0000000000462610
AUTHOR
Chantal Bizet
The intestinal microbiota modulates the anticancer immune effects of cyclophosphamide
The Microbiota Makes for Good Therapy The gut microbiota has been implicated in the development of some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, but—given the important role our intestinal habitants play in metabolism—they may also modulate the efficacy of certain cancer therapeutics. Iida et al. (p. 967 ) evaluated the impact of the microbiota on the efficacy of an immunotherapy [CpG (the cytosine, guanosine, phosphodiester link) oligonucleotides] and oxaliplatin, a platinum compound used as a chemotherapeutic. Both therapies were reduced in efficacy in tumor-bearing mice that lacked microbiota, with the microbiota important for activating the innate immune response against the tumors. Viaud et…
Sequencing orphan species initiative (SOS): Filling the gaps in the 16S rRNA gene sequence database for all species with validly published names
Yarza, Pablo et al.
The role of public biological resource centers in providing a basic infrastructure for microbial research
Public collections of microorganisms have been established since the late 19th century, and currently 573 service collections are registered at the World Data Center for Microorganisms (www.wdcm.org). All together, they hold more than 1.5 million microorganisms. By implementing guidelines compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), many public service collections evolve into professional ex situ repositories of biodiversity and distribution nodes for known, validated and precisely identified microbial resources and associated information to legitimate end-users. These Biological Resource Centers (BRCs) may be the preferred mechanism for the appropriate exp…