General

Immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitor drugs, have made worlds of difference for the treatment of cancer. Most clinicians and scientists understand these drugs to act on what’s known as the adaptive immune system, the T cells and B cells that respond to specific threats to the body. New research from […]

Before her first birthday, her parents knew something was seriously wrong. She was weak and inactive. The child, whom we are calling Lisa to protect her privacy, hardly interacted with them, and she was late on every developmental milestone – sitting, walking and speaking her first words. At the age […]

A team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is part of a new multi-institution effort to better understand Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome. Adults with Down syndrome are at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease beginning in their late 40s, because of their unique biology. The vast […]

Near all work to date on the treatment of age-related disease has failed to consider or target underlying mechanisms of aging, the molecular damage that accumulates to cause pathology. It has instead involved one or another attempt to manipulate the complicated, disrrayed state of cellular metabolism in late stage disease, […]

As people age, they often lose their motivation to learn new things or engage in everyday activities. In a study of mice, MIT neuroscientists have now identified a brain circuit that is critical for maintaining this kind of motivation. This circuit is particularly important for learning to make decisions that […]

A major scientific effort is underway to characterize the proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid to improve diagnostics and clinical monitoring assays and discover potential therapies, for Alzheimer’s disease. Several research labs at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Stanford University are pooling their protein science expertise in this […]

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide in recent years.  During a heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), a blocked artery and the resulting oxygen deprivation cause massive cardiac cell death, blood vessel impairment and inflammation. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Biomaterials Science […]

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have received intense scrutiny in recent years because of their persistence in the environment and potential endocrine-disrupting effects. However, their estrogenic activities are controversial, with different studies showing apparently contradictory results. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have used a combination of laboratory experiments and computer […]

Senescent cells are damaging to tissue function and health when they linger and grow in number, as becomes the case with age. They contribute to the chronic inflammation of aging via their signaling, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. In skin, senescent cells are most likely responsible for a sizable fraction of […]

Using a new technique, a team of McGill University researchers has found tiny and previously undetectable ‘hot spots’ of extremely high stiffness inside aggressive and invasive breast cancer tumours. Their findings suggest, for the first time, that only very tiny regions of a tumour need to stiffen for metastasis to […]

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered a new inflammatory disorder called vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory and somatic syndrome (VEXAS), which is caused by mutations in the UBA1 gene. VEXAS causes symptoms that included blood clots in veins, recurrent fevers, pulmonary abnormalities and vacuoles (unusual cavity-like structures) in […]

New study suggests interventions to help patients build muscle before surgery may improve their outcomes. Low muscle quality and quantity are both predictive of poor outcomes in colon resection surgery, according to a new study published in JAMA Surgery. Carla Prado, a researcher at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & […]

Oregon State University researchers have found that a type of common gut bacteria sometimes associated with inflammation, abscesses, bowel disease and cancer has a major silver lining: It seems to help prevent cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest the possibility of probiotic treatments for atherosclerosis, the dangerous buildup of fats, cholesterol […]

The immune response to infections is a delicate balance. We need just enough action to clear away the offending bacteria or viruses, but not so much that our own bodies suffer collateral damage. Macrophages are immune cells at the front line, detecting pathogens and kicking off an inflammatory response when […]

The big sea change of the past 10 to 15 years in aging research is that the scientific community is now near entirely behind the idea that aging is a viable target for therapy, and that we should be working towards greater healthy human longevity. Prior to this time, aging […]

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from The University of Manchester have developed a new graphene-based testing system for disease-related antibodies, initially targeting a kidney disease called Membranous Nephropathy. The new instrument, based on the principle of a quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) combined with a graphene-based bio-interface, offers a cheap, fast, simple and sensitive […]

Many people think of new medicines as bullets, and in the pharmaceutical industry, frequently used terms like “targets” and “hits” reinforce that idea. Immuneering co-founder and CEO Ben Zeskind ’03, PhD ’06 prefers a different analogy. His company, which specializes in bioinformatics and computational biology, sees many effective drugs more […]

Researchers at University Health Network and the University of Toronto have identified silent and ancient DNA elements buried in our genomes that, when reactivated, can initiate a powerful immune response to kill colorectal cancer cells. The researchers also discovered a key enzyme that human cancer cells use to prevent that […]

People with cancer who exercise generally have a better prognosis than inactive patients. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found a likely explanation of why exercise helps slow down cancer growth in mice: Physical activity changes the metabolism of the immune system’s cytotoxic T cells and thereby improves […]

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question it seems like every child gets asked. A few precocious ones might answer “a doctor” or “an astronaut,” but most will probably smile and shrug their shoulders. But well before a child could comprehend the question or […]

The immune response is a balancing act: Too much can lead to inflammatory or autoimmune disease; too little could lead to a serious infection. Regulatory T cells, or Tregs, are important players in striking this balance, acting as “brakes” on the immune response so it doesn’t go overboard. Consequently, controlling […]

NineSigma, representing a Japanese pharmaceutical company, seeks novel drug seeds that can be applied to the treatment of intractable and refractory autoimmune diseases. While proposals for a drug candidate compound are preferred, those with novel unique mechanisms, concepts, or ideas are also welcome to participate. The client, specializing in autoimmune diseases […]

Cancer remodels the architecture of our chromosomes so the disease can take hold and spread, University of Virginia researchers have revealed. This remodelling is important because the arrangement of the components in our chromosomes actually affects the workings of our genes. With these renovations, cancer begins making a comfortable home […]

In a study published in the journal Cell,  UC Berkeley Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology professor Anders Näär led a group of researchers from 12 institutions in the United States and Europe, to better understand a region on the second human chromosome previously linked to both the digestion of milk and metabolic disorders. They […]

According to the World Health Organization, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of senile dementia that affects dozens of millions of people worldwide, with numbers expected to double every 20 years if more effective treatments are not forthcoming. It has long been thought that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by […]

A Vanderbilt cancer systems biology team has identified the enzymes that keep tumor cells growing in the presence of drug treatment, opening the door to stopping these cells dead in their tracks. An article, “An Integrative Gene Expression and Mathematical Flux-Balance Analysis Identifies Targetable Redox Vulnerabilities in Melanoma Cells,” was published […]

As early as 1975, biologists discovered that the protein-coding parts of the chimpanzee and human genomes are more than 99 percent identical. Yet, chimpanzees and humans are clearly different in significant ways. Why? The answer lies in the fact that how DNA is used is as important as what it […]

Doctors and biostatisticians at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have led the development and validation of a staging system to better predict outcomes and inform treatment decisions for men diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer. Although it is one of the most common cancers worldwide, prostate cancer remains one of the […]

An international team of researchers has identified a direct molecular link between meat and dairy diets and the development of antibodies in the blood that increase the chances of developing cancer. This connection may explain the high incidence of cancer among those who consume large amounts of dairy products and […]

Actin is among the most abundant proteins in cells, and it has many jobs—from giving the cell its very shape and structure to managing networks of proteins crucial to numerous cellular functions. Without it, the fragile fundamental unit of life would crumble. A good deal of actin’s activity is based […]