Comprehensive Comparison of Somatic, Germline, and Immune Cell Profiles in Upper Tract and Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma.

Purpose: Molecular characterization of anatomically distinct urothelial carcinoma in the upper tract (UTUC) and bladder (UCB) has been challenging because of the rarity of UTUC. However, recent advances in real-world data curation have facilitated the generation of larger UTUC cohorts. In this study, we investigated the somatic, germline, and immunologic landscapes of UTUC compared with UCB.

DNA damage repair gene alterations influence the tumor immune microenvironment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: DNA damage response and repair (DDR) gene alterations contribute to genomic instability and increased tumor immunogenicity, yet their clinical significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. Using a large real-world dataset, we evaluated the prevalence of DDR alterations and their relation to the tumor immune microenvironment in metastatic NSCLC.

Experimental Design: We retrospectively analyzed real-world data from patients with metastatic NSCLC using the Tempus AI database.

Optimizing the Diagnosis and Biomarker Testing for Patients with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a heterogenous group of malignancies originating in the biliary tree, and associated with poor prognosis. Until recently, treatment options have been limited to surgical resection, liver-directed therapies, and chemotherapy. Identification of actionable genomic alterations with biomarker testing has revolutionized the treatment paradigm for these patients.

Modulation of PICALM Levels Perturbs Cellular Cholesterol Homeostasis.

PICALM (Phosphatidyl Inositol Clathrin Assembly Lymphoid Myeloid protein) is a ubiquitously expressed protein that plays a role in clathrin-mediated endocytosis. PICALM also affects the internalization and trafficking of SNAREs and modulates macroautophagy. Chromosomal translocations that result in the fusion of PICALM to heterologous proteins cause leukemias, and genome-wide association studies have linked PICALM Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) to Alzheimer's disease.

PICALM modulates autophagy activity and tau accumulation.

Genome-wide association studies have identified several loci associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), including proteins involved in endocytic trafficking such as PICALM/CALM (phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin assembly protein). It is unclear how these loci may contribute to AD pathology. Here we show that CALM modulates autophagy and alters clearance of tau, a protein which is a known autophagy substrate and which is causatively linked to AD, both in vitro and in vivo.