DL2 by its recently identified ligand CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) induces the internalization of the receptor and leads to a caspase-dependent apoptosis of malignant T cells.

Gene expression profiling identifies emerging oncogenic pathways operating in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type.

Biopsies and cell lines of natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (NKTCL) were subject to combined gene expression profiling and array-based comparative genomic hybridization analyses. Compared with peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified, NKTCL had greater transcript levels for NK-cell and cytotoxic molecules, especially granzyme H. Compared with normal NKcells, tumors were closer to activated than resting cells and overexpressed several genes related to vascular biology, Epstein-Barr Virus-induced genes, and PDGFRA.

NK cells and surveillance in humans.

Natural killer (NK) cells are part of the innate immune system and help to protect against infections and tumour transformation by eliminating affected cells. NK cells become activated upon target cell recognition through the integration of signals provided by both activating and inhibitory receptors. Ligands recognized by these receptors include major histocompatibility complex class I, stress-induced molecules, adhesion proteins and other molecules that are used by NK cells to identify cells to be killed.