Somatostatin peptide signaling dampens cortical circuits and promotes exploratory behavior.

We sought to characterize the unique role of somatostatin (SST) in the prelimbic (PL) cortex in mice. We performed slice electrophysiology in pyramidal and GABAergic neurons to characterize the pharmacological mechanism of SST signaling and fiber photometry of GCaMP6f fluorescent calcium signals from SST neurons to characterize the activity profile of SST neurons during exploration of an elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test (OFT). We used local delivery of a broad SST receptor (SSTR) agonist and antagonist to test causal effects of SST signaling.

Engineered Multivalency Enhances Affibody-Based HER3 Inhibition and Downregulation in Cancer Cells.

The receptor tyrosine kinase HER3 has emerged as a therapeutic target in ovarian, prostate, breast, lung, and other cancers due to its ability to potently activate the PI3K/Akt pathway, especially via dimerization with HER2, as well as for its role in mediating drug resistance. Enhanced efficacy of HER3-targeted therapeutics would therefore benefit a wide range of patients. This study evaluated the potential of multivalent presentation, through protein engineering, to enhance the effectiveness of HER3-targeted affibodies as alternatives to monoclonal antibody therapeutics.