Oncologists have achieved some immune system responses in patients with pancreatic cancers using various combinations of vaccines and immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs, but it’s not always clear which therapy is inducing what type of response. To help drive further study, investigators from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have made public a free, web-based atlas … Read more
A new study suggests that stem cells thought to be dormant may offer clues to why our sense of smell declines or is lost. Using a newly devised, three-dimensional model to study the regeneration of nerve tissue in the nose, researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and colleagues have discovered … Read more
As researchers unlock the diagnostic and therapeutic promise of the human microbiome, a new roadmap highlights the urgent need for standardization, better evidence, and clinician education to transform patient care. Perspective: The microbiome for clinicians. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock A recent perspective published in the journal Cell outlines the challenges, opportunities, and necessary actions to … Read more
Nanomedicines, especially those based on nanoparticles, are revolutionizing healthcare in terms of both diagnostics and therapeutics. These particles, often containing metals like iron or gold, can serve as contrast agents in medical imaging, act as nutritional supplements, and even function as carriers for drug delivery. Thanks to their unique properties plus careful engineering, nanomedicines can … Read more
Researchers have uncovered that some childhood cancers have a substantially higher number of DNA changes than previously thought, changing the way we view children’s tumors and possibly opening up new or repurposed treatment options. Concentrating on a type of childhood kidney cancer, known as Wilms tumor, an international team genetically sequenced multiple tumors at a … Read more
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
Scientists harnessed AI to create mutation-resistant antibodies that outperformed conventional drug design, offering a powerful new tool against fast-evolving viruses like SARS-CoV-2. Study: AI designed, mutation resistant broad neutralizing antibodies against multiple SARS-CoV-2 strains. Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock In a recent study in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers tested and leveraged several cutting-edge technologies, including machine … Read more
The immune system must be able to quickly attack invaders like viruses, while also ignoring harmless stimuli, or allergies can result. Immune cells are known to ignore or “tolerate” molecules found on the body’s own healthy cells, for instance, as well as nonthreatening substances from outside the body like food. How the system achieves the … Read more
People who suffer from the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis experience muscle weakness that can affect any of the muscles we use to blink, smile or even move our body around. Researchers have known that the disease is caused by miscommunication between nerves and muscles. The body’s immune system mistakenly produces “autoantibodies,” or antibodies that attack … Read more
Tim-3 is an immune checkpoint molecule involved in immunity and inflammation recently linked to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but its role in the brain was unknown until now. In a paper published in Nature, researchers from Mass General Brigham used preclinical models to uncover Tim-3’s role in microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells, and have … Read more