Lipids from a snail host regulate the multicellular behavior of a predator of parasitic schistosomes.

Transmission of vector-borne diseases can be slowed by symbionts within the secondary hosts that spread disease. Snails spread schistosomiasis, and the snail symbiont kills schistosome larvae. In studying how colonizes its host snail, we discovered that responded to its host by forming multicellular aggregates.

Exogenous lipid vesicles induce endocytosis-mediated cellular aggregation in a close unicellular relative of animals.

is a protozoan that may both reveal aspects of animal evolution and also curtail the spread of schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease. exhibits a chemically regulated aggregative behavior that resembles cellular aggregation in some animals. This behavior may have played a key role in the evolution of animal multicellularity.

Host lipids regulate multicellular behavior of a predator of a human pathogen.

As symbionts of animals, microbial eukaryotes benefit and harm their hosts in myriad ways. A model microeukaryote () is a symbiont of snails and may prevent transmission of parasitic schistosomes from snails to humans. However, it is unclear which host factors determine s ability to colonize snails.

Chemical factors induce aggregative multicellularity in a close unicellular relative of animals.

Regulated cellular aggregation is an essential process for development and healing in many animal tissues. In some animals and a few distantly related unicellular species, cellular aggregation is regulated by diffusible chemical cues. However, it is unclear whether regulated cellular aggregation was part of the life cycles of the first multicellular animals and/or their unicellular ancestors.

EWS-FLI1-regulated Serine Synthesis and Exogenous Serine are Necessary for Ewing Sarcoma Cellular Proliferation and Tumor Growth.

Despite a growing body of knowledge about the genomic landscape of Ewing sarcoma, translation of basic discoveries into targeted therapies and significant clinical gains has remained elusive. Recent insights have revealed that the oncogenic transcription factor EWS-FLI1 can impact Ewing sarcoma cellular metabolism, regulating expression of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), the first enzyme in serine synthesis. Here, we have examined the importance of serine metabolism in Ewing sarcoma tumorigenesis and evaluated the therapeutic potential of targeting serine metabolism in preclinical models of Ewing sarcoma.

5,10b-Ethanophenanthridine amaryllidaceae alkaloids inspire the discovery of novel bicyclic ring systems with activity against drug resistant cancer cells.

Plants of the Amaryllidaceae family produce a large variety of alkaloids and non-basic secondary metabolites, many of which are investigated for their promising anticancer activities. Of these, crinine-type alkaloids based on the 5,10b-ethanophenanthridine ring system were recently shown to be effective at inhibiting proliferation of cancer cells resistant to various pro-apoptotic stimuli and representing tumors with dismal prognoses refractory to current chemotherapy, such as glioma, melanoma, non-small-cell lung, esophageal, head and neck cancers, among others. Using this discovery as a starting point and taking advantage of a concise biomimetic route to the crinine skeleton, a collection of crinine analogues were synthetically prepared and evaluated against cancer cells.