| | Remembering Angelika Amon
It is with a profound sense of loss that we note the passing of Angelika Amon, long-time Koch Institute faculty member and the Kathleen and Curtis (1963) Marble Professor of Cancer Research. Amon was a brilliant scientist, bringing energy and passion to the lab, the classroom, and her role as a mentor. In her research, she uncovered key aspects of the fundamental biology of cell division and proliferation, and their implications for cancer, aging, Down Syndrome, and other conditions. Known for her sharp intellect, equally sharp wit, and outspoken support for inclusion in her profession and her adopted country, Amon was a leader and role model for many at MIT and elsewhere. Aged 53, she recently battled ovarian cancer.
MIT News Obituary (2020) | Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences announcement and video (2018) | KI Image Awards: Exposed Brick (2018) and The More The Messier (2014) | Measuring Chromosome Balance Could Clarify Cancer Prognosis (2019) |
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Growing Evidence
In a bioRxiv paper posted two days before Amon’s passing, researchers in her group, with collaborators in the Lees and Yilmaz Labs, illuminate the relationship between stem cell size and function, and tissue aging. Despite great variability in cell size and shape between tissues, stem cells are invariably small. The Amon Lab’s studies present evidence that small size is critical for hematopoietic stem cell function. Analyses of these cells also showed that they get progressively bigger with organismal aging, and that the larger stem cells are less functional. These findings suggest that large size causes stem cell function to decline during aging. This work was partly supported by the MIT Stem Cell Initiative. |
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Convergence by the Book
Congratulations to KI member Susan Hockfield, MIT President Emerita, whose book The Age of Living Machines has been honored with a 2020 Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. The awards recognize writers’ efforts to improve the general publics appreciation of the physical sciences, astronomy, math, and related scientific fields. Hockfield’s narrative celebrates the people and science stories behind the “convergence revolution.” |
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Positive Signaling
Results were recently announced from a Phase 2 clinical trial, launched with support from the Bridge Project, to test a synergistic drug combination identified in the Yaffe Lab. Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were assigned one of three different dosing schedules; the majority saw improved or stable disease in all three groups. Additionally, the team has identified a biomarker associated with therapeutic response. |
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Age of Senescence
The Hemann and Walker Labs previously discovered that the compound JH-RE-06 enhanced the tumor-shrinking effects of DNA-damaging chemotherapies. While they expected JH-RE-06 to amplify programmed cell death induced by DNA damage, two studies appearing in PNAS showed that JH-RE-06, or genetically ablating the pathway targeted by JH-RE-06, instead puts tumor cells in a permanently dormant state known as senescence. Because senescent cells are often cleared by immune cells, these findings suggest a complementary approach to traditional chemotherapies. |
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Freeze Frame
The KI’s Robert A. Swanson (1969) Biotechnology Center regularly adapts and evolves specialized techniques and technologies. In a cover-winning Structure paper, researchers from the Peterson (1957) Nanotechnology Materials Core Facility have developed a new 3D imaging workflow that integrates three imaging approaches to visualize the same sample at cryogenic temperature at different scales, providing a unique view into features of cell structure. Demonstrated in yeast, the process could be used for large-scale studies of frozen specimens in healthy, diseased, and therapeutic conditions. Currently, the research team is the only one in the US with the specific technological capabilities—volume cryo-focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy, cryo-fluorescence confocal microscopy, and transmission cryo-electron tomography—to run this entire workflow.
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Meet the Convergence Scholars
The Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine and the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine announce the 2020-2021 class of Convergence Scholars. Now in its fourth year, the program provides postdoctoral trainees with opportunities to enhance their communication and management skills, and focus on the translational impacts of their work. |
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Vaccine Around Town
Spectrum showcases two cancer- and pandemic-relevant research projects in their COVID-19-themed fall issue. Love Lab researchers are optimizing their rapid vaccine development platform to accelerate the advancement and production of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The Chen Lab is exploring vaccine enhancement agents to improve immune response and decrease inflammation. |
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Companion Diagnostics Approved
Foundation Medicine, co-founded by KI member Eric Lander, has announced FDA approvals for two of its diagnostic tools—a blood-based biopsy to identify patients with BRCA1, BRCA2, and/or ATM alterations in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and a genomic test to seek out patients who express the NTRK1/2/3 gene fusions in a range of solid tumors. |
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