AUGUSTA, Ga. (Jan. 14, 2019) – Lingering inflammation in the colon is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer and now scientists report one way it resets the stage to enable this common and often deadly cancer. Inflammation is supposed to be a short-term response to an infection or other irritant in the body that is essential to eliminating it. But when...
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Stem Cell–Derived Neurons from People with Autism Grow Differently
Changes in gene expression also hint at how the brains of people with ASD develop differently from those of other people. Neurons derived from the skin cells of people with and without autism spectrum disorder exhibit different patterns of growth and development, according to a study published this week (January 7) in Nature Neuroscience. Cortical neurons derived from skin cells of a person...
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Osteoporosis breakthrough: Bone mass increased by 800 percent
A groundbreaking set of studies has found that blocking certain receptors in the brain leads to the growth of remarkably strong bones. Could a new osteoporosis treatment be on the horizon? Primarily a disease of old age, osteoporosis can cause bones to become gradually weaker. Image: Osteoporosis most commonly affects older women. Over time, bones become so porous that minor...
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VISTA checkpoint implicated in pancreatic cancer Immunotherapy resistance
Researchers have identified a new potential Immunotherapy target in pancreatic cancer, which so far has been notoriously resistant to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade drugs effective against a variety of other cancers. Axial CT image with i.v. contrast. Macrocystic adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. Credit: public domain. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center...
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Out-of-the-box new method stops bacteria spreading antibiotic resistance – without killing them
There’s a never-ending war going on all around us, down at the microscopic level. Bacteria and viruses are locked in battle against each other – and us, as we try to clear them out with antibiotics. But we might be losing the war, as the bugs rapidly develop resistance to our best drugs. Now researchers...
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Antibodies to a Retina Protein to Be Used as a Kidney Cancer Marker
Sechenov University together with their German colleagues suggest a new highly sensitive, quick, and pain-free method for diagnosing kidney cancer. This method is based on measuring of the immune response to arrestin-1, a retina protein that is synthesized in the cancerous cells of kidneys. Tumors can be benign or malignant. The first ones are not extremely dangerous but they can...
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Progress in the fight against brain cancer
A series of steps shows hope for improving treatments. “I knew it was serious from the sober demeanor of the medical professionals in the room.” That was how US Senator John McCain described his diagnosis of cancer in his 2018 book The Restless Wave. “And when someone, I don’t remember who, mentioned that it was...
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Designer protein delivers signal of choice
A computational strategy has delivered a redesigned, more stable version of a cytokine protein that mimics the natural protein’s interactions with receptors, opening the way for designer cytokine-based therapeutics. Messenger proteins called cytokines are secreted from cells and travel throughout the body. In the immune system, a cytokine called interleukin-2 (IL-2) delivers signals to receptors...
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New antibiotic proves to be effective against river blindness in mice
A team of researchers from the U.K., the U.S., Japan and Germany has developed an antibiotic that kills a type of bacteria necessary for larval growth in the parasitic worm that causes river blindness. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their development of the antibiotic and...
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Researchers discover new binding partner for amyloid precursor protein
An international team of researchers has discovered a new binding partner for amyloid precursor protein (APP)—a neurotransmitter called GABABR1a. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of a non-pathogenic version of APP and what they found. Martin Korte with Technische Universität Braunschweig has written a Perspective piece on the...