The Yin and Yang of ERBB4: Tumor Suppressor and Oncoprotein.

ERBB4 (HER4) is a member of the ERBB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, a family that includes the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ERBB1/HER1), ERBB2 (Neu/HER2), and ERBB3 (HER3). EGFR and ERBB2 are oncoproteins and validated targets for therapeutic intervention in a variety of solid tumors. In contrast, the role that ERBB4 plays in human malignancies is ambiguous.

Development and application of high-throughput screens for the discovery of compounds that disrupt ErbB4 signaling: Candidate cancer therapeutics.

Whereas recent clinical studies report metastatic melanoma survival rates high as 30-50%, many tumors remain nonresponsive or become resistant to current therapeutic strategies. Analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) data set suggests that a significant fraction of melanomas potentially harbor gain-of-function mutations in the gene that encodes for the ErbB4 receptor tyrosine kinase. In this work, a drug discovery strategy was developed that is based on the observation that the Q43L mutant of the naturally occurring ErbB4 agonist Neuregulin-2beta (NRG2β) functions as a partial agonist at ErbB4.

Development and Implementation of an Effective Blind Proficiency Testing Program.

Blind proficiency testing is ideal for testing crime laboratory personnel because the elements of analyst bias and anticipation are removed. However, sending proficiency tests through the laboratory system as real casework is difficult. The substantial challenges with preparing and administering blind tests may prevent laboratory managers from initiating blind testing.

Temporal abundance and activity trends of vinyl chloride (VC)-degrading bacteria in a dilute VC plume at Naval Air Station Oceana.

Assessment and monitoring of microbial community dynamics is useful when tracking the progress of vinyl chloride (VC) bioremediation strategies, particularly in dilute plumes where apparent VC attenuation rates are low. In a long-term field study, the abundance and the activity of microbial VC degraders were tracked in three monitoring wells (MW05, MW25, and MW19) along a dilute VC plume at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana. High-throughput sequencing of partial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and transcripts revealed diverse groundwater microbial communities and showed that methanotrophs and anaerobic respirers (e.