Atezolizumab plus Magrolimab, Niraparib, or Tocilizumab versus Atezolizumab Monotherapy in Platinum-Refractory Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: A Phase Ib/II Open-Label, Multicenter, Randomized Umbrella Study (MORPHEUS Urothelial Carcinoma).

Purpose: The MORPHEUS platform was designed to identify early efficacy signals and evaluate the safety of novel immunotherapy combinations across cancer types. The phase Ib/II MORPHEUS-UC trial (NCT03869190) is evaluating atezolizumab plus magrolimab, niraparib, or tocilizumab in platinum-refractory locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC). Additional treatment combinations were evaluated and will be reported separately.

Canonical hedgehog signaling augments tumor angiogenesis by induction of VEGF-A in stromal perivascular cells.

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is critical to the patterning and development of a variety of organ systems, and both ligand-dependent and ligand-independent Hh pathway activation are known to promote tumorigenesis. Recent studies have shown that in tumors promoted by Hh ligands, activation occurs within the stromal microenvironment. Testing whether ligand-driven Hh signaling promotes tumor angiogenesis, we found that Hh antagonism reduced the vascular density of Hh-producing LS180 and SW480 xenografts.

Hedgehog signaling is restricted to the stromal compartment during pancreatic carcinogenesis.

The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway has been implicated in pancreatic cancer but its role remains controversial. To delineate the cell populations able to respond to Hh ligand stimulation, we expressed an oncogenic allele of Smoothened (SmoM2) to cell autonomously activate Hh signaling in the mouse pancreas. Surprisingly, we found that expression of SmoM2 in epithelial cells was not able to activate the pathway and had no impact on pancreatic development or neoplasia.

RWJ-54428 (MC-02,479), a new cephalosporin with high affinity for penicillin-binding proteins, including PBP 2a, and stability to staphylococcal beta-lactamases.

RWJ-54428 (MC-02,479) is a new cephalosporin active against gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The potency of this new cephalosporin against MRSA is related to a high affinity for penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP 2a), as assessed in a competition assay using biotinylated ampicillin as the reporter molecule. RWJ-54428 had high activity against MRSA strains COL and 67-0 (MIC of 1 micro g/ml) and also showed affinity for PBP 2a, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 0.

Enhanced tumor killing by Apo2L/TRAIL and CPT-11 co-treatment is associated with p21 cleavage and differential regulation of Apo2L/TRAIL ligand and its receptors.

Apo2L/TRAIL exhibits enhanced apoptotic activity in tumor xenograft models when used in combination with the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor CPT-11. To investigate the cellular mechanisms involved in this increased tumor-killing activity, a series of in vitro experiments were conducted using the human colon carcinoma cell line (HCT116). Apo2L/TRAIL induced a transient upregulation of DR5 mRNA, while CPT-11 increased both death and decoy receptor expression.