Glioblastoma is a major unmet clinical need characterized by striking inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity and a population of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), conferring aggressiveness and therapy resistance. GSCs communicate through a network of tumor-tumor connections (TTCs), including nanotubes and microtubes, promoting tumor progression. However, very little is known about the mechanisms underlying TTC formation and overall GSC morphology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: CRISPR-Cas9 dropout screens are formidable tools for investigating biology with unprecedented precision and scale. However, biases in data lead to potential confounding effects on interpretation and compromise overall quality. The activity of Cas9 is influenced by structural features of the target site, including copy number amplifications (CN bias).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome-wide genetic screens using CRISPR-guide RNA libraries are widely performed in mammalian cells to functionally characterize individual genes and for the discovery of new anticancer therapeutic targets. As the effectiveness of such powerful and precise tools for cancer pharmacogenomics is emerging, tools and methods for their quality assessment are becoming increasingly necessary. Here, we provide an R package and a high-quality reference data set for the assessment of novel experimental pipelines through which a single calibration experiment has been executed: a screen of the HT-29 human colorectal cancer cell line with a commercially available genome-wide library of single-guide RNAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe exposure to pathogens triggers the activation of adaptive immune responses through antigens bound to surface receptors of antigen presenting cells (APCs). T cell receptors (TCR) are responsible for initiating the immune response through their physical direct interaction with antigen-bound receptors on the APCs surface. The study of T cell interactions with antigens is considered of crucial importance for the comprehension of the role of immune responses in cancer growth and for the subsequent design of immunomodulating anticancer drugs.
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