Second, deletion of the IRAK4 gene results in various cytokine response defects and finally, patients with IRAK4 deficiency have displayed defective immunity in response to IL-1, IL-8 and other TLR binding ligands. Considering IRAK4s downstream position of these signalling events, it is an important drug therapy target for various inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases. Prostate cancer
An important area of research currently being explored is the role the IRAK4 gene may play in the development of prostate cancer. There are several interacting factors that lead to the development of this disease however genetic susceptibility of chronic inflammation has been deemed one of the most important. It has been found that mutations in the IRAK4 gene can lead to dysfunctional TLR signalling and ultimately result in increased innate immune responses and therefore an increased inflammatory response. Over time, this can lead to the onset of prostate cancer. Melanoma
Another interesting application of the IRAK4 gene was found in a study involving human melanoma patients. This research found that patients with melanin-cell tumors displayed an increase in the phosphorylation state of IRAK4. The siRNA inhibition of IRAK4 in mice displayed greater programmed cell death (PCD) and slowed tumor growth.IRAK4 is higher levels in some lines of melanoma. By reducing IRAK4 activity it may be possible to identify new chemotherapeutic agents to treat patients with advanced melanoma for which no effective treatment is available.
", in which the creatures are described as "poor souls turned into monsters by obsession and desperation." A wendigo also appears in the 2020 horror film The Retreat.The 2015 horror survival video game Until Dawn by Supermassive Games features wendigos as the main antagonists. Wrist, the 2016 debut novel by Canadian horror fiction writer Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler, was based on the story of the wendigo.The 2015 series Summoner by Taran Matharu featured a type of demon known as a Wendigo.In the 2018 role-playing game Fallout 76 by Bethesda Game Studios, wendigos are featured as one of the cryptid enemies found in the area of Appalachia; mutated from people who consumed human flesh in isolation.In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are featured as strong enemies that remain invisible to the player until they receive damage. Several of these creatures also appear in the games cover art.In the 2021 film Antlers by Scott Cooper, Frank, Lucas father, transforms into a wendigo, which is portrayed as a deer-like creature with a glowing heart that moves from person to person with a never ending hunger. Guillermo del Toro, producer of the film, developed the wendigo on the basis that the more the creature eats, the more it gets hungry and the more it gets hungry, the weaker it becomes. References
Citations
General and cited sources
Brightman, Robert A. (1988). "The Windigo in the Material World" (PDF). Ethnohistory. 35 (4): 337–379. doi:10.2307/482140. JSTOR 482140. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 8, 2019. Colombo, J.R. ed. Wendigo.