S. Natarajan

Conditional c-MYC activation in catecholaminergic cells drives distinct neuroendocrine tumors: neuroblastoma vs somatostatinoma

This study creates two mouse models with conditional c-MYC activation in specific cell types, leading to distinct neuroendocrine tumors resembling human neuroblastoma and somatostatinoma.

Autophagy contributes to homeostasis in esophageal epithelium where high autophagic vesicle content marks basal cells with limited proliferation and enhanced self-renewal potential

The paper investigates autophagy's role in esophageal homeostasis, finding that high autophagic vesicle content in basal cells correlates with limited proliferation and enhanced self-renewal.

14K Prolactin Derived 14-Mer Antiangiogenic Peptide Targets Bradykinin-/Nitric Oxide-cGMP-Dependent Angiogenesis

This study identifies a novel 14-mer antiangiogenic peptide derived from prolactin that inhibits bradykinin- and eNOS-dependent angiogenesis, showing synergistic effects with Avastin in a colon cancer model.

An integrated single-cell RNA-seq map of human neuroblastoma tumors and preclinical models uncovers divergent mesenchymal-like gene expression programs.

The paper compares mesenchymal-like gene expression programs in neuroblastoma preclinical models and patient tumors using single-cell RNA-seq and identifies chemotherapy-induced changes in PDX and GEMM.

Sex-biased Yap1 oncogene function

This study shows that Yap1, an oncogene, has sex-biased functions in medulloblastoma progression and immune suppression, with greater impact in males.

The chemotherapeutic CX-5461 primarily targets TOP2B and exhibits selective activity in high-risk neuroblastoma.

This study identifies CX-5461 as a TOP2B inhibitor with selective activity in high-risk neuroblastoma but highlights safety concerns due to TOP2B off-target effects.

Drug and siRNA screens identify ROCK2 as a therapeutic target for ciliopathies.

The paper identifies ROCK2 as a therapeutic target for ciliopathies through drug and siRNA screens, showing ROCK2 inhibitors could treat cystic kidney disease.

FLASH irradiation enhances the therapeutic index of abdominal radiotherapy for the treatment of ovarian cancer

This study shows FLASH irradiation reduces intestinal injury while maintaining ovarian cancer treatment efficacy in preclinical models.