Reshaping the Tumor Microenvironment of KRASG12D Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma with Combined SOS1 and MEK Inhibition for Improved Immunotherapy Response.

Unlabelled: KRAS inhibitors have demonstrated exciting preclinical and clinical responses, although resistance occurs rapidly. Here, we investigate the effects of KRAS-targeting therapies on the tumor microenvironment using a library of KrasG12D, p53-mutant, murine pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma-derived cell lines (KPCY) to leverage immune-oncology combination strategies for long-term tumor efficacy. Our findings show that SOS1 and MEK inhibitors (SOS1i+MEKi) suppressed tumor growth in syngeneic models and increased intratumoral CD8+ T cells without durable responses.

Engineering an inhibitor-resistant human CSF1R variant for microglia replacement.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can replace endogenous microglia with circulation-derived macrophages but has high mortality. To mitigate the risks of HSCT and expand the potential for microglia replacement, we engineered an inhibitor-resistant CSF1R that enables robust microglia replacement. A glycine to alanine substitution at position 795 of human CSF1R (G795A) confers resistance to multiple CSF1R inhibitors, including PLX3397 and PLX5622.

Miniature structured illumination microscope for 3D imaging of brain structures with optical sectioning.

We present a high-resolution miniature, light-weight fluorescence microscope with electrowetting lens and onboard CMOS for high resolution volumetric imaging and structured illumination for rejection of out-of-focus and scattered light. The miniature microscope (SIMscope3D) delivers structured light using a coherent fiber bundle to obtain optical sectioning with an axial resolution of 18 µm. Volumetric imaging of eGFP labeled cells in fixed mouse brain tissue at depths up to 260 µm is demonstrated.

Please eat (only part) of me: synaptic phosphatidylserine cues microglia to feast: Two new studies identify how a common apoptotic cell flag is used to sculpt neural circuits.

Microglia, the brain's tissue-resident macrophages, contribute to the developmental elimination of extranumerary synapses and to pathologic synapse loss in mouse models of neurodegeneration. Two papers published in The EMBO Journal reveal that phosphatidylserine (PS) is a neuronal cue for microglial synapse elimination.

Landscape and Dynamics of Single Immune Cells in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly characterized. Combining two single-cell RNA sequencing technologies, we produced transcriptomes of CD45 immune cells for HCC patients from five immune-relevant sites: tumor, adjacent liver, hepatic lymph node (LN), blood, and ascites. A cluster of LAMP3 dendritic cells (DCs) appeared to be the mature form of conventional DCs and possessed the potential to migrate from tumors to LNs.