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Cytokines are a broad category of intercellular signaling proteins that are critical for intercellular communication in human health and disease. However, systematic profiling of cytokine signaling activities has remained challenging due to the short half-lives of cytokines, and the pleiotropic functions and redundancy of cytokine activities within specific cellular contexts.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex mixture of cell types whose interactions affect tumor growth and clinical outcome. Recent studies using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and single-cell RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to elucidate tissue composition and cell-cell interactions in the TME led to improved biomarkers of patient response and new treatment opportunities. However, the use of FACS is limited to simultaneously measuring the expression of a few protein markers, whereas the use of single-cell RNAseq has been limited due to cost and scarcity of fresh tumor biopsies.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has changed the prognosis of HIV-1 infection to a chronic illness that, in most cases, can be managed or controlled. Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) and reverse transcription inhibitors are essential components of ART drug cocktails. In compliant individuals, ART has been found to block viral replication completely. Additionally, blocking viral replication can prevent the emergence of drug resistance.

Tumor cell lines are important tools for the study of cancer. However, most tumor cell lines available today do not mimic physiological tumor development, progression, and host immune responses. Autochthonous tumors include spontaneously occurring tumors and chemical, viral, or physical carcinogen-induced tumors. They are considered to model human tumors more closely than transplanted tumors. Autochthonous tumors can be generated de novo in a model organism of interest and are thought to resemble physiological human tumor conditions.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is caused by several factors including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), an environmental contaminant. TCDD causes lipid accumulation in humans by inducing the Solute Carrier Family 46 Member 3 (SLC46A3) gene expression. To effectively study TCDD-mediated lipid accumulation, research tools such as SLC46A3 knockout cells and animal models are required.

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures systems are important for studying cell biology because they provide in vivo-like microenvironments more physiologically relevant than two-dimensional (2D) culture systems. In 3D culture systems, cells are grown in culture matrixes and turn into spheroids and organoids later processed for downstream analysis by microscopy and histology techniques. The processing of 3D cultures for analysis by microscopy or histology is laborious and time-consuming due to incompatibility of the 3D culture vessels and the microscopy and pathology blocks.

Cancer cells may acquire drug resistance after prolonged chemotherapy. In many cases, cancer cells develop resistance to several drugs with distinct structures and modes of action. This multi-drug resistance phenomenon increases the complexity of cancer treatment.

Synovial sarcoma is a cancer affecting mesenchymal cells in connective tissues. This rare cancer is typically linked to genetic abnormalities or exposure to radiation. Metastatic growth throughout the body can occur primarily through blood circulation. More than 90% of synovial sarcomas show a characteristic t(X;18)(p11;q11) translocation involving the SYT and SSX genes. The resulting SYT-SSX abnormal fusion protein causes misregulation of downstream gene expression, leading to tumor formation.

Gammaretroviral vectors were the first viral gene-therapy vectors to enter clinical trials and remain in use. One potential hazard associated with the use of such vectors is the presence of replication-competent retroviruses (RCR) in the vector preparations – either as a result of: 1) recombination events between the plasmids used for vector production, 2) interactions between the plasmids and endogenous retroviral sequences in the packaging cell lines, or 3) as a result of contamination in the laboratory.

The Hippo signaling pathway regulates a multitude of biological processes including cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, tissue homeostasis, and stem cell functions. This axis has been recently listed as one of the top 10 signaling pathways altered in human cancer. Its role in modulating cell growth and proliferation is mediated by the activation of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding domain (TAZ).