A STAT3/integrin axis accelerates pancreatic cancer initiation and progression.

The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway drives pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression by coordinating cellular responses to stress and inflammation. We perform ChIP-seq on hypoxia- or oncostatin-M-treated PDAC cells to identify sites at which phospho-STAT3 binds to regulate the expression of genes linked to poor survival. A top hit among these is ITGB3, which we show promotes PDAC initiation and progression.

COLUMBUS─An Efficient and General Program Package for Ground and Excited State Computations Including Spin-Orbit Couplings and Dynamics.

The COLUMBUS program system provides the tools for performing high-level multireference (MR) computations, including the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) method and its multireference averaged quadratic coupled cluster (MR-AQCC) extension, allowing computations on a wide range of fascinating atomic and molecular systems, including the treatment of open-shells and complicated excited state phenomena. The inclusion of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) directly within the MRCI step enables the description of systems containing heavy elements, such as lanthanides and actinides, whose properties are strongly influenced by SOC. Analytic energy gradients and nonadiabatic couplings at the correlated MRCI level provide the foundation for a variety of dynamics studies, giving insight into ultrafast photochemistry.

Effects of Ankle Exoskeleton Motor Location on Gait Biomechanics and User Perceptions: The Bowden Cable Dilemma.

Motor-powered ankle exoskeletons have been shown to improve walking and rehabilitation outcomes in individuals with and without gait impairments (e.g., cerebral palsy (CP)).

Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Cell Stemness by Blocking Fibronectin-Binding Integrins on Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts.

Abstract: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) generate an extracellular matrix (ECM) which provides a repository for factors that promote pancreatic cancer progression. In this study, we establish that CAF contribution to pancreatic tumor initiation, i.e.