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Acyldepsipeptides, a new class of antibiotics, have activity against Gram-positive bacteria-such as Enterococcus faecalis (shown here)-in vitro and in vivo (see page 1082). Photo by Nathan Shankar, University of Oklahoma. Courtesy of the Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture.
Antibiotic discovery has been stalled for well over a decade. The discovery of a new antibiotic with an unexpected mechanism of action could reinvigorate this lagging field (pages 1082–1087).
The hormone adiponectin is secreted from fat cells and increases sensitivity to insulin in muscle and liver; adiponectin increases resistance to metabolic disorders and, it now appears, may also protect heart tissue when blood flow is restricted (pages 1096–1103).
In susceptible individuals, fasting can trigger an attack of acute porphyria—a syndrome caused by the neurotoxic effects of precursors to porphyrins. The mechanistic basis for this trigger is now uncovered.
A new approach to tumor therapy combines two problematic cancer-fighting tools: tumor-targeted T cells and gene therapy. The T cells deliver a gene therapy vector to tumor cells, ensuring their destruction (pages 1073–1081).
Results now emerge from a preclinical trial of a heat-shock protein inhibitor in a mouse model of neurodegenerative disease. The data indicate that targeting a misfolded protein for degradation may be a useful therapeutic strategy (pages 1088–1095).
Liver regeneration can occur by proliferation of two different cell types, but generally only one at a time is fully turned on. A factor that may specifically activate one of these cell types now comes to light.