High-throughput identification of repurposable neuroactive drugs with potent anti-glioblastoma activity.

Glioblastoma, the most aggressive primary brain cancer, has a dismal prognosis, yet systemic treatment is limited to DNA-alkylating chemotherapies. New therapeutic strategies may emerge from exploring neurodevelopmental and neurophysiological vulnerabilities of glioblastoma. To this end, we systematically screened repurposable neuroactive drugs in glioblastoma patient surgery material using a clinically concordant and single-cell resolved platform.

Functional Characterization of the Lysosomal Peptide/Histidine Transporter PHT1 () by Solid Supported Membrane Electrophysiology (SSME).

The peptide/histidine transporter PHT1 () is expressed in the lysosomal membranes of immune cells where it plays an important role in metabolic and inflammatory signaling. PHT1 is an H-coupled/histidine symporter that can transport a wide range of oligopeptides, including a variety of bacterial-derived peptides. Moreover, it enables the scaffolding of various metabolic signaling molecules and interacts with key regulatory elements of the immune response.

Ligandability Assessment of IL-1β by Integrated Hit Identification Approaches.

Human interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a critical role in the regulation of the immune response and the development of various inflammatory diseases. In this publication, we disclose our efforts toward the discovery of IL-1β binders that interfere with IL-1β signaling. To this end, several technologies were used in parallel, including fragment-based screening (FBS), DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, peptide discovery platform (PDP), and virtual screening.

Comparing Fetal Ultrasound Biometric Measurements to Neonatal Anthropometry at the Extremes of Birth Weight.

Objective:  Error in birthweight prediction by sonographic estimated fetal weight (EFW) has clinical implications, such as avoidable cesarean or misclassification of fetal risk in labor. We aimed to evaluate optimal timing of ultrasound and which fetal measurements contribute to error in fetal ultrasound estimations of birth size at the extremes of birthweight.

Study Design:  We compared differences in head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length, and EFW between ultrasound and corresponding birth measurements within 14 ( = 1,290) and 7 ( = 617) days of birth for small- (SGA, <10th percentile), appropriate- (AGA, 10th-90th), and large-for-gestational age (LGA, >90th) newborns.

New Insights into the Physiology of Iron Transport: An Interdisciplinary Approach.

The TransCure project entitled 'Iron Transporters DMT1 and FPN1' took an interdisciplinary approach combining structural biology, chemistry and physiology to gain new insights into iron transport. Proteins studied included Divalent Metal Transporter 1 (DMT1, SLC11A2), enabling the import of Fe2+ into the cytoplasm, and the iron efflux transporter Ferroportin (FPN1, SLC40A1). The physiology and pathophysiology, and the mechanisms underlying iron transport in the gut, across the placenta and in bone were investigated.