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Category: biotech/medical – Page 294

A Low RDW Is Associated With A Longer Lifespan (Clip)

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Common Fungal Compound May Be the Key to Fighting Deadly Flu Infections

Preclinical trial reveals how beta-glucan, a compound found in all fungi, can ‘reprogram’ immune cells to combat lung inflammation.

A recent study suggests that a common fungal component may help protect against flu-related lung damage.

Led by Professor Maziar Divangahi from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, the research team found that beta-glucan, when given to mice before influenza exposure, reduced lung damage, improved lung function, and lowered the risk of severe illness and death.

Fat transport deficiency explains rare childhood metabolic crises

Researchers studying a protein linked to a rare, severe disease have made a discovery that sheds light on how cells meet their energy needs during a severe metabolic crisis. The findings could lead to new treatments for the disease and open new avenues of research for other conditions involving impaired fat metabolism.

When scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona first identified a handful of protein-coding genes called TANGO in 2006, they had no idea that one of them, TANGO2, would eventually be linked to a life-threatening disorder in children. In 2016, the researchers found that mutations in TANGO2 cause a now officially recognized as TANGO2 Deficiency Disorder (TDD).

There are about 110 known patients with TDD worldwide, though there are thought to be an estimated six to nine thousand undiagnosed patients in total.

Osteoarthritis: From Pathophysiology to Novel Therapy

Dear Colleagues.

In the context of an ageing world population, certain pathologies that are exacerbated in this process of ageing, such as osteoarthritis (OA), will become more prevalent in the coming years. Moreover, OA is one of the main causes of chronic pain and physical disability in the elderly. It is therefore of great relevance to gain a deep understanding on the pathophysiology of this disease, and also to identify potential prognostic and diagnostic tools along with novel promising therapeutic targets for OA.

Contamination detection tool merges synthetic biology and nanotech for ultrasensitive water testing

A platform developed nearly 20 years ago previously used to detect protein interactions with DNA and conduct accurate COVID-19 testing has been repurposed to create a highly sensitive water contamination detection tool.

The technology merges two exciting fields— and nanotechnology—to create a new platform for chemical monitoring. When tuned to detect different contaminants, the technology could detect the metals lead and cadmium at concentrations down to two and one parts per billion, respectively, in a matter of minutes.

The paper was published this week in the journal ACS Nano and represents research from multiple disciplines within Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering.

Next-generation organic nanozymes offer safe, cost-effective solution for agricultural and food industries

Nanozymes are synthetic materials that have enzyme-like catalytic properties, and they are broadly used for biomedical purposes, such as disease diagnostics. However, inorganic nanozymes are generally toxic, expensive, and complicated to produce, making them unsuitable for the agricultural and food industries.

A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research team has developed organic-material-based nanozymes that are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective. In two new studies, they introduce next-generation organic nanozymes and explore a point-of-use platform for molecule detection in .

“The first generation of organic-compound-based (OC) nanozymes had some minor drawbacks, so our research group worked to make improvements. The previous OC nanozymes required the use of particle stabilizing polymers having repeatable functional groups, which assured stability of the nanozyme’s nanoscale framework, but didn’t achieve a sufficiently small particle size,” said lead author Dong Hoon Lee, who completed his Ph.D. from the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at the U. of I.

Gene therapy developed for maple syrup urine disease shows promise

A study led by UMass Chan Medical School researchers has demonstrated that a gene therapy to correct a mutation that causes maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) prevented newborn death, normalized growth, restored coordinated expression of the affected genes and stabilized biomarkers in a calf as well as in mice.

“Simply put, we believe the demonstrated in both animal species, especially in the cow, very well showcases the therapeutic potential for MSUD, in part because the diseased cow, without treatment, has a very similar metabolic profile as the patients,” said Dan Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetic & cellular medicine.

Dr. Wang is co-principal investigator with Heather Gray-Edwards, DVM, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetic & cellular medicine; Guangping Gao, Ph.D., the Penelope Booth Rockwell Chair in Biomedical Research, director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center, director of the Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research and chair and professor of genetic & cellular medicine; and Kevin Strauss, MD, adjunct professor of pediatrics and head of therapeutic development at the Clinic for Special Children in Gordonville, Pennsylvania.

Understanding raw milk’s disease risk — and pasteurization’s importance

Raw milk has made headlines recently for widespread samples containing the virus that causes H5N1, or bird flu, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture launching a program in December to track the virus through milk testing. But bird flu is far from the only disease-causing pathogen lurking in raw milk: Unpasteurized milk can contain bacteria such as E. coli and Listeria, for instance.

New Stanford Medicine research has found that another virus affecting both animals and people — Rift Valley fever virus — can remain active in raw milk samples for roughly as long as someone might want to drink it. Rift Valley fever is an acute viral illness spread to people through mosquitoes or the bodily fluids of infected animals. These findings mirror recent Stanford research showing that flu virus can be infectious in refrigerated raw milk for up to five days.

While Rift Valley fever virus mostly impacts sub-Saharan Africa, these findings have important implications for understanding human disease risk from drinking raw milk, said Brian Dawes, MD, PhD. He is an infectious disease fellow and postdoctoral researcher in Stanford Medicine’s LaBeaud Lab and led the research. Desiree LaBeaud, MD, associate dean of global health, was the senior author. Alina De La Mota-Peynado of the USDA was co-lead author.

Mayo Clinic discovers new role for protein to fight tumors

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a new role that a specific protein plays in regulating cell resistance and fighting tumors in certain types of cancer, offering hope for improved cancer therapies and patient outcomes.

The protein, known as NKG7, is found in CD8+ T cells, a type of immune cell that can recognize and kill cancer cells. CD8+ T cell resilience is essential for anti-tumor activity. The protein allows CD8+ T cells to continue killing cancer cells even under stress and can help prevent cancer from growing and spreading.

“We found that patients with invasive bladder cancer who had NKG7-expressing CD8+ T cells within their tumor had superior survival compared to patients without,” says Dan Billadeau, Ph.D., senior author of the study, detailed in Nature Communications. “This discovery holds promise for manipulating CD8+ T cells — for example, CAR-T and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) — to combat cancer.”

Some People Are Immune to a Deadly Disease — Scientists Finally Know Why

A rare genetic disease that ravages some but spares others has baffled researchers — until now.

Researchers found that a genetic variant, HAQ-STING, acts as a shield against COPA Syndrome, a discovery that could lead to life-changing gene therapies. For families long plagued by the disease, the revelation was both an explanation and a beacon of hope.

A breakthrough in understanding COPA syndrome.

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