by University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Axial CT image with i.v. contrast. Macrocystic adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. Credit: public domain Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a novel immunotherapy combination, targeting checkpoints in both T cells and myeloid suppressor cells, that successfully reprogrammed the tumor immune...
Ketamine found to increase brain noise
by Anastasia Lobanova, National Research University Higher School of Economics Izhikevich, Edelman / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America An international team of researchers including Sofya Kulikova, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE University-Perm, found that ketamine, being an NMDA receptor inhibitor, increases the brain’s background noise, causing higher entropy of incoming sensory signals...
New HIV treatment shot given only twice a year could be a ‘game changer’
by Nada Hassanein, USA Today Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The Food and Drug Administration has approved Sunlenca, an injectable therapy to suppress HIV for patients who suffered drug resistance to other regimens. Experts say the new injectable, which works with less frequent dosing, can be a game changer for those whose infections don’t respond to...
Study reveals how chronic blood cancer transitions to aggressive disease
by Julia Evangelou Strait, Washington University School of Medicine A study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests a strategy for preventing a chronic, slow-growing type of blood cancer from progressing to an aggressive form of leukemia. Shown is bone marrow from a mouse treated with a compound that blocks DUSP6, a key...
An mRNA vaccine strategy under study to fight the flu—as a shot and intranasal spray
by Delthia Ricks, Medical Xpress Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Messenger RNA vaccine technology, once an arcane area of research, became household terminology because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now scientists are working on an mRNA flu vaccine strategy that, at least in this study, involves a first dose administered as a shot but a booster administered...
Study reveals novel role of PPARγ acetylation in macrophages in impairing adipose tissue function
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.,Dec 30 2022 As a chronic pro-inflammatory disease, obesity is closely associated with the development of various diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers. Obesity is now a major concern for public health. Macrophages have been known to play an important role in the development of obesity. Recent...
TROUBLE WITH AMBIENT NOISE? COULD BE BRAIN CELLS FIRING
The result, they say, creates a “fuzzy” sound stage that makes it difficult for the brain to focus on one type of sound—such as spoken words—and filter out surrounding “noise.” Scientists have long linked inevitable age-related hearing loss to hair cells in the inner ear that become damaged or destroyed over time. But the researchers say their...
Scientists uncover hexokinase 2’s role in microglial activity
by Zhejiang University Representative micrographs of tdT and Iba1 (microglia) in the brains of Hk2CreERT2-tdTomato mice. Credit: Zhejiang University Microglia, the primary immune cells and key guardians of brain activity in the brain, can constantly monitor the microenvironment to maintain brain homeostasis. When subjected to acute depletion or under disease conditions, they will undergo rapid...
High fat ketogenic diet envisioned as potential life-saving therapy to combat low platelets in cancer patients
by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress Ketogenic diet promotes megakaryopoiesis and platelet production via β-OHB (A) ELISA detection of serum TPO, c-Mpl, and IL-6 concentrations in control or KDtreated mice at day 7 (n = 6 samples per group). (B) Representative immunofluorescence micrograph of isolated primary MKs stained with CD41 (red) and DAPI (blue). Scale...
Quantum computers can enhance medicine, artificial intelligence
Quantum computing is an innovative, complex realm many are unfamiliar with, but for those fascinated by mathematical physics — like University of Saskatchewan (USask) student Tarah Teixeira — it’s exciting to be a part of the development of future applications for quantum computers. “The first time I visited the U of S was during an...