By using induced pluripotent stem cells to create endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the brain for the first time for a neurodegenerative disease, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists and colleagues have learned why Huntington’s disease patients have defects in the blood-brain barrier that contribute to the symptoms of this fatal disorder.
A University of Delaware professor teamed with a local high school student on research that found injured plants will send out warning signals to neighboring plants. The signals are sent through airborne chemicals released mainly from leaves, and plants that received them boosted their defenses.
The team’s findings, published today in eLife, shed light on how immune cells might be harnessed to someday help stimulate tissue regeneration in humans.
A team of investigators led by Rohit Kohli, MBBS, MS, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has identified key inflammatory cells involved in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles have used the cells of AHDS patients to recreate not only the disease, but a mimic of the patient’s blood-brain barrier in the laboratory dish using induced pluripotent stem cell technology.
UF/IFAS researchers have discovered that a mandarin hybrid developed by colleagues contains cellular activity – known as metabolites -- that makes it more able to fend off greening than most other types of citrus.
Lung cancer tumors were prevented in mice by a novel small molecule that directly activates a tumor suppressor protein.
The carnivorous humped bladderwort plant, Utricularia gibba, is a sophisticated predator. It uses vacuum pressure to suck prey into tiny traps at speeds less than a millisecond. A new genomic analysis shows that, over millions of years, it repeatedly retained and enhanced genetic material associated with its carnivorous nature. These include genes that facilitate the trapping of prey, the digestion of proteins, and the transport of small bits of protein from one cell to another.
New diagnoses for two types of skin cancer increased in recent years, according to a Mayo Clinic-led team of researchers.
Researchers examined the mechanisms of B cell immune reconstitution in pediatric patients who had undergone bone marrow transplantation and discovered a disruption in the maturation of B cells – critical to the immune system – preventing the production of antibodies that fight infection.
Patients with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) usually have a poor prognosis. In part, this is due to the cancer’s ability to resist anti-androgen therapy. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today [May 3] in Oncotarget shows that combining a CPT1A inhibitors with anti-androgen therapy increases the cancer’s sensitivity to the anti-androgen drug enzalutamide.
A clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a stem cell product injected directly into the brain to treat chronic motor deficits from ischemic stroke has begun at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
A leading pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, will become Chief of the Section of Cellular Therapy and Transplant in the Hospital’s Division of Oncology. Grupp, who has researched and led groundbreaking clinical trials of an innovative T cell therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), will assume this position on June 1.
Patients with double hit lymphoma (DHL) who undergo autologous stem-cell transplantation (autoSCT) after achieving remission are not more likely to remain in remission or live longer than patients who do not undergo autoSCT, according to a new analysis from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
New lung “organoids”—tiny 3-D structures that mimic features of a full-sized lung—have been created from human pluripotent stem cells by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). The team used the organoids to generate models of human lung diseases in a lab dish, which could be used to advance our understanding of a variety of respiratory diseases.
We humans like to think our DNA is well-protected in the nucleus of each cell. But it’s a hard life for the hard-working genetic code.
UCLA scientists team found that a worm commonly used in lab research possesses a pair of genes that encode both a poison and its antidote. The genes represent one of the clearest examples to date of a “selfish genetic element” at the molecular level.
In their quest to replicate themselves, viruses have gotten awfully good at tricking human cells into pumping out viral proteins. That’s why scientists have been working to use viruses as forces for good: to deliver useful genes to human cells and help patients who lack important proteins or enzymes. A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Vijay Reddy at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has now uncovered the structural details that make one virus a better tool for future therapies than its closely related “cousin.”
UCLA scientists have discovered a dendritic cell vaccine that amplifies the response of the immune system in people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer. The study, which is the first to test the vaccine in humans, has important clinical implications as the method could boost the cancer-killing power of anti-PD-1 immunotherapies that are currently being evaluated in NSCLC and other advanced cancers, which are very difficult to treat successfully.
The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology and infectious diseases, announces the appointment of Daniel W. Kulp, Ph.D., as associate professor in the Vaccine Center and the Translational Tumor Immunology Program.
Using gene sequencing tools, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of British Columbia have found a set of genetic mutations in samples from 24 women with benign endometriosis, a painful disorder marked by the growth of uterine tissue outside of the womb. The findings, described in the May 11 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, may eventually help scientists develop molecular tests to distinguish between aggressive and clinically “indolent,” or non-aggressive, types of endometriosis.
On May 4th, RPB-supported researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis published a study identifying a biomarker that could help to predict glaucoma damage before vision loss.
Six biological pigments called rhodopsins play well-established roles in light-sensing in the fruit fly eye. Three of them also have light-independent roles in temperature sensation. New research shows that a seventh rhodopsin, Rh7, is expressed in the brain of fruit flies where it regulates the fly’s day-night activity cycles. The study appears in Nature and was funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Scientists at IMBA (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology) describe novel organoid technology combining various brain regions for investigation of epilepsy, and other neurological diseases, as reported in the current issue of Nature Methods.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that a cancer stem cell vaccine, engineered to express a pro-inflammatory protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15) and its receptor (IL-15Ralpha), caused T cell production in animal models and enhanced immune responses against tumors.
Mayo Clinic has launched a first-of-its-kind clinical test that will be used to help patients who may be at a diagnostic “dead end” with other genetic testing.
Twenty years after undergoing a life-saving treatment at Loyola University Medical Center, cancer survivor Carolyn Gatenby returned to Loyola to donate 20 handmade quilts. “I wanted to give back,” Mrs. Gatenby said. “I’ve had 20 good years that I didn’t think I’d have.”
After phase 1 results of Seattle Children’s Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-02) trial have shown T-cell immunotherapy to be effective in getting 93 percent of patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) into complete initial remission, researchers have now opened a first-in-human clinical trial aimed at reducing the rate of relapse after the therapy, which is about 50 percent.
An international team of researchers has discovered that a microRNA produced by certain white blood cells can prevent excessive inflammation in the intestine. The study, “Myeloid-derived miR-223 regulates intestinal inflammation via repression of the NLRP3 inflammasome,” which will be published May 9 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that synthetic versions of this microRNA can reduce intestinal inflammation in mice and suggests a new therapeutic approach to treating patients with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore at the National University of Singapore have described, for the first time, how plastin, an actin-bundling protein, acts as a molecular rivet, providing global connectivity to the cortex underlying the plasma membrane of embryonic cells to facilitate polarisation and cell division.
A new bioinformatics tool to compare genome data has been developed by teams from the Max F. Perutz Laboratories, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, together with researchers from Australia and Canada. The program called “ModelFinder” uses a fast algorithm and allows previously not attainable new insights into evolution. The results are published in the influential journal Nature Methods.
Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, director of the Center for Molecular & Translational Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine, has received a five-year, $2.3 million federal grant to study how to reduce tumor growth in lung cancer.
In experiments with human colon cancer cells and mice, a team led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that cancer arises when a normal part of cells' machinery generally used to repair DNA damage is diverted from its usual task. The findings, if further studies confirm them, could lead to the identification of novel molecular targets for anticancer drugs or tests for cancer recurrence, the investigators say.
Under normal conditions, the CHD4 protein is one of the good guys: it stops cells from transcribing faulty DNA, thereby eliminating potential mutation. But in colon cancer and perhaps other kinds of cancer as well, it appears that this protein becomes a kind of double agent, working for the enemy.
Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) has reached a major milestone in bringing personalized treatments to more cancer patients. Michael Berger, PhD, Ahmet Zehir, PhD, and colleagues have reported an in-depth analysis of the first 10,336 patients whose tumors were submitted for clinical genomic sequencing by MSK-IMPACT™, a powerful diagnostic test developed at MSK to provide detailed genetic information about a patient’s cancer.
Changing a single base in an organism’s genetic code impact its traits. Subtler changes can and do happen: in eukaryotes, one such modification involves adding a methyl group to base 6 of adenine (6mA). Researchers have now found prevalent 6mA modifications in the earliest fungal lineages.
Scientists have demonstrated the capacity to grow specialized neurons that relay visual data to the brain, creating a source of cells for future treatments of glaucoma and other optic neurodegenerative diseases. The research is being presented during a press conference at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Baltimore, Md., on Monday, May 8 from 9:30 – 10:15am.
Researchers have developed a new technique that uses modified insulin and red blood cells to create a glucose-responsive “smart” insulin delivery system. In an animal model study, the new technique effectively reduced blood sugar levels for 48 hours in a strain of mice that had Type 1 diabetes.
The third annual Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Symposium met at the University of Alabama at Birmingham last month, a gathering of noted physicians and scientists who share the goal of creating new tissues and new knowledge that can prevent or repair heart disease and heart attacks.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified the cells that directly give rise to hair as well as the mechanism that causes hair to turn gray – findings that could one day help identify possible treatments for balding and hair graying.
Researchers have identified a gene that plays a key role in the formation of neural tube defects, a problem commonly found in infants of pregnant women with diabetes. This is the first time the gene has been shown to play this role; it opens up a new way to understand these defects, and may one day lead to new treatments that could prevent the problem or decrease its incidence.
Notre Dame Researchers have discovered a way to make influenza visible to the naked eye, by engineering dye molecules to target a specific enzyme of the virus.
At a glance: · New study reveals that blood-brain barrier function relies on the balance between omega-3 fatty acids and other lipids in cells that line blood vessels in the central nervous system. · This lipid make-up keeps the barrier closed by inhibiting the formation of vesicles that shuttle molecules across cells, a process known as transcytosis. · Low levels of vesicles are maintained by the lipid transport protein Mfsd2a. · Disrupting Mfsd2a may be a strategy for opening the blood-brain barrier to deliver drugs into the brain.
Researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that reprograms tumor cells in patients with advanced prostate cancer, reducing their response to anti-androgen therapy. The findings, based on a study in mice, could help to determine which patients should avoid anti-androgen therapy and identify new treatments for people with advanced prostate cancer.
Researchers investigating a form of adult-onset diabetes that shares features with the two better-known types of diabetes have discovered genetic influences that may offer clues to more accurate diagnosis and treatment. The study team found that latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is genetically closer to type 1 diabetes than to type 2 diabetes.
Despite intense research, there’s been much confusion regarding the exact role of a protein in a critical cancer-linked pathway. On one hand, the protein is described as a cell proliferation inhibitor, on the other, a cell proliferation activator, a duality that has caused a great deal of scientific head scratching. Now scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have solved the conundrum, uncovering the regulatory machinery underlying the function of a protein, called angiomotin.
A George Washington University researcher will study the underlying mechanisms of the Hedgehog receptor, thanks to $1.7 million NIH grant.
The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has approved funding of a new research grant totaling $792,000 to a researcher at Yale University.
It's obvious that the taste buds on the tongue can detect sugar. And after a meal, beta cells in the pancreas sense rising blood glucose and release the hormone insulin—which helps the sugar enter cells, where it can be used by the body for energy.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham and two partner institutions have received a European patent for their novel approach to fighting cancer, an approach that is led by the UAB spinoff biopharmaceutical company Incysus Ltd.
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