Dual-targeting CRISPR-CasRx reduces C9orf72 ALS/FTD sense and antisense repeat RNAs in vitro and in vivo.

The most common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an intronic GC repeat expansion in C9orf72. The repeats undergo bidirectional transcription to produce sense and antisense repeat RNA species, which are translated into dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs). As toxicity has been associated with both sense and antisense repeat-derived RNA and DPRs, targeting both strands may provide the most effective therapeutic strategy.

PolyGR and polyPR knock-in mice reveal a conserved neuroprotective extracellular matrix signature in C9orf72 ALS/FTD neurons.

Dipeptide repeat proteins are a major pathogenic feature of C9orf72 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (C9ALS)/frontotemporal dementia (FTD) pathology, but their physiological impact has yet to be fully determined. Here we generated C9orf72 dipeptide repeat knock-in mouse models characterized by expression of 400 codon-optimized polyGR or polyPR repeats, and heterozygous C9orf72 reduction. (GR)400 and (PR)400 knock-in mice recapitulate key features of C9ALS/FTD, including cortical neuronal hyperexcitability, age-dependent spinal motor neuron loss and progressive motor dysfunction.

Standard Versus Modified Ipilimumab, in Combination With Nivolumab, in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Randomized Phase II Trial (PRISM).

Purpose: Ipilimumab (IPI), in combination with nivolumab (NIVO), is an approved frontline treatment option for patients with intermediate- or poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC). We conducted a randomized phase II trial to evaluate whether administering IPI once every 12 weeks (modified), instead of once every 3 weeks (standard), in combination with NIVO, is associated with a favorable toxicity profile.

Methods: Treatment-naïve patients with clear-cell aRCC were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive four doses of modified or standard IPI, 1 mg/kg, in combination with NIVO (3 mg/kg).

Drug screen in iPSC-Neurons identifies nucleoside analogs as inhibitors of (GC) expression in C9orf72 ALS/FTD.

An intronic (GC) expansion in C9orf72 causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia primarily through gain-of-function mechanisms: the accumulation of sense and antisense repeat RNA foci and dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins (poly-GA/GP/GR/PA/PR) translated from repeat RNA. To therapeutically block this pathway, we screen a library of 1,430 approved drugs and known bioactive compounds in patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons (iPSC-Neurons) for inhibitors of DPR expression. The clinically used guanosine/cytidine analogs decitabine, entecavir, and nelarabine reduce poly-GA/GP expression, with decitabine being the most potent.

Development of a sensitive trial-ready poly(GP) CSF biomarker assay for -associated frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: A GGGGCC repeat expansion in the gene is the most common cause of genetic frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As potential therapies targeting the repeat expansion are now entering clinical trials, sensitive biomarker assays of target engagement are urgently required. Our objective was to develop such an assay.

Topic modelling online depression forums: beyond narratives of self-objectification and self-blaming.

Background: Depression raises a double challenge: besides the negative mood and the intrusive thoughts, the relation to the self also becomes difficult. Online forums are analysed as communicative platforms enabling the interactive reconstruction of the self.

Aims: The discourses of online depression forums are explored.

The DANTE trial protocol: a randomised phase III trial to evaluate the Duration of ANti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody Treatment in patients with metastatic mElanoma.

Background: Immunotherapy is revolutionising the treatment of patients diagnosed with melanoma and other cancers. The first immune checkpoint inhibitor, ipilimumab (targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4)), showed a survival advantage over standard chemotherapy. Subsequently the anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibodies, nivolumab and pembrolizumab were shown to be more effective than ipilimumab.

The asymmetries of the biopsychosocial model of depression in lay discourses - Topic modelling online depression forums.

Background: One of the most comprehensive approaches to depression is the biopsychosocial model. From this wider perspective, social sciences have criticized the reductionist biomedical discourse, which has been dominating expert discourses for a long time. As these discourses determine the horizon of attributions and interventions, their lay interpretation plays a central role in the coping with depression.

Using MemBlob to Analyze Transmembrane Regions Based on Cryo-EM Maps.

Transmembrane proteins include membrane channels, pores, and receptors and, as such, comprise an important part of the proteome, yet our knowledge about them is much less complete than about soluble, globular proteins. An important aspect of transmembrane protein structure is their exact position within the lipid bilayer, a feature hard to investigate experimentally at the atomic level. Here we describe MemBlob, a novel approach utilizing difference electron density maps obtained by cryo-EM studies of transmembrane proteins.

PRISM protocol: a randomised phase II trial of nivolumab in combination with alternatively scheduled ipilimumab in first-line treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: The combination of nivolumab, a programmed death-1 (PD-1) targeted monoclonal antibody, with the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) targeted antibody, ipilimumab, represents a new standard of care in the first-line setting for patients with intermediate- and poor-risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) based on recent phase III data. Combining ipilimumab with nivolumab increases rates of grade 3 and 4 toxicity compared with nivolumab alone, and the optimal scheduling of these agents when used together remains unknown. The aim of the PRISM study is to assess whether less frequent dosing of ipilimumab (12-weekly versus 3-weekly), in combination with nivolumab, is associated with a favourable toxicity profile without adversely impacting efficacy.

MemBlob database and server for identifying transmembrane regions using cryo-EM maps.

Summary: The identification of transmembrane helices in transmembrane proteins is crucial, not only to understand their mechanism of action but also to develop new therapies. While experimental data on the boundaries of membrane-embedded regions are sparse, this information is present in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) density maps and it has not been utilized yet for determining membrane regions. We developed a computational pipeline, where the inputs of a cryo-EM map, the corresponding atomistic structure, and the potential bilayer orientation determined by TMDET algorithm of a given protein result in an output defining the residues assigned to the bulk water phase, lipid interface and the lipid hydrophobic core.