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Jul 19, 2023

Lab results from pet dogs confirm promise of new immunotherapy gel for kids’ cancer

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Newly published research from Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia has found a gel applied during surgery to treat sarcoma tumors is both safe and highly effective at preventing the cancer from growing back.

The findings, published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, have formed the scientific backbone of a trial underway in Perth to test the feasibility and safety of the gel on pet dogs.

The polymer-filled gel is packed with a type of and is applied inside the wound when the tumor is removed, drawing to the wound/resection site to “mop up” any remaining cancer cells.

Jul 19, 2023

Tracing the Origin of Life — Researchers Uncover How Primordial Proteins Formed on Prebiotic Earth

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics

Unraveling the mystery of how catalytic organic polymers first appeared on prebiotic Earth will unlock key understandings in the origin of life.

Researchers from Tohoku University recently discovered a probable setting where the creation of catalytic organic polymers could occur. To make this discovery, they evaporated solutions of amino acids.

<div class=””> <div class=””><br />Amino acids are a set of organic compounds used to build proteins. There are about 500 naturally occurring known amino acids, though only 20 appear in the genetic code. Proteins consist of one or more chains of amino acids called polypeptides. The sequence of the amino acid chain causes the polypeptide to fold into a shape that is biologically active. The amino acid sequences of proteins are encoded in the genes. Nine proteinogenic amino acids are called “essential” for humans because they cannot be produced from other compounds by the human body and so must be taken in as food.<br /></div> </div>

Jul 19, 2023

Amphioxus adenosine-to-inosine tRNA-editing enzyme that can perform C-to-U and A-to-I deamination of DNA

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Recombinant BjADAT2 and BjADAT3 were individually expressed in E. coli and purified, and their enzyme activities were tested by in vitro tRNA deamination assay (Supplementary Fig. 4). Neither BjADAT2 nor BjADAT3 showed any A-to-I editing activity, but BjADAT2, in complex with BjADAT3, could perform A-to-I editing of amphioxus tRNAVal(AAC), and the apparent first-order deamination rate constant (kapp) of tRNA deamination was 0.0287 ± 0.00219 min−1. Because the optimal RNA substrate for ADAT2 was the adenosines on the anticodon loop structure of tRNA, we wondered if BjADAT2 could mediate DNA deamination in a structure-specific fashion. Thus, we compared the deamination efficiency of BjADAT2 on DNA hairpin structure substrates (i.e., hpDNA-A and hpDNA-C, containing a single adenosine or cytidine in the loop region, respectively) and single-stranded linear structure substrates (i.e., ssDNA-A and ssDNA-C, containing a single adenosine or cytidine in the substrates, respectively). As shown in Fig. 3, both adenosine deamination of hpDNA-A and cytidine deamination of hpDNA-C were clearly observed under BjADAT2 treatment, and the change of the hairpin substrates to linear substrates resulted in about a threefold decrease in adenosine-and cytidine-deamination ratios. By contrast, no product band was seen in the lane of hpDNA-G or hpDNA-T treated with BjADAT2. Moreover, the BjADAT2-E58A protein purified in the same way as BjADAT2 showed no deamination activity (Supplementary Fig. 5f, g), ruling out the possibility that the observed deamination activity of BjADAT2 arose from a contaminant in the recombinant protein samples. In addition, BjADAT2-mediated adenosine-and cytidine deamination was inhibited by deoxycoformycin (DCF), an adenosine deaminase specific inhibitor, or tetrahydrouridine (THU), a cytidine deaminase specific inhibitor, or 1,10-o-phenanthroline, a zinc chelator. These indicated that BjADAT2 deaminated adenosine and cytidine in a zinc-dependent manner.

The kapp of BjADAT2-induced hpDNA-A deamination (0.00206 ± 0.00019 min−1) was comparable with that of ABE7.10-induced DNA adenosine deamination (0.0010 ± 0.00030 min−1)22. We compared the kinetics of BjADAT2-induced DNA deamination of the hairpin substrates and the linear substrates. The kapp was sixfold higher for the hpDNA-A substrate than for the ssDNA-A substrate (0.00032 ± 0.00004 min−1). Similarly, the kapp was 24-fold higher for hpDNA-C (0.00801 ± 0.00037 min−1) than for ssDNA-C (0.00033 ± 0.000026 min−1) (Fig. 3e). These data together indicated that BjADAT2 preferentially deaminates adenosines and cytidines in the hairpin loop of substrates.

It was known that ADAT3, as a non-catalytic subunit, served a structural role in the adenosine deamination of tRNA10,23. To date, only trypanosome ADAT2 was shown to be able to deaminate cytosines of DNA in the presence of ADAT3 in vitro6, but the specific role of the ADAT3 subunit in this DNA editing reaction was unclear. We demonstrated here that BjADAT3, though lacking catalytic function, could enhance the deamination activity of BjADAT2 toward hairpin structure substrates, including hpDNA-A and hpDNA-C (Fig. 3a, b). This was also supported by the results of kinetic analysis (Fig. 3e), which showed that the kapp of hpDNA-A deamination of BjADAT2/BjADAT3 complex (0.01092 ± 0.00062 min−1) was 5.3-fold higher than that of BjADAT2 alone, and the kapp of hpDNA-C deamination by the complex (0.01066 ± 0.00083 min−1) 1.3-fold higher than that of BjADAT2 alone. On the contrary, the kapp of ssDNA-A deamination of BjADAT2/BjADAT3 complex (0.00016 ± 0.

Jul 19, 2023

Treating Alzheimer’s Very Early Offers Better Hope of Slowing Decline, Study Finds

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A trial of donanemab, an experimental drug, found it modestly slowed the worsening of memory and thinking and worked better in patients at earlier stages and those under 75.

Jul 19, 2023

New Developmental Role in Immune Cells Can Kill Pathogens

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

T cells are immune cells that fight off disease. The most common type of T cell, known as conventional T cells, maintains different functions, including activation of other T cells and killing pathogens. However, there is a less common type of T cell known as unconventional T cells. These cells regulate conventional T cells and often suppress conventional T cell function. How these cells develop and protect the body from infection and disease is unclear. Dr. Dan Pellicci and colleagues from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Federation University Australia reported on unconventional T cell development and their role in the immune system in a recent Science Immunology paper.

The researchers found that these unconventional T cells elicit an immune response. The discovery of an anti-pathogen role in these T cells has been unknown previously. Scientists can target these cells to prevent cancer and highly infectious diseases by understanding their role in immunity.

Dr. Pellicci and colleagues gathered samples from the Melbourne Children’s Heart Tissue Bank, where samples from children sixteen years old or younger who had heart surgery were kept. The researchers looked at the T cells from the thymus, a gland that further develops or matures T cells. After the T cells exit the thymus, they are ready to activate and target or kill infecting pathogens. Through T cell isolation, Dr. Pellicci and colleagues were able to determine the role of Unconventional T cells.

Jul 19, 2023

A global overview of antibiotic resistance determinants

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

To understand the main determinants behind worldwide antibiotic resistance dynamics, scientists from the Institut Pasteur, Inserm, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Université Paris-Saclay developed a statistical model based on a large-scale spatial-temporal analysis. Using the ATLAS antimicrobial resistance surveillance database, the model revealed significant differences in trends and associated factors depending on bacterial species and resistance to certain antibiotics.

For example, countries with high quality health systems were associated with low levels of among all the investigated, while high temperatures were associated with high levels of antibiotic in Enterobacteriaceae. Surprisingly, national antibiotic consumption levels were not correlated with resistance for the majority of the bacteria tested. The results suggest that antibiotic resistance control measures need to be adapted to the local context and to targeted bacteria-antibiotic combinations.

The results of the study were published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health.

Jul 19, 2023

Signaling between cancer and mesothelial cells promotes ovarian cancer tumorigenesis, immune evasion

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Ovarian cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer mortality among women and is characterized by late detection, extensive metastasis and poor prognosis.

One reason that treating this disease has been so challenging is that tumors often become resistant to chemotherapies, and generally respond poorly to immunotherapies.

While much of the research on overcoming resistance and efforts to develop new therapies have focused on the , it has often ignored the many other within the . Indeed, cells have the ability to reprogram the cells around them to nurture the tumor and help evade the patient’s .

Jul 19, 2023

20y Younger Biological Age: Supplements, Diet (Blood Test #4 in 2023)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

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Jul 19, 2023

Washington University surgeons perform first-ever robotic liver transplant in the US

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

“The transplant was a success: The operation went smoothly, the new liver started working right away, and the patient recovered without any surgical complications.”

Doctors in the United States have successfully performed a robotic liver transplant procedure, marking a significant advancement in the field of medical surgery.

In May 2023, the inaugural transplantation of this kind was carried out by a surgical team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The significant procedure occurred at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Jul 19, 2023

Cover-Up Of Promising Cancer Treatment | Cancer Research | Documentary

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, education, health

The story of a young science-writer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who risked everything by blowing the whistle on a massive cover-up involving a promising cancer therapy.

Cover-Up Of Promising Cancer Treatment (2014)
Director: Eric Merola.
Writers: Eric Merola.
Stars: Robert Good, Ben Moss, Martha Moss.
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Drama.
Country: United States.
Language: English.
Also Known As: Second Opinion — The Lie of America’s War on Cancer.
Release Date: March 1, 2014 (United States)

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