Wnt, glucocorticoid and cellular prion protein cooperate to drive a mesenchymal phenotype with poor prognosis in colon cancer.

Background: The mesenchymal subtype of colorectal cancer (CRC), associated with poor prognosis, is characterized by abundant expression of the cellular prion protein PrP, which represents a candidate therapeutic target. How PrP is induced in CRC remains elusive. This study aims to elucidate the signaling pathways governing PrP expression and to shed light on the gene regulatory networks linked to PrP.

The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway inhibits inflammation without lymphocyte relay.

The magnitude of innate inflammatory immune responses is dependent on interactions between peripheral neural and immune cells. In particular, a cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) has been identified in the spleen whereby noradrenaline (NA) released by splenic nerves binds to ß2-adrenergic receptors (β2-AR) on CD4 T cells which, in turn, release acetylcholine (ACh). The binding of ACh to α7 acetylcholine receptors (α7-AChR) expressed by splenic macrophages inhibits the production of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

Pancreatic nerve electrostimulation inhibits recent-onset autoimmune diabetes.

Vagus nerve stimulation can ameliorate autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis by modulation of the immune system. Its efficacy for the treatment of type 1 diabetes has not been explored, in part because the nerves projecting to the pancreatic lymph nodes (pLNs) in mice are unmapped. Here, we map the nerve projecting to the pancreas and pLNs in mice and use a minimally invasive surgical procedure to implant micro-cuff electrodes onto the nerve.