During cancer therapy, tumor heterogeneity can drive the evolution of multiple tumor subclones harboring unique resistance mechanisms in an individual patient 1-3. Prior case reports and small Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:

The lens capsule is a modified basement membrane that completely surrounds the ocular lens. It is known that this extracellular matrix is important for both the structure and biomechanics of the lens in addition to providing informational cues to maintain lens cell phenotype. This review covers the development and structure of the lens capsule, lens diseases associated with mutations in extracellular matrix genes and the role of the capsule in lens function including those proposed for visual accommodation, selective permeability to infectious agents, and cell signaling.

Human diseases caused by mutations in extracellular matrix genes are often associated with an increased risk of cataract and lens capsular rupture. However, the underlying mechanisms of cataract pathogenesis in these conditions are still unknown. Using two different mouse models, we show that the accumulation of collagen chains in the secretory pathway activates the stress signaling pathway termed unfolded protein response (UPR). Transgenic mice expressing ectopic Col4a3 and Col4a4 genes in the lens exhibited activation of IRE1, ATF6, and PERK associated with expansion of the endoplasmic reticulum and attenuation of general protein translation. The expression of the transgenes had adverse effects on lens fiber cell differentiation and eventually induced cell death in a group of transgenic fiber cells. In Col4a1 ؉/⌬ex40 mutant mice, the accumulation of mutant chains also caused low levels of UPR activation. However, cell death was not induced in mutant lenses, suggesting that low levels of UPR activation are not proapoptotic. Collectively, the results provide in vivo evidence for a role of UPR in cataract formation in response to accumulation of terminally unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum.The ocular lens is a transparent, cellular structure that refracts light onto the retina, resulting in high resolution vision. Many environmental risk factors and single gene defects are known or hypothesized to result in clouding of the lens, a condition known as cataract. Cataract is the primary cause of blindness worldwide (1, 2), with autosomal dominant congenital cataract being the leading cause of treatable childhood blindness (3, 4). Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgical operation in the United States and consumes 60% of the Medicare budget for vision (5, 6).Cataract can be a multifactorial disease and is often associated with systemic or genetic disorders, such as diabetes and Lowe syndrome (7-9). Notably, human diseases caused by mutations in extracellular matrix (ECM) 4 genes are also often associated with an increased risk of cataract. Stickler and Marshall syndromes are two disorders caused by mutations in the COL2A1 gene that are associated with the early onset of distinctive cataracts (10, 11). Alport syndrome, caused by mutations in either the COL4A3, COL4A4, or COL4A5 genes, is also associated with lens capsule abnormalities and cataract formation (12)(13)(14). Humans carrying mutations in the COL4A1 locus often exhibit lens abnormalities and cataracts along with porencephaly and sporadic intracerebral hemorrhage (15-19). To date, approximately 13 independent mutations in the mouse Col4a1 locus and three independent mutations in mouse Col4a2 locus have been found to cause vacuolar cataract and lens abnormalities in mice (19 -21). However, the underlying mechanisms of cataract pathogenesis resulting from these collagen mutations are still unknown.In other tissues, mutations in genes encoding secretory pathway proteins have been found to cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and...

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Parallel genomic alterations of antigen and payload targets mediate polyclonal acquired clinical resistance to sacituzumab govitecan in triple-negative breast cancer.