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Formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is an inflammatory disease characterized by liver scarring or fibrosis that progressively impairs liver function. It is a major risk factor for cirrhosis and liver cancer. And because treatment options are limited, MASH is the second leading cause for liver transplants in the United States after cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C infection. A better understanding of the pathological processes that drive MASH is critical to creating effective treatments. In a new paper published August 19, 2024 in PNAS, a team of scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys, the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere, describe the complex interplay between diseased liver cells and macrophages — a type of white blood cell whose jobs include killing and removing harmful cells and pathogens and helping to spur normal healing.

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology have revealed a new secret regarding senescence, a cellular state similar to sleep that is more likely to affect aged cells.

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered a new role for a protein known for its role in the brain helping control feelings of hunger or satiety, as well as in the liver to aid the body in maintaining a balance of energy during fasting. The new study shows that this protein also supports the maintenance of heart structure and function, but when it is overactive it causes thickening of the heart muscle, which is associated with heart disease.

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Ze’ev Ronai, PhD, is stepping down as director of the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at Sanford Burnham Prebys, effective August 1. Cosimo Commisso, PhD, deputy director of the cancer center, will serve as interim head while a national search is conducted for a new cancer center director. Ronai is moving to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he will focus on translational research.

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys, University of California San Diego and their international collaborators have reported that more types of lung cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 than previously thought, including those without known viral receptors.

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Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are channels composed of multiple proteins that ferry molecules in and out of the nucleus, regulating many critical cellular functions, such as gene expression, chromatin organization and RNA processes that influence cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation.

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Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys, with collaborators, illuminate how the fibrotic tumor microenvironment creates an inhospitable milieu for anti-tumor immunity, not just by creating a physical barrier but through metabolic changes that suppress the anti-tumor function of responding immune cells.

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Brooke Emerling, Ph.D., co-director of, and associate professor in, the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, is contributing to a revival of interest in an underappreciated set of enzymes called phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinases (PI5P4Ks).

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With more than 200 types of cancer and every cancer individually unique, ongoing efforts to develop precision oncology treatments remain daunting. In a new study published in the journal Nature Cancer, first author Sanju Sinha, Ph.D., at Sanford Burnham Prebys, with senior authors Eytan Ruppin, M.D., Ph.D., and Alejandro Schaffer, Ph.D., at the National Cancer Institute—and colleagues—describe a first-of-its-kind computational pipeline to systematically predict patient response to cancer drugs at single-cell resolution.

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As an associate professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys, Dhar focuses on how lifestyle factors such as high-calorie diets, excessive alcohol consumption and minimal exercise—along with genetic predispositions—can lead to problematic changes in the liver, heart and kidneys. By studying the conversation among the liver, the immune system, heart and kidneys, Dhar hopes to discover signals that could be used to detect metabolic disorders, especially metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and liver cancer much earlier, when they’re easier to treat.

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys have now identified promising real-world links between common HIV drugs and a reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. The study, led by Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D., was published in Pharmaceuticals.

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In findings published in Cell Reports, senior author Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D., and team also discovered that the biological instructions within these vesicles differed significantly in postmortem brain samples donated from patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

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As a new assistant professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys faculty, Sun seeks to better understand the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of cancers, using genome editing technologies, animal and patient-derived models, and other tools to develop more effective cancer therapies.

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In a new study, Sanford Burnham Prebys researchers, led by Andrei L. Osterman, Ph.D., combined experimental evolution in a continuous culturing device with whole genome sequencing of evolving cultures to track how two bacterial pathogens acquired drug resistance against a pair of antibiotics, one long-used and the other experimental.

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Xiao Tian, Ph.D., who recently joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as an assistant professor in the Degenerative Diseases Program, focuses on epigenomic changes and deterioration that influence age-related diseases.

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Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis or MASH (formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) is an inflammatory, liver-scarring disease that affects 1.5% to 6.5% of all U.S. adults.

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Sanjeev S. Ranade, Ph.D., who joined the faculty of Sanford Burnham Prebys this month as an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration program, studies how proteins called transcription factors (TFs) specifically control the development and function of cardiac cells — and what happens when things go wrong.

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Kelly Kersten, Ph.D., who joined Sanford Burnham Prebys this month as an assistant professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment program, studies the interactions between immune cells and their microenvironment to better understand how they contribute to anti-tumor immune responses.

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Shengjie Feng, Ph.D. is an expert in cryo-electron microscopy, a Nobel Prize-winning imaging technology capable of creating stop-action movies of proteins and other biomolecules jostling and connecting with each other while mitochondria and other organelles generate energy, assemble new molecules and transport cargo. At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Feng will use cryo-EM to reveal new ways to stop or prevent cancers.

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Continuing its rapid and dramatic recruitment of emerging, top-tier researchers, Sanford Burnham Prebys has hired two more highly regarded early-career scientists: Angela Liou, M.D., a specialist in pediatric oncology and hematology; and Xueqin Sherine Sun, Ph.D., a cancer biologist and genome engineer.