Search for the X(5568) State Decaying into B-s(0)pi(+/-) in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=8 TeV

A search for resonancelike structures in the B-s(0)pi(+/-) invariant mass spectrum is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The B-s(0) mesons are reconstructed in the decay chain B-s(0) -> J/Psi phi, with J/Psi -> mu(+) mu(-) and phi -> K+K-. The B-s(0)pi(+/-) invariant mass distribution shows no statistically significant peaks for different selection requirements on the reconstructed B-s(0) and pi(+/-) candidates. Upper limits are set on the relative production rates of the X(5568) and B-s(0) states times the branching fraction of the decay X(5568)(+/-) -> B-s(0)pi(+/-). In addition, upper limits are obtained as a function of the mass and the natural width of possible exotic states decaying into B-s(0)pi(+/-).Peer reviewe

Physiological models for in vivo imaging and targeting the lymphatic system: Nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles.

Imaging of the lymphatic vasculature has gained great attention in various fields, not only because lymphatic vessels act as a key draining system in the body, but also for their implication in autoimmune diseases, organ transplant, inflammation and cancer. Thus, neolymphangiogenesis, or the generation of new lymphatics, is typically an early event in the development of multiple tumor types, particularly in aggressive ones such as malignant melanoma. Still, the understanding of how lymphatic endothelial cells get activated at distal (pre)metastatic niches and their impact on therapy is still unclear. Addressing these questions is of particular interest in the case of immune modulators, because endothelial cells may favor or halt inflammatory processes depending on the cellular context. Therefore, there is great interest in visualizing the lymphatic vasculature in vivo. Here, we review imaging tools and mouse models used to analyze the lymphatic vasculature during tumor progression. We also discuss therapeutic approaches based on nanomedicines to target the lymphatic system and the potential use of extracellular vesicles to track and target sentinel lymph nodes. Finally, we summarize main pre-clinical models developed to visualize the lymphatic vasculature in vivo, discussing their applications with a particular focus in metastatic melanoma.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the following sources of funding: M.S.S. is funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (SAF2017-89533-R), Team Science and Established Investigator awards by the Melanoma Research Alliance, grants from Worldwide Cancer Research and Fundación ‘La Caixa’ Health Research 2019, and a collaborative grant from the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC). H.P. acknowledges RETOS SAF2017-82924-R (AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER-UE), Fundación Ramón Areces and La Caixa Foundation (HR-18-00256). We are also grateful for the support of the Translational NeTwork for the CLinical application of Extracellular VesicleS, TeNTaCLES. RED2018-102411-T(AEI/10.13039/501100011033). D.O. is funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health (AES-PIS PI18/1057) and ‘Fundación BBVA-Becas Leonardo a Investigadores y Creadores Culturales 2018’. D.C.-W. was a recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from Fundación ‘La Caixa’ and currently with a Cancer Research Institute Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship. E.C. is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme “proEVLifeCycle” under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860303.N

Identifying Gene-Environment Interactions in Schizophrenia: Contemporary Challenges for Integrated, Large-scale Investigations

Recent years have seen considerable progress in epidemiological and molecular genetic research into environmental and genetic factors in schizophrenia, but methodological uncertainties remain with regard to validating environmental exposures, and the population risk conferred by individual molecular genetic variants is small. There are now also a limited number of studies that have investigated molecular genetic candidate gene-environment interactions (G × E), however, so far, thorough replication of findings is rare and G × E research still faces several conceptual and methodological challenges. In this article, we aim to review these recent developments and illustrate how integrated, large-scale investigations may overcome contemporary challenges in G × E research, drawing on the example of a large, international, multi-center study into the identification and translational application of G × E in schizophrenia. While such investigations are now well underway, new challenges emerge for G × E research from late-breaking evidence that genetic variation and environmental exposures are, to a significant degree, shared across a range of psychiatric disorders, with potential overlap in phenotype