Q: How would you summarize your study for a lay audience? Our study investigated the role of astrocytes, an abundant cell type in the brain, in regulating an immune response against glioblastoma (GBM)-a highly aggressive brain cancer. We found a subset of astrocytes that limits the immune response and can be targeted with therapeutics. Q: … Read more
Patients with rare mitochondrial diseases already face a host of serious health issues, from muscle weakness to neurological problems and heart conditions. But one of their most life-threatening challenges has remained a mystery-why are they so vulnerable to severe infections? Now, scientists at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) may have finally pinpointed why. Their new study, … Read more
A decade ago, a clinical trial in the U.K. famously showed that children who were exposed to peanuts in the early months of life had reduced risk of developing a peanut allergy compared with children who avoided peanuts. Now, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have a likely answer as to why that’s the case: … Read more
New insights into the mechanisms that cause more severe cases of schistosomiasis – a disease caused by parasitic worms and second only to malaria in terms of potential harm – have been revealed by researchers at Penn State. The study – which took place in mice and was published in PLOS Pathogens -used a mouse model to examine how the … Read more
A study published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe by Brazilian and American researchers suggests that a diet rich in soluble fiber can protect the intestine against pathogenic bacteria. The conclusion is based on experiments with mice exposed to Clostridioides difficile, which causes colon inflammation and diarrhea and affects about 500,000 people a year in the United States. “We were able … Read more
A switch of just two weeks from a traditional African diet to a Western diet causes inflammation, reduces the immune response to pathogens, and activates processes associated with lifestyle diseases. Conversely, an African diet rich in vegetables, fiber, and fermented foods has positive effects. This study, published in Nature Medicine, highlights the significant impact of … Read more
Most humans have long-lived infections in various tissues-including in the nervous system-that typically do not result in disease. The microbes associated with these infections enter a latent stage during which they quietly hide in cells, playing the long game to evade capture and ensure their own survival. But a lack of natural models to study … Read more
While it is common to hear that drug developers are in the early stages of integrating artificial intelligence with their drug research, discovery, and development efforts, one Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) executive recently offered a more descriptive and no less accurate metaphor stretching back some 45 years. Greg Meyers, Bristol Myers Squibb executive vice president … Read more
Yale scientists have discovered a promising way to trigger immune responses against certain tumors, using a lupus-related antibody that can slip, undetected, into “cold” tumors and flip on an immune response that has been turned off by cancer. The research, published in Science Signaling on March 25, offers new findings that could help improve therapies … Read more
University of Queensland researchers are designing nanotechnology they believe could improve how we treat the most aggressive form of breast cancer. Professor Chengzhong (Michael) Yu and his team are developing novel nanoparticles that could dramatically increase the effectiveness of immunotherapies when treating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC is aggressive, fast-growing and accounts for 30 per … Read more