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Researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that ovarian cancer cells spread, or metastasize, to new tissue after being caught in DNA "webs" extruded by immune cells. The study, which will be published December 19 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that preventing immune cells from forming these webs reduces metastasis in mice, suggesting that similar treatments could be used to limit the spread of ovarian cancer in humans.

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Researchers in Israel have discovered that breast tumors can boost their growth by recruiting stromal cells originally formed in the bone marrow. The study, which will be published November 23 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that the recruitment of bone marrow–derived fibroblasts lowers the odds of surviving breast cancer, but suggests that targeting these cells could be an effective way of treating the disease.

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Researchers from Australia and Japan have discovered a new human immunodeficiency syndrome in two patients on separate continents. The study, which will be published October 18 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that a mutation in a gene called IKBKB disrupts the immune system, leading to excessive inflammation and the loss of both T and B white blood cells.

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Scientists in the UK have shown for the first time that immune cells in the urine of bladder cancer patients accurately reflect those in the tumor environment, according to the study “Urine-derived lymphocytes as a non-invasive measure of the bladder tumor immune microenvironment,” by Wong et al., published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

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Researchers from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that the activation of brain cells called microglia likely contributes to the memory loss and other cognitive impairments suffered by many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study, which will be published September 5 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that ACE inhibitors—a class of drugs commonly used to treat hypertension—can block this process in mice and might therefore be used to preserve the memory of lupus patients.

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Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that a modified version of an important immune cell protein could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The study, which will be published August 29 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that soluble versions of a protein called TLR5 can reduce the buildup of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease model mice and prevent the toxic peptide that forms these plaques from killing neurons.

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It has been almost 20 years since the human genome was first sequenced, but researchers still know little about how the genome is folded up and organized within cells. In a paper to be published August 28 in the Journal of Cell Biology, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign describe a new technique that can measure the position of every single gene in the nucleus to build a 3D picture of the genome’s organization.

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Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Science in Japan have discovered how antibodies secreted in the gut promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. Their study, which will be published July 24 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies can alter the expression of bacterial genes, allowing different bacterial species to cooperate with each other and form a community that can protect the body from disease.

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New research uncovers how a sticky protein called fibronectin promotes the activity of estrogen in breast cancer cells. The study, “Fibronectin rescues estrogen receptor α from lysosomal degradation in breast cancer cells,” will be published July 6 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB).

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Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered that microglia, specialized immune cells in the brain, play a key role in clearing dead material after brain injury. The study, which will be published June 25 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that microglia gobble up the remnants of injured neurons, which could prevent the damage from spreading to neighboring neurons and causing more extensive neurodegeneration.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that a protein called Munc13-4 helps cancer cells secrete large numbers of exosomes—tiny, membrane-bound packages containing proteins and RNAs that stimulate tumor progression. The study, which will be published June 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology, could lead to new therapies that stop tumor growth and metastasis by halting exosome production.

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Researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto have discovered that epigenetic proteins promote the proliferation of mammary gland stem cells in response to the sex hormone progesterone. The study, which will be published June 19 in the Journal of Cell Biology, suggests that inhibiting these proteins with drugs could prevent the development of breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease.

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Researchers at The Francis Crick Institute in London have discovered that cells can trap viruses in a protein cage to stop them from spreading to neighboring cells. The study, which will be published June 19 in the Journal of Cell Biology, reveals that the vaccinia virus can escape this trap by recruiting additional proteins to dismantle the cage and propel the virus out of the cell.

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Researchers from Washington State University have discovered how a genetic mutation linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy disrupts the heart’s normal function. The study, which will be published May 18 in the Journal of General Physiology, reveals that the mutation prevents the heart from increasing the amount of force it produces when it needs to pump additional blood around the body.

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Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have discovered that a signaling protein elevated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) plays a much wider role in the disease than previously thought. The study, which will be published May 17 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, raises hopes that current efforts to target this signaling protein could be a successful strategy to treat AML and other blood cancers.

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Researchers in Germany have discovered that colon cancers are often resistant to existing drug treatments because they are composed of two different cell types that can replace each other when one cell type is killed. The study, which will be published May 16 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that combination therapies targeting both cell types at once may be more effective at treating colorectal cancer, the third highest cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

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Cells begin to accumulate centrosomes—organelles that play a vital role during cell division—before they transform into cancer cells, according to a new study of patients with Barrett’s esophagus condition, which is associated with esophageal cancer. The research, which will be published May 8 in the Journal of Cell Biology, suggests that similar cases of centrosome amplification may contribute to the initiation and progression of a variety of human cancers.

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Researchers in China have discovered that an enzyme called UGT8 drives the progression of basal-like breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that is largely untreatable. But the study, which will be published May 4 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that the widely used osteoporosis drug zoledronic acid inhibits UGT8 and prevents the spread of basal-like breast cancer in mice, suggesting that this drug could also be used to treat the disease in humans.

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Researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have discovered why many multiple myeloma patients experience severe pain when treated with the anticancer drug bortezomib. The study, which will be published April 27 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that a drug already approved to treat multiple sclerosis could mitigate this effect, allowing myeloma patients to successfully complete their treatment and relieving the pain of myeloma survivors.

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Rockefeller University Press, EMBO Press, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press today announced the launch of Life Science Alliance, a new global, open access, editorially independent, peer-reviewed journal committed to rapid, fair and transparent publication of valuable research from across the life sciences.