An explainable deep learning model using a chemical substructure-based approach for the exploration of chemical compound libraries identified structural classes of compounds with antibiotic activity and low toxicity.
Category: biotech/medical
Researchers have engineered T cells with a cancer-derived mutation, boosting their potency against tumors over 100-fold without toxicity, marking a significant advancement in immunotherapy that could…
Nerve cells in the brain demand an enormous amount of energy to survive and maintain their connections for communicating with other nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, the ability to make energy is compromised, and the connections between nerve cells (called synapses) eventually come apart and wither, causing new memories to fade and fail.
A Scripps Research team, reporting in the journal Advanced Science, has now identified the energetic reactions in brain cells that malfunction and lead to neurodegeneration. By using a small molecule to address the malfunction, which occurred in the mitochondria—the cell’s major energy producers—the researchers showed that many neuron-to-neuron connections were successfully restored in nerve cell models derived from human Alzheimer’s patient stem cells. These findings highlight that improving mitochondrial metabolism could be a promising therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s and related disorders.
“We thought that if we could repair metabolic activity in the mitochondria, maybe we could salvage the energy production,” says senior author Stuart Lipton, MD, Ph.D., Step Family Foundation Endowed Professor and Co-Director of the Neurodegeneration New Medicines Center at Scripps Research, and a clinical neurologist in La Jolla, Calif. “In using human neurons derived from people with Alzheimer’s, protecting the energy levels was sufficient to rescue a large number of neuronal connections.”
The waterborne disease has killed more than 4,000 people in seven countries over the past two years. Experts blame severe storms, a lack of vaccines, and poor water and sewer systems.
Roughly 1 in 2 wearers of ventricular assist devices are diagnosed with an infection. The reason for this is the thick cable for the power supply. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a solution to mitigate this problem.
For many patients waiting for a donor heart, the only way to live a decent life is with the help of a pump attached directly to their heart. This pump requires about as much power as a TV, which it draws from an external battery via a seven-millimeter-thick cable. The system is handy and reliable, but it has one big flaw: Despite medical treatment, the point at which the cable exits the abdomen can be breached by bacteria.
ETH Zurich researcher and engineer Andreas Kourouklis is working to soon make this problem a thing of the past. With the support of ETH Zurich Professor Edoardo Mazza and physicians from the German Heart Center in Berlin, Kourouklis has developed a new cable system for heart pumps that doesn’t cause infections. The findings are published in the journal Biomaterials Advances.
A specific combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy may better help patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) overcome inherent immune resistance and reinvigorate anti-tumor activity, according to a new study led by a researcher from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Results from the Phase II umbrella HUDSON study, published in Nature Medicine, demonstrate that the anti PD-L1 antibody, durvalumab, coupled with the ATR inhibitor, ceralasertib, provides the greatest clinical benefit of four combinations evaluated.
This pair had an objective response rate (ORR) of 13.9% compared to just 2.6% with the other tested combinations. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months versus 2.7 months for other combinations, while median overall survival (OS) was 17.4 months versus 9.4 months. In patients with ATM alterations, which should sensitize tumors to ATR inhibitors, the ORR increased to 26.1%. Durvalumab-ceralasertib had a manageable safety profile.
An RIT engineering researcher bridges biology and computing to advance innovative neural network processing and storage using DNA molecules.
In the realm of scientific innovation, the past decade has seen the CRISPR/Cas systems emerge as a groundbreaking tool in genome editing, boasting applications that span from enhancing crop yields to pioneering gene therapy.
The recent advent of CRISPR-COPIES by the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) marks a significant leap forward, refining CRISPR’s flexibility and user-friendliness.
CRISPR-COPIES represents a cutting-edge solution designed to swiftly pinpoint ideal chromosomal sites for genetic modification across any species.
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UWM) say they have created the first 3D-printed brain organoids that function like natural brain tissue.
“The neurons communicate, send signals, interact with each other through neurotransmitters, and even form proper networks with support cells that were added to the printed tissue,” said senior author Su-Chun Zhang.
The challenge: In the right conditions, stem cells will self-assemble into tiny, three-dimensional tissues that mimic features of the human brain. These “brain organoids” can be used to test drugs, study diseases, and more.
Plasminogen deficiency, a rare disorder characterized by impaired fibrinolysis, frequently results in ligneous conjunctivitis. In this report, we report a case of a Saudi girl manifesting both conjunctivitis and hydrocephalus. Her initial symptoms at 1 month of age were recurring eye redness, which was inaccurately diagnosed as simple conjunctivitis. Surgical intervention for her ocular lesions revealed underlying membrane deposition. She later exhibited signs of increased intracranial pressure, resulting in a hydrocephalus diagnosis and subsequent surgery. Genetic analysis confirmed the presence of plasminogen deficiency. Clinical evaluations highlighted ligneous conjunctivitis, variations in visual acuity, and facial acne. Laboratory assessments demonstrated diminished plasminogen levels.