On June 17, the FDA approved checkpoint blocker Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) “for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic tumor mutational burden-high (TMB-H) [?10 mutations/megabase (mut/Mb)] solid tumors, as determined by an FDA-approved test, that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.” 

BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: Liver-derived protein helps lung, kidney repair; Multiracial study gives new diabetes insights; New way to target drugs, independently of drug target; Microbiome-produced metabolites improve gut health; Universal flu vaccine more challenging than anticipated; The bow ties that bind; FOXO1 regulates HIV latency; Patient genetic variants linked to wound microbiomes; New COPD target.

By targeting chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to a senescence marker, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have developed a CAR T cell that had beneficial effects in mouse models of both liver fibrosis and lung cancer.

The disconnect between the need for sleep and the possession of a brain is what prompted Dragana Rogulja, an assistant professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, and her team to take a look at multiple tissues in sleep-deprived flies and mice.

BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: Prozac for infectious disease; How CDK comes unglued; Macrophages rewire cholesterol metabolism for bacterial toxin defense; ApoE4’s role in Alzheimer’s blood vessels; HRAS-driven translation helps skin prevent tumors; Discovering pharmacological enzyme activators; Broad-spectrum antiviral has activity against Zika; Lifespan synaptic atlas gives developmental insights; NETS and mets.