The maturing mutational landscape of cancer genomes, the development and application of clinical interventions, and evolving insights into tumour-associated functions, reveal unexpected features of the protein kinase C (PKC) family of serine/threonine protein kinases. These advances include recent work showing gain or loss-of-function mutations relating to driver or bystander roles, how conformational constraints and plasticity impact this class of proteins and how emergent cancerassociated properties may offer opportunities for intervention. The profound impact of the tumour microenvironment, reflected in the efficacy of immune checkpoint interventions, further prompts to incorporate PKC family actions and interventions in this eco-system, informed by insights into the control of stromal and immune cell functions. Drugging PKC isoforms has offered much promise, but the when and how is not obvious. [H1] IntroductionThe protein kinase C (PKC) family of serine/threonine protein kinases, comprising the 'classical' PKC (cPKC), 'novel' PKC (nPKC), 'atypical' PKC (aPKC) and PKN

Three-dimensional (3D) neural microtissues are a powerful in vitro paradigm for studying brain development and disease under controlled conditions, while maintaining many key attributes of the in vivo environment. Here, we used primary cortical microtissues to study the effects of neuroinflammation on neural microcircuits. We demonstrated the use of a genetically encoded calcium indicator combined with a novel live-imaging platform to record spontaneous calcium transients in microtissues from day 14–34 in vitro. We implemented graph theory analysis of calcium activity to characterize underlying functional connectivity and community structure of microcircuits, which are capable of capturing subtle changes in network dynamics during early disease states. We found that microtissues cultured for 34 days displayed functional remodeling of microcircuits and that community structure strengthened over time. Lipopolysaccharide, a neuroinflammatory agent, significantly increased functional connectivity and disrupted community structure 5–9 days after exposure. These microcircuit-level changes have broad implications for the role of neuroinflammation in functional dysregulation of neural networks.

Three-dimensional (3D) neural microtissues are a powerful in vitro paradigm for studying brain development and disease under controlled conditions, while maintaining many key attributes of the in vivo environment. Here, we used primary cortical microtissues to study the effects of neuroinflammation on neural microcircuits. We demonstrated the use of a genetically encoded calcium indicator combined with a novel live-imaging platform to record spontaneous calcium transients in microtissues from day 14-34 in vitro. We implemented graph theory analysis of calcium activity to characterize underlying functional connectivity and community structure of microcircuits, which are capable of capturing subtle changes in network dynamics during early diseases states. We found that microtissues cultured for 34 days displayed functional remodeling of microcircuits and that community structure strengthened over time. Lipopolysaccharide, a neuroinflammatory agent, significantly increased functional connectivity and disrupted community structure 5-9 days after exposure. These microcircuit-level changes have broad implications for the role of neuroinflammation in functional dysregulation of neural networks.