Wnt5A tagged posts

These are extracellular vesicles under the electron microscope. Credit: Helmholtz Zentrum München

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an incurable lung disease of unknown origin with limited treatment options. Research suggests that the signaling molecule WNT5A plays a key role in the pathogenic process. Now a group of scientists from Helmholtz Zentrum München working with colleagues from the University of Denver have taken a further step towards uncovering the mechanisms responsible for the development of fibrosis: IPF is associated with the increase of extracellular vesicles that relay WNT5A signals to cells in the lungs...

Rosiglitazone

An anti-diabetic drug can inhibit the growth of melanoma in older patients by activating an anti-aging gene that in turn inhibits a protein involved in metastatic progression and resistance to targeted therapies for the disease. Even more than other types of cancer, melanoma is a disease of aging, with older patients more frequently diagnosed with the disease and having a worse prognosis. Targeted therapies have brought benefits in terms of overall survival compared to chemotherapy but they are limited by intrinsic or acquired resistance.

Wistar scientists have previously shown that age-related changes in the tumor microenvironment – or the surrounding area where tumor cells crosstalk with normal and immune cells – can drive melanoma progression and therapy resistance...