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Category: biotech/medical – Page 20

Macrophages can fuel liver cancer spread by supplying acetate to tumor cells

Chinese researchers have revealed a mechanism that triggers metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)—the most common type of primary liver cancer—through the production of acetate by tumor-associated macrophages.

Acetate is important to cancer metastasis because it promotes the synthesis of acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), which is a pivotal metabolic intermediate in the catabolism of glucose, lipids, and , as well as the biosynthesis of lipids and the TCA cycle. Acetyl-CoA also functions as a signaling molecule due to its role in lysine acetylation. Increased acetyl-CoA production is characteristic of metastatic cancers.

Researchers have known that acetate levels in the blood are significantly lower than in cancer tissues, suggesting the presence of acetate-producing cells within the cancer microenvironment. However, the exact source of acetate in the cancer microenvironment was previously unclear.

What the Next Pandemic Will Look Like (And Where It Will Start)

Doctors say another pandemic could arrive sooner than most people think. In this new video, you’ll find out why the risk is rising, the simple signs that tell experts a real outbreak has begun, and when that official Day One would likely be called.

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Gene deficiency that causes obesity also protects from heart disease, finds new study

Deficiency of the gene melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is linked with obesity among adults. A recent study has found that the same deficiency also leads to surprising outcomes such as reduced risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, and triglycerides. These results contradict the well-established correlation between obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers scanned the of 7,719 children from the Genetics of Obesity Study (GOOS) cohort. They identified 316 probands—first person in a family to draw medical attention to a —and 144 adult family members with obesity due to loss-of-function (LoF) MC4R mutations.

Even after adjusting for weight, these individuals showed better blood pressure profiles and when compared to 336,728 controls from the UK Biobank.

Deciphering Breast Cancer: Spatial and Molecular Insights into Tumor Evolution

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, join us for a live webinar to uncover the complexity of tumor biology and the surprising resilience of normal tissue. This event will feature two expert-led presentations: one demonstrating how protein multiplexing and quantitative imaging uncover the hidden heterogeneity of breast tumors, and another examining how natural tissue remodeling can both suppress and influence oncogenic transformation. A live discussion and Q&A session will follow, giving you the opportunity to engage directly with leading researchers and gain valuable insights to improve cancer diagnosis, guide therapy decisions, and inform prevention strategies. All sessions will be available on demand, allowing flexible access for continued learning and engagement.

Featured Talks:

Revolutionary Prosthetic Eye Chip Restores Sight in Medical First

A tiny chip implanted into the eyes of people suffering vision loss from irreversible age-related macular degeneration has restored central sight in a dazzling first.

It’s called the PRIMA system, tested across 17 European hospitals, and it restored central vision in 26 of 32 patients who used it for 12 months – many of whom could even read again. The result, developed by a large international team of doctors and scientists over many years, represents a massive breakthrough in treatments for vision loss.

“It’s the first time that any attempt at vision restoration has achieved such results in a large number of patients,” says ophthamologist José-Alain Sahel of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, co-senior author on a paper describing the results.

AI nutrition study finds ‘five everyday’ may keep the doctor away

In a new study using AI and machine learning, EPFL researchers have found that it’s not only what we eat, but how consistently we eat it that plays a crucial role in gut health.

The gut microbiota is the community of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes, that lives in our digestive systems—some of these microbes are helpful and others can be harmful.

Many previous studies have shown that what we eat has an impact on our gut microbiota. Healthy diets rich in fruit, vegetables, fiber and nuts are strongly associated with increased microbial diversity and better stomach health.

Stem Cells Age Ten Times Faster in Space, New Study Finds

Traveling to space presents significant challenges to human health, with research detailing a variety of detrimental effects on the body that may mirror accelerated aging. These include a loss of bone density, swelling of brain and eye nerves, and changes in gene expression. NASA’s groundbreaking study featuring identical twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly provided vital insights into these concerns by observing Scott’s physical condition after spending 340 days in space, while Mark remained on Earth. Findings from this 2019 “twins study,” published in the journal Science, revealed that Scott experienced DNA damage, cognitive decline, and persistent telomere shortening—an indication of aging—even six months post-mission.

Recent research has now uncovered an alarming revelation about stem cells during spaceflight, indicating that they exhibit signs of aging at a staggering rate—up to ten times faster than their counterparts on Earth. Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at the University of California, San Diego, and a lead author of the new study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, articulated the significance of this finding. Stem cells, which are crucial for the development and repair of various tissues, losing their youthful capacity could lead to grave health issues, such as chronic diseases, neurodegeneration, and cancer.

This study arrives at a pivotal moment, as both government agencies and private companies are gearing up for long-duration missions to the moon and beyond. With the surge in interest in spaceflight, understanding the associated health risks has never been more urgent. Insights from this accelerated cellular aging could not only inform safer space travel but also enhance our understanding of biological processes on Earth.

Advancing human leukocyte antigen-based cancer immunotherapy: from personalized to broad-spectrum strategies for genetically heterogeneous populations

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-based immunotherapeutics, such as tebentafusp-tebn and afamitresgene autoleucel, have expanded the treatment options for HLA-A*02-positive patients with rare solid tumors such as uveal melanoma, synovial sarcoma, and myxoid liposarcoma. Unfortunately, many patients of European, Latino/Hispanic, African, Asian, and Native American ancestry who carry non-HLA-A*02 alleles remain largely ineligible for most current HLA-based immunotherapies. This comprehensive review introduces HLA allotype-driven cancer health disparities (HACHD) as an emerging research focus, and examines how past and current HLA-targeted immunotherapeutic strategies may have inadvertently contributed to cancer health disparities. We discuss several preclinical and clinical strategies, including the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI), to address HACHD.

New AI model for drug design brings more physics to bear in predictions

When machine learning is used to suggest new potential scientific insights or directions, algorithms sometimes offer solutions that are not physically sound.

Take, for example, AlphaFold, the AI system that predicts the complex ways in which amino acid chains will fold into 3D protein structures. The system sometimes suggests “unphysical” folds—configurations that are implausible based on the —especially when asked to predict the folds for chains that are significantly different from its .

To limit this type of unphysical result in the realm of drug design, Anima Anandkumar, Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Caltech, and her colleagues have introduced a new machine learning model called NucleusDiff, which incorporates a simple physical idea into its training, greatly improving the algorithm’s performance.

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