Septic cardiomyopathy is a common and serious complication of sepsis, affecting up to 60% of patients and markedly worsening survival outcomes. It is characterized by left ventricular systolic dysfunction, but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood despite extensive research.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to treat inflammatory pain, but they can have severe side effects, including potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal, renal and cardiac toxicity. Their analgesic effect is driven by inhibition of prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis and subsequent inflammation, but this inhibitory effect on inflammation could delay pain resolution. An optimal approach to managing PG-mediated pain would selectively relieve pain while preserving the PGs’ essential inflammatory and protective functions.
Chinese researchers have published preclinical data regarding the potential of never in mitosis A (NIMA)-related kinase 2 (NEK2) as a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) in which B cells play a key role.
In an isomerization reaction, uridine is modified to pseudouridine, the most abundant RNA modification which presents an extra hydrogen bond donor, altering the RNA structure and providing unique chemical properties.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, with survival rates showing little improvement over decades and projections placing it as the second leading cause of cancer deaths by 2030. Chemotherapy is essential for all patients, yet most tumors lacking BRCA1/2 or PALB2 mutations show resistance to cisplatin. Growing evidence suggests that targeting nuclear factor NF-κB, a key driver of cancer progression, could help overcome this chemoresistance and improve treatment outcomes.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and common type of brain cancer in adults, with a dismal prognosis despite current treatments. Previous work found that neurodevelopmental pathways drive glioma tumor initiation, maintenance and progression through fetal oncogenes, which are active in development and cancer but largely absent in adult tissues, offering precise therapeutic targets with minimal off-target effects.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer with poor clinical outcomes and high mortality rates, primarily driven by drug resistance and relapse. Increasing evidence has confirmed dysregulated cellular metabolism as a tumor hallmark with crucial roles in tumor growth, progression and drug resistance.
Mutations that activate phosphorylation of certain Rab GTPases by LRRK2 have been linked to a subset of genetic cases of Parkinson’s disease, and PPM1M is one of the phosphatases responsible for reversing phosphorylation by LRRK2.
Immunoglobulin superfamily 11 (IgSF11) overexpression has been observed in several cancer types, including gastric cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancers and gliomas, and linked to aggressive clinicopathological features. Therefore, IgSF11 has been proposed as a novel immune checkpoint ligand and a candidate for cancer immunotherapy. However, the potential role and clinical significance of IgSF11 in human breast cancer remain unexplored.
Barth syndrome is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the TAZ gene, which encodes an enzyme essential for remodeling cardiolipin, critical for mitochondrial function. A recent study published in Nature identified the enzyme ABHD18 as a candidate deacylase in the cardiolipin biosynthesis pathway and a potential therapeutic target for this syndrome.
