New factors affecting cervical cancer progression

Publication success!

New findings from a single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of cervical cancer tissues reveal key factors involved in cervical cancer initiation and progression.

The study by Chao Liu and colleagues, published in January in Science Advances, provides great insight into the transcriptional programs underlying each stage of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CESC). The researchers sequenced more than 75,000 cells isolated from human cancer tissues at various stages of malignancy. From here, they could observe the trajectory of cervical epithelial cells and the correlations between the abundance of specific myeloid, lymphoid and endothelial cell populations and CESC progression.

This is a fascinating study and a very interesting read: https://lnkd.in/eMAYu9nr

Well done to all those involved in this impactful study!

Publication success!

We’re really excited to see the latest paper from Jerome Tamburini and colleagues published just last month in Leukemia journal.

In this study, Tamburini et al. investigated how mitochondrial metabolism is linked to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Using patient-derived xenograft models, they found that blocking mitochondrial fusion resulted in anti-leukemic cellular activity, with minimal impact on normal hematopoietic cells.

You can find out more about the underlying mechanisms of this intriguing process, here: https://lnkd.in/eWvwR65h

IEL offers congratulations to all those involved in this impactful study. It’s exciting to see that inhibiting mitochondrial fusion might one day constitute a potential therapeutic approach for those with AML.

Inhibiting G9a/GLP improves engineered T-cell antitumor activity

The Insight Editing London team were delighted to see an early draft of this manuscript, before its submission to Nature Communications. Now accepted and available to read online, you can find out more about how researchers in Singapore and New York have aimed to improve the antitumor activity of engineered T cells.

Lam et al. found that short-term inhibition of G9a/GLP increases T-cell antitumor activity against hepatocellular carcinoma both in vitro and in a mouse model, by increasing granzyme expression and precipitating changes in pro-inflammatory gene expression.

Check out the full, open access article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36160-5

This is a really interesting study with huge potential to change the efficacy of engineered T-cell therapy for many cancer patients. Congratulations to all those involved in this exciting work!

Publication of a new method!

We are delighted to share that yet another paper from Lukas Flatz and colleagues is now available online at Science Immunology!

Here, Flatz et al. present their method “DITAS”, which they show can help discover tumor-associated self-antigens. They developed DITAS in the context of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), analyzing the shared antigens between NSCLC and normal lung tissue. After detecting lung tissue–specific genes highly expressed in lung tumors and validating candidate antigens, they identified napsin A that could induce NSCLC and lung reactive CD8+ T cell responses.

These exciting data might hold the key to improving immune checkpoint blockade, which despite its efficacy, in many patients has to be ceased due to the onset of immune-related adverse events.

Find out more about DITAS and the potential role of napsin A, here: https://lnkd.in/dK4vniZa

Congratulations to all those involved in this exciting study! Insight Editing London‘s Lucy Robinson really enjoyed working on this paper with you.

New research article!

Now available to read online: Data from a new study by Lukas Flatz and colleagues show that patients with severe COVID-19 harbor IgA autoantibodies against pulmonary surfactant proteins B and C. These autoantibodies block the function of lung surfactant, potentially contributing to alveolar collapse and poor oxygenation.

These highly relevant findings, published this month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, will no doubt help clinicians and researchers understand why some patients develop severe symptoms following infection and perhaps even shed light on potential therapeutic interventions for those affected. Check out the full paper, here:https://lnkd.in/dDgKwXdj

Congratulations to all those involved in this study – it was a pleasure to work with you again!

New review article!

Would you like to learn more about how spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) can be applied to your field of interest? If so, you might like to check out this recent review published in Blood Science: https://lnkd.in/diGqQZsy

In this article, Honglin Duan, Tao Cheng and Hui Cheng based at the Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital (Tianjin, China) update us on the new technologies permitting high-resolution, high-throughput and multiplex SRT. Their review highlights that the possibilities to unravel the molecular architecture of tissues are endless thanks to these great technological advances.

Thank you to the researchers for giving us a sneak peek at this work before submission – we really enjoyed working with you!