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Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medical Sciences

Thomas Jefferson University

Series

2022

Cancer

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

The Future Of Targeted Kinase Inhibitors In Melanoma, Signe Caksa, Usman Baqai, A E Aplin May 2022

The Future Of Targeted Kinase Inhibitors In Melanoma, Signe Caksa, Usman Baqai, A E Aplin

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Melanoma is a cancer of the pigment-producing cells of the body and its incidence is rising. Targeted inhibitors that act against kinases in the MAPK pathway are approved for BRAF-mutant metastatic cutaneous melanoma and increase patients' survival. Response to these therapies is limited by drug resistance and is less durable than with immune checkpoint inhibition. Conversely, rare melanoma subtypes have few therapeutic options for advanced disease and MAPK pathway targeting agents show minimal anti-tumor effects. Nevertheless, there is a future for targeted kinase inhibitors in melanoma: in new applications such as adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy and in novel combinations with …


Positive Selection And Enhancer Evolution Shaped Lifespan And Body Mass In Great Apes, Daniela Tejada-Martinez, Roberto A Avelar, Inês Lopes, Bruce Zhang, Guy Novoa, João Pedro De Magalhães, Marco Trizzino Feb 2022

Positive Selection And Enhancer Evolution Shaped Lifespan And Body Mass In Great Apes, Daniela Tejada-Martinez, Roberto A Avelar, Inês Lopes, Bruce Zhang, Guy Novoa, João Pedro De Magalhães, Marco Trizzino

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Within primates, the great apes are outliers both in terms of body size and lifespan, since they include the largest and longest-lived species in the order. Yet, the molecular bases underlying such features are poorly understood. Here, we leveraged an integrated approach to investigate multiple sources of molecular variation across primates, focusing on over 10,000 genes, including approximately 1,500 previously associated with lifespan, and additional approximately 9,000 for which an association with longevity has never been suggested. We analyzed dN/dS rates, positive selection, gene expression (RNA-seq), and gene regulation (ChIP-seq). By analyzing the correlation between dN/dS, maximum lifespan, and body …