Highlights of the twelfth annual meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), 6-9 November 2016, Liverpool, UK

The annual meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), held in Liverpool, UK, is a multidisciplinary conference. The meeting generally outlines research trends for the coming year and is aimed at cancer professionals at every level. The most important themes discussed for this conference was that of cancer stem cells. Alongside once again prominence was given to topics of cancer evolution and the role of social prevention programmes like previous years.

Highlights of Children with Cancer UK's Workshop on Drug Delivery in Paediatric Brain Tumours

The first Workshop on Drug Delivery in Paediatric Brain Tumours was hosted in London by the charity Children with Cancer UK. The goals of the workshop were to break down the barriers to treating central nervous system (CNS) tumours in children, leading to new collaborations and further innovations in this under-represented and emotive field. These barriers include the physical delivery challenges presented by the blood-brain barrier, the underpinning reasons for the intractability of CNS cancers, and the practical difficulties of delivering cancer treatment to the brains of children. Novel techniques for overcoming these problems were discussed, new models brought forth, and experiences compared.

Highlights of the eleventh annual meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute, 1-4 November 2015, Liverpool, UK

The annual meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), held in Liverpool, UK, has a solid reputation of being a multidisciplinary conference. It brings the diverse cancer interests of the United Kingdom together, from funders to researchers to clinicians. Key themes for the coming year’s innovation emerge. At this meeting, particularly notable topics were immunotherapy and prevention, with sessions on Big Data and e-cigarettes generating significant interest and discussion. Broad themes included discussions around cancer evolution, and the economic challenges of the United Kingdom’s cancer burden.

Lessons from the first ecancer symposium on angiogenesis in gastric cancer

In March 2015, ecancer hosted a symposium at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy on the topic of angiogenesis in gastric cancer.

During this meeting, leaders in the field focused on the latest research on the topic of angiogenesis in gastric cancer, delivering lectures combined with interactive question and answer (Q & A) sessions and a roundtable discussion with the meeting’s chairs. Topics covered included biomarkers, imaging, and the current state of antiangiogenic drugs in gastric cancer.

This report will provide an understanding of the relevance of angiogenesis in gastric cancer research, and clinical experiences from diverse perspectives.

p75(NTR)-dependent activation of NF-κB regulates microRNA-503 transcription and pericyte-endothelial crosstalk in diabetes after limb ischaemia

The communication between vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes in the microvasculature is fundamental for vascular growth and homeostasis; however, these processes are disrupted by diabetes. Here we show that modulation of p75(NTR) expression in ECs exposed to high glucose activates transcription of miR-503, which negatively affects pericyte function. p75(NTR) activates NF-κB to bind the miR-503 promoter and upregulate miR-503 expression in ECs. NF-κB further induces activation of Rho kinase and shedding of endothelial microparticles carrying miR-503, which transfer miR-503 from ECs to vascular pericytes. The integrin-mediated uptake of miR-503 in the recipient pericytes reduces expression of EFNB2 and VEGFA, resulting in impaired migration and proliferation. We confirm operation of the above mechanisms in mouse models of diabetes, in which EC-derived miR-503 reduces pericyte coverage of capillaries, increased permeability and impaired post-ischaemic angiogenesis in limb muscles. Collectively, our data demonstrate that miR-503 regulates pericyte-endothelial crosstalk in microvascular diabetic complications.

Be brave, look for meaning: highlights of the tenth annual meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute

The tenth Annual Meeting of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference took place in Liverpool, UK. Just under 2000 delegates were estimated to have attended the conference, predominantly from the UK and Europe.

It was a multidisciplinary gathering aimed at cancer professionals at every level. The conference included primers on basic science and public communication as well as workshops on more advanced topics.The conference was grouped into six main themes, which this report will address in greater detail.

A golden anniversary: highlights of the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology

The 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology showed a shift in the culture of cancer research, moving towards multidisciplinary, integrated, and patient-centric work. Hormone-sensitive cancers were particularly highlighted at this meeting, and impressive strides were made in the previously underserved areas of the lung and thyroid cancer. Interestingly, immunotherapy was one of the strongest themes to emerge.

Id2 mediates oligodendrocyte precursor cell maturation arrest and is tumorigenic in a PDGF-rich microenvironment

Maturation defects occurring in adult tissue progenitor cells have the potential to contribute to tumor development; however, there is little experimental evidence implicating this cellular mechanism in the pathogenesis of solid tumors. Inhibitor of DNA-binding 2 (Id2) is a transcription factor known to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of primitive stem and progenitor cells. Id2 is derepressed in adult tissue neural stem cells (NSC) lacking the tumor suppressor Tp53 and modulates their proliferation. Constitutive expression of Id2 in differentiating NSCs resulted in maturation-resistant oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPC), a cell population implicated in the initiation of glioma. Mechanistically, Id2 overexpression was associated with inhibition of the Notch effector Hey1, a bHLH transcription factor that we here characterize as a direct transcriptional repressor of the oligodendroglial lineage determinant Olig2. Orthotopic inoculation of NSCs with enhanced Id2 expression into brains of mice engineered to express platelet-derived growth factor in the central nervous system resulted in glioma. These data implicate a mechanism of altered NSC differentiation in glioma development and characterize a novel mouse model that reflects key characteristics of the recently described proneural subtype of glioblastoma multiforme. Such findings support the emerging concept that the cellular and molecular characteristics of tumor cells are linked to the transformation of distinct subsets of adult tissue progenitors.

miRNAs: small genes with big potential in metazoan phylogenetics

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a key component of gene regulatory networks and have been implicated in the regulation of virtually every biological process found in multicellular eukaryotes. What makes them interesting from a phylogenetic perspective is the high conservation of primary sequence between taxa, their accrual in metazoan genomes through evolutionary time, and the rarity of secondary loss in most metazoan taxa. Despite these properties, the use of miRNAs as phylogenetic markers has not yet been discussed within a clear conceptual framework. Here we highlight five properties of miRNAs that underlie their utility in phylogenetics: 1) The processes of miRNA biogenesis enable the identification of novel miRNAs without prior knowledge of sequence; 2) The continuous addition of miRNA families to metazoan genomes through evolutionary time; 3) The low level of secondary gene loss in most metazoan taxa; 4) The low substitution rate in the mature miRNA sequence; and 5) The small probability of convergent evolution of two miRNAs. Phylogenetic analyses using both Bayesian and parsimony methods on a eumetazoan miRNA data set highlight the potential of miRNAs to become an invaluable new tool, especially when used as an additional line of evidence, to resolve previously intractable nodes within the tree of life.

Soluble ST2 is regulated by p75 neurotrophin receptor and predicts mortality in diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia

OBJECTIVE

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)) contributes to diabetes mellitus-induced defective postischemic neovascularization. The interleukin-33 receptor ST2 is expressed as transmembrane (ST2L) and soluble (sST2) isoforms. Here, we studied the following: (1) the impact of p75(NTR) in the healing of ischemic and diabetic calf wounds; (2) the link between p75(NTR) and ST2; and (3) circulating sST2 levels in critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Diabetes mellitus was induced in p75(NTR) knockout (p75KO) mice and wild-type (WT) littermates by streptozotocin. Diabetic and nondiabetic p75KO and WT mice received left limb ischemia induction and a full-thickness wound on the ipsilateral calf. Diabetes mellitus impaired wound closure and angiogenesis and increased ST2 expression in WT, but not in p75KO wounds. In cultured endothelial cells, p75(NTR) promoted ST2 (both isoforms) expression through p38(MAPK)/activating transcription factor 2 pathway activation. Next, sST2 was measured in the serum of patients with CLI undergoing either revascularization or limb amputation and in the 2 nondiabetic groups (with CLI or nonischemic individuals). Serum sST2 increased in diabetic patients with CLI and was directly associated with higher mortality at 1 year from revascularization.

CONCLUSIONS

p75(NTR) inhibits the healing of ischemic lower limb wounds in diabetes mellitus and promotes ST2 expression. Circulating sST2 predicts mortality in diabetic CLI patients.