MCMASTER UNIVERSITY IMAGE: SCIENTISTS TEST ‘SMART’ RED BLOOD CELLS TO DELIVER ANTIBIOTICS THAT TARGET SPECIFIC BACTERIA CREDIT: ELLA MARUSHCHENKO Physicists at McMaster University have identified a natural delivery system which can safely carry potent antibiotics throughout the body to selectively attack and kill bacteria by using red blood cells as a vehicle. The platform, described...
by National University of Singapore Extracellular vesicles deliver RIG-I agonists to fire up cancer cells and trigger immune attack. Credit: NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine In the fight against cancer, the development of efficacious drugs is only half the battle; equally important is how drugs may be delivered efficiently and safely to the...
MARCH 15TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS CARDIOLOGY, MATERIALS, MEDICINE, NANOMEDICINE Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada created engineered red blood cells to act as a new COVID-19 vaccine technology. The cell membranes have been studded with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and in experiments the researchers have conducted in mice the cells can trigger an immune...
by Public Library of Science Credit: CC0 Public Domain Research conducted by Qiang et al have discovered a link between a protein in red blood cells and age-related decline in cognitive performance. Published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology on 17th June 2021, the study shows that depleting mouse blood of the protein ADORA2B leads to...
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY IMAGE: AN ORANGE-RED DYE SHOWS THAT BLOOD CLOTS FORMED IN A MOUSE EAR IN WHICH THROMBIN WAS RELEASED FROM LIGHT-TRIGGERED RBCS. SCALE BAR, 50 ΜM. CREDIT: ADAPTED FROM ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE2020 Protein therapies are often more potent and selective toward their biochemical targets than other types of drugs, particularly small molecules. However, proteins...
by Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University When the eye isn’t getting enough oxygen in the face of common conditions like premature birth or diabetes, it sets in motion a state of frenzied energy production that can ultimately result in blindness, and now scientists have identified new points where they may be able to...
by American Academy of Neurology Older women who eat more than one to two servings a week of baked or broiled fish or shellfish may consume enough omega-3 fatty acids to counteract the effects of air pollution on the brain, according to a new study published in the July 15, 2020, online issue of Neurology,...
Plasma donation, also known as apheresis, can help save lives. It is a relatively safe procedure, but there can be minor side effects. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. It contains proteins and antibodies that are crucial for clotting and immunity. Around 55% of the blood is plasma. Plasma donation involves drawing blood,...
A team of physicists from McMaster University has developed a process to modify red blood cells so they can be used to distribute drugs throughout the body, which could specifically target infections or treat catastrophic diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s. The modified red blood cells are designed to circulate in the body for several...
MEDGADGET EDITORS MEDICINE Many of the existing diseases that strike us are poorly treated not because effective drugs don’t exist, but because there’s no reliable way of delivering the drugs to their intended destinations. Anyone following this publication will be familiar with the dozens of types of synthetic vessel that scientists have created to ferry...
