Distinct senescence mechanisms restrain progression of dysplastic nevi.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations (TPMs) are frequently found in different cancer types, including ∼70% of sun-exposed skin melanomas. In melanoma, TPMs are among the earliest mutations and can be present during the transition from nevus to melanoma. However, the specific factors that contribute to the selection of TPMs in certain nevi subsets are not well understood.

Distinct senescence mechanisms restrain progression of dysplastic nevi.

TERT promoter mutations (TPMs) are frequently found in different cancer types, including approximately 70% of sun-exposed skin melanomas. In melanoma, TPMs are among the earliest mutations and can be present during the transition from nevus to melanoma. However, the specific factors that contribute to the selection of TPMs in certain nevi subsets are not well understood.

A Sequential Targeting Strategy Interrupts AKT-Driven Subclone-Mediated Progression in Glioblastoma.

Purpose: Therapy resistance and fatal disease progression in glioblastoma are thought to result from the dynamics of intra-tumor heterogeneity. This study aimed at identifying and molecularly targeting tumor cells that can survive, adapt, and subclonally expand under primary therapy.

Experimental Design: To identify candidate markers and to experimentally access dynamics of subclonal progression in glioblastoma, we established a discovery cohort of paired vital cell samples obtained before and after primary therapy.

Editing TINF2 as a potential therapeutic approach to restore telomere length in dyskeratosis congenita.

Mutations in the TINF2 gene, encoding the shelterin protein TIN2, cause telomere shortening and the inherited bone marrow (BM) failure syndrome dyskeratosis congenita (DC). A lack of suitable model systems limits the mechanistic understanding of telomere shortening in the stem cells and thus hinders the development of treatment options for BM failure. Here, we endogenously introduced TIN2-DC mutations in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) to dissect the disease mechanism and identify a gene-editing strategy that rescued the disease phenotypes.

is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor that limits telomere length.

Telomere shortening is a presumed tumor suppressor pathway that imposes a proliferative barrier (the Hayflick limit) during tumorigenesis. This model predicts that excessively long somatic telomeres predispose to cancer. Here, we describe cancer-prone families with two unique mutations that truncate TIN2, a shelterin subunit that controls telomere length.

The RNA-binding protein SERBP1 functions as a novel oncogenic factor in glioblastoma by bridging cancer metabolism and epigenetic regulation.

Background: RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) function as master regulators of gene expression. Alterations in RBP expression and function are often observed in cancer and influence critical pathways implicated in tumor initiation and growth. Identification and characterization of oncogenic RBPs and their regulatory networks provide new opportunities for targeted therapy.

TERT promoter mutations and telomeres during tumorigenesis.

Telomerase regulation and telomere shortening act as a strong tumor suppressor mechanism in human somatic cells. Point mutations in the promoter of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) are the most frequent non-coding mutation in cancer. These TERT promoter mutations (TPMs) create de novo ETS factor binding sites upstream of the start codon of the gene, which can be bound by different ETS factors.

Transient activation of the UPR is an essential step in the acquisition of pluripotency during reprogramming.

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells using the Yamanaka transcription factors. Reprogramming requires both epigenetic landscape reshaping and global remodeling of cell identity, structure, basic metabolic processes, and organelle form and function. We hypothesize that variable regulation of the proteostasis network and its influence upon the protein-folding environment within cells and their organelles is responsible for the low efficiency and stochasticity of reprogramming.

Mutations in the promoter of the telomerase gene contribute to tumorigenesis by a two-step mechanism.

promoter mutations (TPMs) are the most common noncoding mutations in cancer. The timing and consequences of TPMs have not been fully established. Here, we show that TPMs acquired at the transition from benign nevus to malignant melanoma do not support telomere maintenance.

Defined and Scalable Differentiation of Human Oligodendrocyte Precursors from Pluripotent Stem Cells in a 3D Culture System.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) offer considerable potential for the treatment of demyelinating diseases and injuries of the CNS. However, generating large quantities of high-quality OPCs remains a substantial challenge that impedes their therapeutic application. Here, we show that OPCs can be generated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in a three-dimensional (3D), scalable, and fully defined thermoresponsive biomaterial system.

Oxygenation and adenosine deaminase support growth and proliferation of cultured wing imaginal discs.

The wing imaginal disc has been an important model system over past decades for discovering novel biology related to development, signaling and epithelial morphogenesis. Novel experimental approaches have been enabled using a culture setup that allows cultures of wing discs. Current setups, however, are not able to sustain both growth and cell-cycle progression of wing discs We discover here a setup that requires both oxygenation of the tissue and adenosine deaminase activity in the medium, and supports both growth and proliferation of wing discs for 9 h.

Metabolic determinants of cancer cell sensitivity to glucose limitation and biguanides.

As the concentrations of highly consumed nutrients, particularly glucose, are generally lower in tumours than in normal tissues, cancer cells must adapt their metabolism to the tumour microenvironment. A better understanding of these adaptations might reveal cancer cell liabilities that can be exploited for therapeutic benefit. Here we developed a continuous-flow culture apparatus (Nutrostat) for maintaining proliferating cells in low-nutrient media for long periods of time, and used it to undertake competitive proliferation assays on a pooled collection of barcoded cancer cell lines cultured in low-glucose conditions.