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CD73 and PD-L1 expression in WHO grade 1 and grade 2 meningiomas: an exploratory analysis of purinergic and immune-related profiles

Meningiomas are the most common primary central nervous system tumors and exhibit heterogeneous biological behavior across WHO grades. Emerging evidence suggests that purinergic signaling and immune-related pathways may contribute to meningioma biology.

This study evaluated the expression and activity of CD39/ENTPD1 and CD73/NT5E, the expression of PD-L1/CD274, and the systemic inflammatory profile in patients undergoing surgical resection of meningiomas.

Forty patients were included, with specific subgroups available for molecular, immunohistochemical, enzymatic, and cytokine analyses. Molecular comparisons were restricted to WHO grade 1 and grade 2 tumors. NT5E/CD73 expression was higher in WHO grade 2 tumors at both mRNA and protein levels, whereas CD274/PD-L1 expression was lower. Peripheral CD39/CD73 enzymatic activity also differed between study groups, while plasma cytokines showed non-significant trends toward higher concentrations in patients with WHO grade 2 tumors.

Autonomous airplane completes first cross-country flight

A single-engine prop Cessna Caravan has reportedly become the first airplane to autonomously complete a cross-continental flight across the United States. Overseen by the aeronautics company Joby, the retrofitted aircraft began its challenge in Concord, California, on September 7, ultimately traveling 3,199 miles with no assistance from its onboard human safety pilot. However, the plane didn’t only fly itself once airborne. Autonomous programming directed every stage of its multi-stop journey, including taxiing, takeoffs, and landings.

“Autonomy has an important role to play in the future of flight,” Joby founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in a statement on September 18. Bevird added that the technology could soon help “connect remote communities, deliver critical supplies, respond faster to disasters, support military operations, and keep pilots out of harm’s way.”

The endeavor couldn’t always follow a preset course. Instead, the autonomous plane needed to navigate numerous common air travel challenges in real-time. These included piloting through one of the nation’s busiest regions above Phoenix, Arizona, as well as rerouting around thunderstorms and severe weather fronts. During its trip, the experimental plane also made demonstration stops at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, and at South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base.

Human brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research finds

“A new study led by Stanford Medicine found the brain is two separate organs adjacent to one another. The finding could aid research into devastating neurological diseases.”

Published in Nature Neuroscience, the study challenges the conventional model in which the entire brain is derived from a single common neural ectoderm progenitor population.

Using lineage-tracing experiments in mouse embryos, researchers found evidence for two parallel neural ectoderm progenitor populations that emerge during gastrulation:

• Anterior neural ectoderm, associated with development of the forebrain and midbrain • Posterior neural ectoderm, associated with development of the hindbrain.

The researchers then modeled these developmental populations using human pluripotent stem cells. The anterior-and posterior-like neural ectoderm populations showed different developmental potentials and distinct chromatin accessibility patterns, suggesting that their future regional identities are established surprisingly early.

Importantly, by reproducing the posterior developmental pathway, the researchers were able to generate electrophysiologically active human hindbrain rhombomere 5/6 motor neurons — a neuronal population that has been difficult to produce in vitro.

That could have practical importance for neuroscience. These cells may provide improved laboratory models for disorders involving hindbrain motor neurons, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and potentially improve our ability to investigate human brainstem biology.

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