All over the world, research into the development of a vaccine against the SARS-CoV2 virus is running at full speed – the breakthroughs of the last few days have made the headlines. Researchers from Fraunhofer EMFT and the University of Regensburg are working on a new assay concept that could speed up the evaluation of vaccine candidates and at the same time increase their significance. The corona pandemic confronts the world community with challenges never seen before. Despite massive restrictions…
Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine have identified a new therapeutic target to treat patients with type 1 diabetes. The study, which will be published December 9 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), reveals that inhibiting a protein called OCA-B protects mice from type 1 diabetes by limiting the activity of immune cells that would otherwise destroy the pancreas’ insulin-producing β cells. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks…
High-fat diet allows cancer cells to outcompete immune cells for fuel. At a glance: High-fat diet causes cancer cells to rewire metabolism, increase fat consumption Cancer cells outcompete immune cells for fuel, impairing immune function inside tumors Blocking metabolic rewiring in cancer cells enhances anti-tumor immunity Findings suggest new strategies to target cancer metabolism, improve immunotherapies Obesity has been linked to increased risk for over a dozen different types of cancer, as well as worse prognosis and survival. Over the…
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, testing remains a key strategy for tracking and containing the virus. Bioengineering graduate student, Maha Alafeef, has co-developed a rapid, ultrasensitive test using a paper-based electrochemical sensor that can detect the presence of the virus in less than five minutes. The team led by professor Dipanjan Pan reported their findings in ACS Nano. “Currently, we are experiencing a once-in-a-century life-changing event,” said Alafeef. “We are responding to this global need…
UCLA researchers study the disease’s systemic effects. UCLA researchers are the first to create a version of COVID-19 in mice that shows how the disease damages organs other than the lungs. Using their model, the scientists discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can shut down energy production in cells of the heart, kidneys, spleen and other organs. “This mouse model is a really powerful tool for studying SARS-CoV-2 in a living system,” said Dr. Arjun Deb, a co-senior author of a…
Working committee particulate matter (AAF) recommends concrete countermeasures for indoor areas: masks, ventilation, air purification and overhead extraction. Aerosols and their spread play an essential role in the transmission of COVID-19. However, the risk of transmission could be significantly reduced if more could be done to reduce indoor airborne viruses. The Working committee particulate matter (AAF) has therefore issued an statement with concrete recommendations. These include window ventilation, exhaust ventilation, air purification systems and CO2 measuring devices for indoor areas…
Hope for people whose illness or injuries mean they can’t exercise. It sounds too good to be true – and it is. But Jose Bianco Moreira and the CERG research group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are convinced that some of the positive health effects of physical exercise can be achieved using gene therapy and medication. “We’re not talking about healthy people and everyone who can exercise. They still have to train, of course,” says Moreira….
A small-molecule degrades a cancer-promoting protein by gluing it into filaments. “Molecular glue degraders” are a new class of cancer drugs, which “glue” cancer growth-promoting proteins directly to the molecular machinery of a cell’s disposal system, leading to the subsequent degradation of the cancer-driving proteins and anti-tumor activity. Scientists from Heidelberg and USA have now deciphered another mechanism whereby a small molecule can degrade a cancer protein. This drug binds to the lymphoma-driving protein BCL6, and induces BCL6 self-polymerization, which…
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) have the potential to convert into a wide variety of cell types and tissues. However, the “recipes” for this conversion are often complicated and difficult to implement. Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) at TU Dresden, Harvard University (USA) and the University of Bonn have found a way to systematically extract hundreds of different cells quickly and easily from iPS using transcription factors. Researchers can use this transcription factor source through the…
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have developed a new gene therapy approach that offers promise for one day treating an eye disease that leads to a progressive loss of vision and affects thousands of people across the globe. The study, which involved a collaboration with clinical teams in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and the Mater Hospital, also has implications for a much wider suite of neurological disorders associated with ageing. The scientists publish their results today [Thursday…
In response to the critical shortage of nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Radiology at University of South Florida (USF) Health in Tampa set out to design, validate and create NP swabs using a point-of-care 3D printer. Results of the first clinical trial of 3D-printed NP swabs for COVID-19 testing are being presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). “To date, USF Health has printed more than 100,000 3D…
Research in C. elegans shows how melatonin activates the BK channel in the brain. Melatonin is used as a dietary supplement to promote sleep and get over jet lag, but nobody really understands how it works in the brain. Now, researchers at UConn Health show that melatonin helps worms sleep, too, and they suspect they’ve identified what it does in us. Our bodies produce melatonin in darkness. It’s technically a hormone, but you can readily buy melatonin as a supplement…
Scientists from UNIGE and HUG identify the essential role of circadian clocks in the regeneration of insulin-producing cells. Certain parts of our body, such as the skin or liver, can repair themselves after a damage. Known as cell regeneration, this phenomenon describes how cells that are still functional start to proliferate to compensate for the loss. For the past 30 years, scientists have been investigating the regenerative potential of beta cells, pancreatic cells in charge of the production of insulin….
Huntington’s disease is an hereditary neurodegenerative disease featured by alterations in movement, cognitive deficiency and psychiatric disorders resulting from the degeneration of neurons in the striatum nucleus of the brain. A study led by researchers of the Institute of Neurosciences of the UB (UBNeuro) has characterized one of the neuronal circuits involved in the development of the disease: the connection of the secondary motor cortex (M2) in the dorsolateral striatum nucleus (DSL). The study, published in the journal eLife, shows…
Researchers investigate combination of carbon ion and immunotherapy It is still a glance into the future: The combination of carbon ion and immune therapy could become an effective tool in the fight against cancer. Promising results for the potential benefit of this treatment combination have now been published. The authors are an international team of researchers, led by the Department of Biophysics at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, and including the Parthenope University of Naples and the Japanese…
To ensure that sepsis patients receive appropriate antibiotics as quickly as possible, Fraunhofer IGB researchers have developed a diagnostic procedure that uses high-throughput sequencing of blood samples and delivers results much faster than conventional culture-based techniques. Thanks to the latest single-molecule sequencing techniques, this process has now been further improved so that pathogens can be identified after just a few hours. The basic methodology is currently being tested in a multi-center study with several hundred patients. Sepsis – also known…
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