Pharmacologic Hedgehog inhibition modulates the cytokine profile of osteolytic breast cancer cells.

The establishment and progression of bone metastatic breast cancer is supported by immunosuppressive myeloid populations that enable tumor growth by dampening the innate and adaptive immune response. Much work remains to understand how to target these tumor-myeloid interactions to improve treatment outcomes. Noncanonical Hedgehog signaling is an essential component of bone metastatic tumor progression, and prior literature suggests a potential role for Hedgehog signaling and its downstream effector Gli2 in modulating immune responses.

Bioinformatics Screen Reveals Gli-Mediated Hedgehog Signaling as an Associated Pathway to Poor Immune Infiltration of Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma.

Liposarcomas are the most diagnosed soft tissue sarcoma, with most cases consisting of well-differentiated (WDLPS) or dedifferentiated (DDLPS) histological subtypes. While both tumor subtypes can have clinical recurrence due to incomplete resections, DDLPS often has worse prognosis due to a higher likelihood of metastasis compared to its well-differentiated counterpart. Unfortunately, targeted therapeutic interventions have lagged in sarcoma oncology, making the need for molecular targeted therapies a promising future area of research for this family of malignancies.

MED31 involved in regulating self-renewal and adipogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells.

Regulation of gene expression is critical for the maintenance of cell state and homeostasis. Aberrant regulation of genes can lead to unwanted cell proliferation or misdirected differentiation. Here we investigate the role of MED31, a highly conserved subunit of the Mediator complex, to determine the role this subunit plays in the maintenance of human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) state.