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Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new compound called d16 that can reduce tumor growth and overcome therapeutic resistance in mutant p53-bearing cancers in the lab. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research Communications, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, open opportunities for new combination therapies for these difficult-to-treat cancers.

“One of the most common alterations in many human cancers is mutations in p53, a gene that normally provides one of the most powerful shields against tumor growth,” said first author, Dr. Helena Folly-Kossi, a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Weei-Chin Lin’s lab at Baylor. “Mutations that alter the normal function of p53 can promote tumor growth, cancer progression and resistance to therapy, which are associated with poor prognosis. It is important to understand how p53 mutations help cancer grow to develop therapies to counteract their effects.”

Studying how to target p53 mutations that promote cancer growth has been difficult. “One of the challenges has been to develop drugs that act on mutant p53 directly. Some of these drugs are under development, but they appear to be toxic,” said Lin, professor of medicine-hematology and oncology and of molecular and cellular biology. He also is a member of Baylor’s Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the corresponding author of the work.

An extremely important landmark paper by Watson et al. from David Baker’s group. They developed RFdiffusion, a generative AI for protein engineering. With this tool, scientists can generate new protein designs. The software can generate novel monomers, multimers, and symmetric protein cages. It can generate proteins that bind to desired targets as well as enzymes that position active sites at a desired location on the structure. I would say that this technology has the potential to dramatically alter how biology and biotechnology is done. I’ve been waiting for something like this since middle school! So exciting to see protein engineering reaching this point!! #computationalbiology #proteinengineering #syntheticbiology #biotechnology #biochemistry #ai #generativeai

Fine-tuning the RoseTTAFold structure prediction network on protein structure denoising tasks yields a generative model for protein design that achieves outstanding performance on a wide range of protein structure and function design challenges.

A team of medical researchers from Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Central South University and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, all in China, has found evidence suggesting that the placebo effect has grown stronger in trials of transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy for patients treated for depression.

In their study, reported in the journal Nature Mental Health, the group analyzed data from prior research efforts focused on testing the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy.

Prior research has shown that the placebo effect—where a patient is given a “sham” medication or therapy to treat an ailment instead of a real one—can be an effective means of treating some conditions. And while the means by which the placebo effect works is not understood, it has been shown to alleviate symptoms in some people.

A new study in JAMA Network Open may provide key answers to how to help people experiencing chronic back pain.

The study examined the critical connection between the brain and pain for treating chronic pain. Specifically, they looked at the importance of pain attributions, which are people’s beliefs about the underlying causes of their pain, to reduce chronic back pain severity.

“Millions of people are experiencing chronic pain and many haven’t found ways to help with the pain, making it clear that something is missing in the way we’re diagnosing and treating people,” said the study’s first author Yoni Ashar, Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

After being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 5 and relapsing twice, Emily appeared to be out of treatment options.

Learn how research advances gave Emily her health back.

Learn how advances in cancer treatment and care have improved patients’ quality of life.

Continue reading “Offering Hope through Better Treatments and Care” »

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents as an unmet clinical challenge for drug delivery due to its unique hypoxic biology. Vinblastine-N-Oxide (CPD100) is a hypoxia-activated prodrug (HAP) that selectively converts to its parent compound, vinblastine, a potent cytotoxic agent, under oxygen gradient. The study evaluates the efficacy of microfluidics formulated liposomal CPD100 (CPD100Li) in PDAC. CPD100Li were formulated with a size of 95 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.2. CPD100Li was stable for a period of 18 months when freeze-dried at a concentration of 3.55 mg/mL. CPD100 and CPD100Li confirmed selective activation at low oxygen levels in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Moreover, in 3D spheroids, CPD100Li displayed higher penetration and disruption compared to CPD100.

In a recent study published in Science Advances, researchers from the California Institute of Technology, led by Dr. Wei Gao, have developed a machine learning (ML)–powered 3D-printed epifluidic electronic skin for multimodal health surveillance. This wearable platform enables real-time physical and chemical monitoring of health status.

Wearable health devices have the potential to revolutionize the medical world, offering real-time tracking, personalized treatments, and early diagnosis of diseases.

However, one of the main challenges with these devices is that they don’t track data at the molecular level, and their fabrication is challenging. Dr. Gao explained why this served as a motivation for their team.

Lewy body disease ranks as the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, following Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disease that attacks the brain, causing a decline in mental ability that worsens over time. It is the most common form of dementia and accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. There is no current cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but there are medications that can help ease the symptoms.

Scientists have successfully used nanotechnology to develop a 3D scaffold that supports the growth of healthy retinal cells, a breakthrough that could revolutionize the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Utilizing electrospinning technology, researchers created a scaffold that, when treated with the steroid fluocinolone acetonide, enhances the resilience and growth of retinal pigment epithelial cells, potentially aiding in the development of ocular tissue for transplantation.

Scientists have discovered a way to use nanotechnology to create a 3D ‘scaffold’ to grow cells from the retina. This breakthrough could lead to innovative approaches for treating a common source of blindness.

Researchers, led by Professor Barbara Pierscionek from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), have been working on a way to successfully grow retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells that stay healthy and viable for up to 150 days. RPE cells sit just outside the neural part of the retina and, when damaged, can cause vision to deteriorate.