RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are effectors and regulators of posttranscriptional gene regulation (PTGR). RBPs regulate stability, maturation, and turnover of all RNAs, often binding thousands of targets at many sites. The importance of RBPs is underscored by their dysregulation or mutations causing a variety of developmental and neurological diseases. This chapter globally discusses human RBPs and provides a brief introduction to their identification and RNA targets. We review RBPs based on common structural RNA-binding domains, study their evolutionary conservation and expression, and summarize disease associations of different RBP classes. <<<

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer-specific lymphoid cell. Induction and consolidation chemotherapy alone or in combination with different therapeutic approaches remain the main treatment. Although complete or partial remission of the disease can be achieved, the risk of relapse or refractory leukemia is still high. More effective and safe therapy options are yet unmet needs. In recent years' new therapeutic approaches have been widely used. Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) presents significant limitations and the outcome of the consolidation treatment is patient dependent. Side effects such as Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are extremely common, therefore, using alternative methods to address these challenges for treatment seems crucial. In the last decade, T cells genetically engineered with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) treatment for the ALL are largely studied and represent the new era of strategy. According to the Phase I/II clinical trials, this technology results seem very promising and can be used in the next future as an effective and safe treatment for ALL treatment. In this review different generations, challenges, and clinical studies related to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells for ALL treatment are discussed. <<<

Maria Hurskainen, Ivana Mižíková, David P Cook, Noora Andersson, Chanèle Cyr-Depauw, Flore Lesage, Emmi Helle, Laurent Renesme, Robert P Jankov, Markku Heikinheimo, Barbara C Vanderhyden, Bernard Thébaud <<<

During late lung development, alveolar and microvascular development is finalized to enable sufficient gas exchange. Impaired late lung development manifests as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) allows for assessment of complex cellular dynamics during biological processes, such as development. Here, we use MULTI-seq to generate scRNA-seq profiles of over 66,000 cells from 36 mice during normal or impaired lung development secondary to hyperoxia with validation of some of the findings in lungs from BPD patients. We observe dynamic populations of cells, including several rare cell types and putative progenitors. Hyperoxia exposure, which mimics the BPD phenotype, alters the composition of all cellular compartments, particularly alveolar epithelium, stromal fibroblasts, capillary endothelium and macrophage populations. Pathway analysis and predicted dynamic cellular crosstalk suggest inflammatory signaling as the main driver of hyperoxia-induced changes. Our data provides a single-cell view of cellular changes associated with late lung development in health and disease. <<<

Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death driven by the accumulation of lipid hydroperoxides. Regulation of ferroptosis might be beneficial to cancer treatment. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of RNA transcripts that generally cannot encode proteins and have been demonstrated to play critical roles in regulating ferroptosis. Herein, we developed ncFO, the ncRNA-ferroptosis association database, to document the manually curated and predicted ncRNAs that are associated with ferroptosis. Collectively, ncFO contains 90 experimentally verified entries, including 46 microRNAs (miRNAs), 21 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and 17 circular RNAs (circRNAs). In addition, ncFO also incorporates two online prediction tools based on the regulation and co-expression of ncRNA and ferroptosis genes. Using default parameters, we obtained 3260 predicted entries, including 598 miRNAs and 178 lncRNAs, by regulation, as well as 2,592,661 predicted entries, including 967 miRNAs and 9632 lncRNAs, by ncRNA-ferroptosis gene co-expression in more than 8000 samples across 20 cancer types. The detailed information of each entry includes ncRNA name, disease, species, tissue, target, regulation, publication time, and PubMed identifier. ncFO also provides survival analysis and differential expression analysis for ncRNAs. In summary, ncFO offers a user-friendly platform to search and predict ferroptosis-associated ncRNAs, which might facilitate research on ferroptosis and discover potential targets for cancer treatment. ncFO can be accessed at http://www.jianglab.cn/ncFO/. <<<

Dongqiang Zeng, Zilan Ye, Rongfang Shen, Guangchuang Yu, Jiani Wu, Yi Xiong, Rui Zhou, Wenjun Qiu, Na Huang, Li Sun, Xuejun Li, Jianping Bin, Yulin Liao, Min Shi, Wangjun Liao <<<

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have triggered the rapid accumulation of publicly available multi-omics datasets. The application of integrated omics to explore robust signatures for clinical translation is increasingly emphasized, and this is attributed to the clinical success of immune checkpoint blockades in diverse malignancies. However, effective tools for comprehensively interpreting multi-omics data are still warranted to provide increased granularity into the intrinsic mechanism of oncogenesis and immunotherapeutic sensitivity. Therefore, we developed a computational tool for effective Immuno-Oncology Biological Research (IOBR), providing a comprehensive investigation of the estimation of reported or user-built signatures, TME deconvolution, and signature construction based on multi-omics data. Notably, IOBR offers batch analyses of these signatures and their correlations with clinical phenotypes, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) profiling, genomic characteristics, and signatures generated from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data in different cancer settings. Additionally, IOBR integrates multiple existing microenvironmental deconvolution methodologies and signature construction tools for convenient comparison and selection. Collectively, IOBR is a user-friendly tool for leveraging multi-omics data to facilitate immuno-oncology exploration and to unveil tumor-immune interactions and accelerating precision immunotherapy. <<<

Yuechen Luo, Changlu Xu, Bing Wang, Qing Niu, Xiuhua Su, Yingnan Bai, Shuxian Zhu, Chunxiao Zhao, Yunyan Sun, Jiali Wang, Maolan Liu, Xiaolei Sun, Ge Song, Haidong Cui, Xiaoli Chen, Huifang Huang, Haikun Wang, Mingzhe Han, Erlie Jiang, Lihong Shi, Xiaoming Feng <<<

Human FOXP3 regulatory T (T) cells are central to immune tolerance. However, their heterogeneity and differentiation remain incompletely understood. Here we use single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing to resolve T cells from healthy individuals and patients with or without acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) who undergo stem cell transplantation. These analyses, combined with functional assays, separate T cells into naïve, activated, and effector stages, and resolve the HLA-DR, LIMS1, highly suppressive FOXP3, and highly proliferative MKI67 effector subsets. Trajectory analysis assembles T subsets into two differentiation paths (I/II) with distinctive phenotypic and functional programs, ending with the FOXP3 and MKI67 subsets, respectively. Transcription factors FOXP3 and SUB1 contribute to some Path I and Path II phenotypes, respectively. These FOXP3 and MKI67 subsets and two differentiation pathways are conserved in transplanted patients, despite having functional and migratory impairments under aGVHD. These findings expand the understanding of T cell heterogeneity and differentiation and provide a single-cell atlas for the dissection of T complexity in health and disease. <<<

Bin Tean Teh, Kevin Lim, Chern Han Yong, Cedric Chuan Young Ng, Sushma Ramesh Rao, Vikneswari Rajasegaran, Weng Khong Lim, Choon Kiat Ong, Ki Chan, Vincent Kin Yuen Cheng, Poh Sheng Soh, Sanjay Swarup, Steven G Rozen, Niranjan Nagarajan, Patrick Tan <<<

Durian (Durio zibethinus) is a Southeast Asian tropical plant known for its hefty, spine-covered fruit and sulfury and onion-like odor. Here we present a draft genome assembly of D. zibethinus, representing the third plant genus in the Malvales order and first in the Helicteroideae subfamily to be sequenced. Single-molecule sequencing and chromosome contact maps enabled assembly of the highly heterozygous durian genome at chromosome-scale resolution. Transcriptomic analysis showed upregulation of sulfur-, ethylene-, and lipid-related pathways in durian fruits. We observed paleopolyploidization events shared by durian and cotton and durian-specific gene expansions in MGL (methionine γ-lyase), associated with production of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). MGL and the ethylene-related gene ACS (aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase) were upregulated in fruits concomitantly with their downstream metabolites (VSCs and ethylene), suggesting a potential association between ethylene biosynthesis and methionine regeneration via the Yang cycle. The durian genome provides a resource for tropical fruit biology and agronomy. <<<