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Category: biotech/medical – Page 48

Interplay between cancer cell lipotypes and disease states

Lipid metabolism in cancer.

Cancer cells exhibit distinct lipotypes to sustain functional states crucial for tumorigenesis.

Various lipid metabolism components like biosynthesis, uptake, storage, and degradation of lipids contribute to cancer cell fitness.

Cancer cells dynamically transition across lipotypes under microenvironmental stress.

Targeting essential nodes in lipid metabolism may offer novel cancer therapeutics. sciencenewshighlights ScienceMission https://sciencemission.com/cancer-cell-lipotypes

While the initial transformation of cancer cells is driven by genetic alterations, tumor cell behaviors and functional states are dynamically regulated by cell-intrinsic factors including proteins, metabolites and lipids, and extrinsic microenvironmental factors. Emerging multi-omics technologies highlighted that cancer cells exhibit distinct lipidome compositions and employ specific lipid metabolic circuits for chemical conversions – collectively defined as ‘lipotypes’. We review the interplay between cancer lipotypes and cellular states, focusing on interpreting how being at different positions along the spectra of representative lipid metabolic axes influences cancerous traits. We aim to instill a system biology perspective to integrate ‘lipotypes’ into the established ‘genotype–phenotype’ framework in cancer.

Continue reading “Interplay between cancer cell lipotypes and disease states” | >

One-question screen may flag hoarding in Alzheimer’s and other dementias

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz have developed a simple, one-question screening tool that could help doctors quickly identify hoarding behaviors in patients with memory loss and other brain disorders. Early detection, they said, could lead to early intervention, helping to reduce safety risks, relieve caregiver stress and improve the quality of life for both patients and families.

The new tool was examined in a study published this month in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. The study was co-led by Peter Pressman, MD and Julia Schaffer, BA. The senior author is David Arciniegas, MD, professor of neurology at CU Anschutz.

“This was really born of shared observations in the memory clinic,” said Pressman, associate professor of neurology at Oregon Health & Science University who conducted the research while at CU Anschutz. “We noticed that hoarding was very common in these patients but it was not part of any screening protocols.”

Engineered protein markers read living brain gene activity in monkeys via blood

Gene therapy has been successfully used to treat a number of diseases, including immune deficiencies, hereditary blindness, hemophilia and, recently, Huntington’s disease, a fatal neurological disorder.

An advance reported in the journal Neuron adds to the technique’s growing track record of evidence supporting the view that it could unlock powerful, personalized therapies: Rice University bioengineer Jerzy Szablowski and collaborators in Vincent Costa’s lab at Emory University found that released markers of activity (RMAs) — engineered proteins designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and persist in the blood for hours at a time, providing a reliable and noninvasive way to get information about gene expression in the brain — work just as well in monkeys as they do in mice.

On the route from laboratory discovery to lifesaving treatment, large animal model studies are a critical part of the process. Most research never reaches this stage.

Natural Killer Cell Dysregulation During ALS Disease ProgressionA Gene Expression Analysis

Study finds that natural killer (NK) cells grow more dysregulated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression and exhibit increasing characteristics of type 2 polarization or immune exhaustion.

Background and Objectives.

Bioengineered neuronal ‘circuit board’ mimics conditions of the human brain

A new bioengineered neuronal circuit board “BioConNet” allows scientists to artificially engineer human brain-like wiring at scale and can be used to engineer any possible circuit. The fully programmable, open-source system allows generation of large-scale circuits, while maintaining the ability to focus on single connections between neurons.

This is a key advance in engineering human-like neural circuits as it allows for a new level of wiring complexity compared to previous systems. BioConNet allows scientists increased control over wiring in the culture compared to existing methods such as organoids and commercially available systems. The research is published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

“By combining engineering and neurobiology with the most recent stem cell culture techniques, we can now create human-specific, functional, large-scale complex neural circuits in the lab,” said senior author, Dr. Andrea Serio, Reader in Neural Tissue Engineering, Group Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at King’s and Senior Group Leader at the Crick.

Blood test predicts which bladder cancer patients may safely skip surgery

Circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, can predict metastatic risk in patients who receive bladder-sparing treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, but it is not a good predictor of local recurrence within the bladder, according to new data presented today by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers.

The study also showed that the absence of ctDNA predicted favorable outcomes, regardless of whether the patient’s bladder was removed or not. Circulating tumor DNA are tiny fragments of DNA left behind by cancer cells as they die off during treatment.

The study, which reports updated data from the phase 2 RETAIN-2 clinical trial, could be used to help guide treatment decisions for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), said first author Pooja Ghatalia, MD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Fox Chase. She conducted the study with senior author Daniel M. Geynisman, MD, Chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, and a number of other Fox Chase clinicians.

Baseline Fatigue and Severe Toxic Effects in Patients With Cancer Receiving Systemic Therapy

Among over 7,000 patients with cancer, higher baseline fatigue before systemic therapy was linked to an increased risk of severe, life-threatening, and fatal adverse events.

Question Is baseline patient-reported fatigue associated with subsequent cancer treatment−related adverse events?

Findings In this cohort study and pooled analysis of 7,086 patients from 17 SWOG phase 2 and 3 randomized clinical trials, patients who reported baseline fatigue had a significantly higher risk of severe, life-threatening, and fatal adverse events. In addition, a dose-response pattern was observed, with patients reporting high fatigue vs no fatigue having a nearly 5-fold increased risk of fatal toxic effects.

Meaning Patient fatigue reported before cancer treatment may serve as an early clinical marker of risk for toxic effects and could help guide personalized treatment strategies.

Adherence to Different Dietary Patterns and Subsequent Risk of Total, Ischemic, and Hemorrhagic Stroke

In people with elevated cardiovascular risk at baseline, adherence to the Mediterranean and Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diets was associated with a lower risk of stroke.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to healthy dietary patterns has been related to lower cardiovascular disease risk. However, few studies have examined prospective associations between adherence to different healthy dietary scores and the incidence of stroke and its subtypes. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the associations between adherence to 4 recognized healthy dietary patterns and the risk of total and ischemic stroke in an existing dietary-based randomized controlled trial. METHODS: This is a secondary observational cohort analysis of 7,447 participants at high cardiovascular disease risk enrolled in the PREDIMED trial (Prevención Con Dieta Mediterranea).

What Can 50-Year-Old Chatbots Teach Us About Clinical Applications of AI?

Can a large language model (LLM) provide insights on the history of chatbots and their clinical applications? 🤖

In this episode of JAMA+ AI Conversations, JAMA+ AI Editor in Chief Roy Perlis, MD, MSc, interviews OpenAI’s ChatGPT (GPT-4o, voice mode) about the development and legacy of the first clinical chatbots, ELIZA and PARRY.

The discussion explores differing perspectives of their creators, as well as how foundational debates about technology and ethics continue to inform the present landscape of AI in mental health care.

🎧 Listen now.

JAMA+ AI Editor in Chief Roy Perlis, MD, MSc, conducted an interview with ChatGPT about the history of chatbots and their clinical applications, for JAMA+ AI Conversations.

Living ‘Mini Brains’ Meet Next-Generation Bioelectronics

A team led by Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab scientists have developed a new technology that can eavesdrop on the hidden electrical dialogues unfolding inside miniature, lab-grown human brain-like tissues, according to a study published the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Known as human neural organoids — and sometimes called “mini brains” — these millimeter-sized structures are powerful models of brain development and disease. But until now, scientists could only record and stimulate activity from a small fraction of their neurons — missing network-wide dynamics that give rise to coordinated rhythms, information processing and the complex patterns of activity that define brain function.

For the first time, the new technology overcomes that stubborn limitation. The soft, three-dimensional (3D) electronic framework wraps around an organoid like a breathable, high-tech mesh. Rather than sampling select regions, it delivers near-complete, shape-conforming coverage with hundreds of miniaturized electrodes. That dense, three-dimensional interfacing enables scientists to map and manipulate neural activity across almost the entire organoid.

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