Publications by authors named "V H de Laat"

A spontaneously occurring temperature increase in solid tumors has been reported sporadically, but is largely overlooked in terms of cancer biology. Here we show that temperature is increased in tumors of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and explore how this could affect therapy response. By mimicking this observation in PDAC cell lines, we demonstrate that through adaptive changes in lipid metabolism, the temperature increase found in human PDAC confers protection to lipid peroxidation and contributes to gemcitabine resistance.

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Article Synopsis
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) is caused by a duplication of the PMP22 gene on chromosome 17, leading to disrupted myelination in peripheral nerves.
  • Through studies on CMT1A mouse models and patient-derived stem cells, researchers found significant downregulation of cholesterol and lipid metabolism, as well as disturbances in plasma membrane components and cell signaling pathways.
  • Interventions that stimulate autophagy and lipolysis showed potential for rescuing the negative effects of PMP22 duplication, suggesting that targeting lipid metabolism could be a therapeutic strategy for CMT1A.
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Background: One of the key limitations of targeted cancer therapies is the rapid onset of therapy resistance. Taking BRAF-mutant melanoma as paradigm, we previously identified the lipogenic regulator SREBP-1 as a central mediator of resistance to MAPK-targeted therapy. Reasoning that lipogenesis-mediated alterations in membrane lipid poly-unsaturation lie at the basis of therapy resistance, we targeted fatty acid synthase (FASN) as key player in this pathway to evoke an exquisite vulnerability to clinical inducers of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby rationalizing a novel clinically actionable combination therapy to overcome therapy resistance.

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With the advent of effective tools to study lipids, including mass spectrometry-based lipidomics, lipids are emerging as central players in cancer biology. Lipids function as essential building blocks for membranes, serve as fuel to drive energy-demanding processes and play a key role as signaling molecules and as regulators of numerous cellular functions. Not unexpectedly, cancer cells, as well as other cell types in the tumor microenvironment, exploit various ways to acquire lipids and extensively rewire their metabolism as part of a plastic and context-dependent metabolic reprogramming that is driven by both oncogenic and environmental cues.

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The present investigation was carried out to study the prevalence and clinical appearance of destructive periodontal disease in a school population of 15- to 16-year old adolescents in Amsterdam. In addition the prevalence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans was studied in those subjects showing attachment loss. Attachment loss was diagnosed in 230 of the 4565 subjects participating which is about 5% of the population studied.

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