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Category: biotech/medical – Page 448

Computational platform helps unlock A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

There is an urgent need for precision immunotherapy strategies that simultaneously target both tumor cells and immune cells to enhance treatment efficacy. Identifying genes with dual functions in both cancer and immune cells opens new possibilities for overcoming tumor resistance and improving patient survival.

Professor Zeng Zexian’s team from the Center for Quantitative Biology at the Peking University Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, in collaboration with the Peking University-Tsinghua University Joint Center for Life Sciences, has developed ICRAFT, an innovative computational platform for identifying cancer targets. Their study has been published in Immunity.

ICRAFT integrates 558 CRISPR screening datasets, 2 million single-cell RNA sequencing datasets, and 943 RNA-Seq datasets from clinical immunotherapy samples.

Mannowetz et al

Present a preclinical study on mice and macaques demonstrating the safety and efficacy of YCT-529, a drug forming the basis of the “first non-hormonal male birth control pill”. This research is from a startup called YourChoice Therapeutics — which is now working on human clinical trials. Exciting to see reproductive medicine advancing in this direction! #reproductivehealth.

[ https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-025-00752-7](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-025-00752-7)

Cellular mechanical memory: a potential tool for mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy

Recent studies have shown that mechanical properties such as extracellular matrix stiffness, fluid flow, weight loading, compression, and stretching can affect cellular functions. Some examples of cell responses to mechanical properties could be the migration of cancer cells from rigid to soft surfaces or the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Cellular responses to mechanical changes can modify the insertion of proteins in the extracellular matrix (ECM), causing an increase in tissue stiffness with functional consequences. In general, mechanical and physical factors can affect any kind of cell phenotype in culture conditions and in vivo tissues. Cells sense mechanical stimuli by applying force and restructuring their shape and functions in response to the resistance of the stimuli. Furthermore, mechanical triggers can develop a “memory” for altering cellular plasticity and adaptation. This phenomenon is called cellular mechanical memory (CMM), a singular feature of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Controlled targeting of CMM may resolve the scarcity of viable cells needed for cell based therapy (CBT) and implement studies concerning cancer research, fibrosis, and senescence. This review focusses on cells from the mesodermal lineage, such as MSCs, fibroblasts and chondrocytes, and the role of CMM as a potential target for CBT.

Radical Study Proposes a Single Cause to Explain Alzheimer’s Disease

A new model of Alzheimer’s disease has been proposed, which could speed up efforts to understand and cure the complex condition – while bringing all manifestations of the condition under one unifying theory.

Researchers from Arizona State University suggest that stress granules – protein and RNA clumps that form around cells in stressful conditions due to genetic and environmental risk factors – are the primary culprit behind the disease.

In their new study, the team reviewed data from multiple health databases and past papers – particularly a 2022 study on Alzheimer’s progression – to identify widespread changes in gene expression that come with it.

Newly discovered weight loss peptide without side effects

How microglia facilitate phagocytosis of multiple types of pathological particles.

The functions, and molecular signaling of elevated glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma B (GPNMB) in various brain diseases is not been well studied.

The researchers report that GPNMB expression in microglia is commonly induced by multiple types of pathological factors (neuronal degeneration caused by seizures, caspase-3-induced neuronal apoptosis, neuronal debris, and β-amyloid) functionally participating in phagocytosis of pathological particles via interaction with lysosomal vacuolar-type proton ATPase catalytic subunit A (ATP6V1A) and anti-inflammation responses.

GPNMB depletion does not influence the severity of acute seizures but exacerbates the development of chronic epileptogenesis. https://sciencemission.com/microglia-phagocytosis-of-pathological-particles

Liu et al. report that GPNMB expression in microglia is commonly induced by multiple types of pathological factors functionally participating in phagocytosis of pathological particles via interaction with ATP6V1A and anti-inflammation responses. GPNMB depletion does not influence the severity of acute seizures but exacerbates the development of chronic epileptogenesis.

Stronger, lighter, cheaper: Enhancing carbon fiber production with low-cost oil residues

Advanced carbon fiber materials could be used in applications from wind turbine blades to biomedical implants following the development of a low-cost carbon fiber feedstock.

The carbon fibers were spun from synergistic blends of the low-value heavy oils left over from refining by members of KAUST’s Clean Energy Research Platform. The work could not only facilitate broader carbon fiber uptake but also create sustainable new uses for residual oils as the world transitions to alternative energy systems.

“Crude oil is a resource with immense potential beyond fuels,” says Edwin Guevara Romero, a researcher in the labs of Mani Sarathy, who led the work. “Using oil residues as feedstocks for is an innovative, high-value application of oil-derived resources, paving the way for economic diversification,” he says.

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