The EMBO journal
-
Defining the pulmonary cell types infected by SARS-CoV-2 and finding ways to prevent subsequent tissue damage are key goals for controlling COVID-19. Recent work establishing a human lung organoid-derived air-liquid interface model permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection identifies alveolar type II cells as the primary cell type infected, reports an infection-induced interferon response and demonstrates the effectiveness of interferon lambda 1 treatment in dampening lung infection.
-
A number of promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates may pass approval this month. However, the pandemic will only be brought into check through an equitable, epidemiologically informed distribution policy. The health emergency provides a unique opportunity for a new paradigm to mitigate between global health, national and commercial interests.
-
Patient-derived tumour xenografts and tumour organoids have become important preclinical model systems for cancer research. Both models maintain key features from their parental tumours, such as genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, which allows them to be used for a wide spectrum of applications. ⋯ On the other hand, xenografts retain tumour-stroma interactions, which are known to contribute to tumorigenesis. In this review, we discuss recent advances in patient-derived tumour xenograft and tumour organoid model systems and compare their promises and challenges as preclinical models in cancer research.
-
PGAM5, a mitochondrial protein phosphatase that is genetically and biochemically linked to PINK1, facilitates mitochondrial division by dephosphorylating the mitochondrial fission factor Drp1. At the onset of mitophagy, PGAM5 is cleaved by PARL, a rhomboid protease that degrades PINK1 in healthy cells, and the cleaved form facilitates the engulfment of damaged mitochondria by autophagosomes by dephosphorylating the mitophagy receptor FUNDC1. ⋯ In Parkin-mediated mitophagy, Stx17 is prerequisite for PGAM5 to interact with FUNDC1. Our results reveal that the Stx17-PGAM5 axis plays pivotal roles in mitochondrial division and PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy.
-
Little is known about the molecules mediating the cross-talk between post-traumatic axons and scar-forming cells after spinal cord injury. We found that a sustained NB-3 induction was simultaneously present in the terminations of post-traumatic corticospinal axons and scar-forming cells at the spinal lesion site, where they were in direct contact when axons tried to penetrate the glial scar. ⋯ NB-3 deficiency promoted BMS scores, electrophysiological transmission, and synapse reformation between regenerative axons and neurons. Our findings demonstrate that NB-3 trans-homophilic interactions mediate the cross-talk between post-traumatic axons and scar-forming cells and impair the intrinsic growth ability of injured axons.