A shortcut to identifying small molecule signals that regulate behavior and development in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Small molecule metabolites play important roles in Caenorhabditis elegans biology, but effective approaches for identifying their chemical structures are lacking. Recent studies revealed that a family of glycosides, the ascarosides, differentially regulate C. elegans development and behavior.

RALBP1/RLIP76 mediates multidrug resistance.

RLIP76/RALBP1 is a multi-specific drug-transporter which can mediate drug-resistance in lung and other cancers, but its ability to mediate multidrug-resistance has not been previously demonstrated in hematological malignancy. Present studies in K562 human myelogenous leukemia show that RALBP1 overexpression confers broad resistance to multiple chemotherapy drugs including cisplatin, melphalan, doxorubicin, daunorubicin, vincristine, vinblastine, vinorelbine, and mitomycin-C. Conversely, inhibition of RALBP1 by polyclonal antibodies causes increased drug-accumulation and increased cytotoxicity.

Therapeutic resistance in lung cancer.

Despite considerable progress over the last 25 years in the systemic therapy of lung cancer, intrinsic and acquired resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and radiation remains a vexing problem. The number of mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in lung cancer has expanded considerably over the past three decades, and the crucial role of stress resistance pathways is increasingly recognised as a cause of intrinsic and acquired chemo- and radiotherapy resistance. This paper reviews recent evidence for stress defence proteins, particularly RALBP1/RLIP76, in mediating intrinsic and acquired chemotherapy and radiation resistance in human lung cancer.