Researchers showed that chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells use fructose to reprogram neighboring cells and facilitate dissemination in mice.
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Youth-associated protein helps restore healthy function in immune cells in the aging brain
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a role for the youth-associated protein TIMP2 in supporting the healthy function of microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells.
In a study published Aug. 12 in Nature Communications, they found that loss of TIMP2 caused microglia to develop several features associated with aging and neurodegeneration. Conversely, restoring TIMP2 in the blood of aged mice improved the ability of microglia to clear debris and reduced molecular markers associated with inflammation and other maladaptive states.
The findings provide new insight into how youth-associated factors may influence the aging brain and suggest that TIMP2 may help maintain healthy immune function in the brain as organisms age.
Thinking fast and slow: Wild fish reveal how cognition evolved in two closely related species
Why do two individuals faced with the same information sometimes make completely different decisions? It is a question made famous by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, whose book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” explored the contrast between rapid, intuitive decisions and slower, more deliberative thinking in humans.
Ketamine and psychotherapy show promise as a combined approach to chronic neuropathic pain
Combining ketamine and psychotherapy is a safe and feasible approach with promising benefits for people experiencing chronic neuropathic pain, according to a new study by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital, the University of Toronto and York University.
“This is a novel treatment paradigm for a patient population that is suffering greatly,” says Akash Goel, the study’s lead author, a clinician-investigator at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
The trial was conducted at St. Michael’s Hospital between 2023 and 2025 and enrolled 30 participants with chronic neuropathic pain who were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: ketamine infusions, weekly psychotherapy sessions or both. Each treatment program lasted 16 weeks.
Cells use a little-known molecule to protect themselves from iron overload
Iron is essential. Our cells need it to produce energy, carry oxygen throughout the body and power countless chemical reactions that sustain life. But this metal has a dark side. When too much of it is left free inside cells, it can trigger destructive reactions that break down DNA, proteins and even cell membranes.
Now, Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain, former postdoc Whitney Henry and graduate student Pushkal Sharma have discovered that cells rely on an unexpected protector against this threat: small molecules called polyamines.
The researchers’ detailed findings, published in the journal Cell, reveal that polyamines act like storage lockers for iron, safely holding the metal in a nonreactive state until cells need it.