Following the progress of Stanford Medicine researchers closing in on new drugs, diagnostics and medical devices.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 92
Chemically ‘stapled’ peptides used to target difficult-to-treat cancers
Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new technology that uses bacteria to build, chemically stabilize, and test millions of potential drug molecules inside living cells, making it much quicker and easier to discover new treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers.
Scientists based at the University’s Department of Life Sciences are investigating peptides—short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins—as potential drugs for a family of notoriously “undruggable” cancer drivers known as transcription factors. These proteins act as master switches that control gene activity and are frequently overactive in cancer.
Targeted peripheral focused ultrasound stimulation attenuates obesity-induced metabolic and inflammatory dysfunctions
Huerta, T.S., Devarajan, A., Tsaava, T. et al. Sci Rep 11, 5,083 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84330-6
Swarming, spinning microrobots can manipulate their surroundings
E pluribus unum – “out of many, one” – is not only a motto for the United States. It’s a good credo for microrobots.
A research collaboration between Cornell and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has shown how a swarm of microrobots spinning on a water surface can together generate the fluidic torque needed to manipulate passive structures without any physical contact.
This collective behavior was demonstrated to operate gears and move objects, with the aim of eventually performing microscale tasks and biomedical procedures.
Cancer stress protein helps tumors hide from immunity
The ISR in cancer cells triggers the production of a protein called Activating Transcription Factor 4, or ATF4, which in turn triggers the action of many genes that help cancer cells survive, the study authors say. The new work shows that ATF4 also instructs the cell to release LCN2 to protect the tumor from the immune system.
The research team found that LCN2 passes on the ATF4 message to switch macrophages, a type of immune cell abundant in tumors, into an “immunosuppressive” mode, which keeps cancer-killing T cells from entering the tumor.
Whereas ATF4 operates inside cancer cells, LCN2 is released outside where it can be more easily targeted by drugs, the researchers said. Therefore, they designed an antibody therapy, a lab-made version of an immune protein, to bind and block LCN2, which kept it from manipulating macrophages, letting the sidelined T cells back into tumors.
When the researchers team engineered mice to both develop cancer, and to lack LCN2, tumor growth slowed. That this effect happened only in mice with healthy immune systems suggested that an important role for LCN2 is to block the immune attack on tumors.
Next, the team examined tumor samples from more than 100 lung cancer patients and 30 pancreatic cancer patients. High LCN2 levels were linked to a median survival of 52 months, compared to 79 months for patients with low levels.
When treated with an antibody that blocked LCN2, tumors in mice became flooded with T cells and shrank. Combining the LCN2 antibody with an existing immunotherapy drug worked even better, extending survival in mice with aggressive lung cancer. ScienceMission sciencenewshighlights.
New research on acquired aphantasia pinpoints specific brain network responsible for visual imagination
People who lose their ability to conjure visual memories after a brain injury share damage that connects to a single, highly specific brain region. A recent analysis of these rare medical cases reveals that a structure called the fusiform imagery node acts as an essential hub for the human imagination. These results, published in the journal Cortex, help explain the physical origins of our mind’s eye.
Most people can easily close their eyes and picture a childhood bedroom or the face of a loved one. This ability is known as visual mental imagery. It allows human beings to relive past events, solve spatial problems, and envision future scenarios without any external sensory input.
However, a small fraction of the population lacks this internal visual experience entirely. This absence of a mind’s eye is called aphantasia. It occurs from birth in an estimated one to three percent of people across the globe.
Does This ED Drug Harm the Retina?
Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) who used sildenafil had a higher risk for serous retinal detachment than those who did not use the drug, a new study finds.
“Our results extend prior claims-based signals of an association between” phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors and serous retinal detachment, the researchers reported.
The absence of associations with retinal vascular occlusion and ischemic optic neuropathy suggest sildenafil’s ocular risks may be specific to serous retinal pathology rather than ischemic events affecting the vessels or optic nerve, they wrote.
The study was led by Jaffer Shah of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. It was published online on February 21 in Eye.
The use of electronic health records may have introduced residual confounding and misclassification of the use of sildenafil.
Utility of Targeted RNA Analysis in Neurogenetic Disorders
Anti-CASPR2 encephalitis on EEG
Many patients show (DSWA) and IED, reflecting widespread cortical dysfunction.
Importantly, diffuse slowing and absence of deep (N3) sleep may signal a worse prognosis. — @Natalia Olaru.
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Objective The clinical manifestations of autoimmune encephalitis associated with contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2) were atypical and progressed slowly. We aimed to summarize the characteristics of video-electroencephalography (V-EEG) and video-polysomnography (V-PSG) to achieve early recognition and assess long-term outcomes.
Ultrasound-activated ‘nanoagents’ kill superbugs hiding in biofilms
Scientists have designed nanoagents that act like smart drug-delivery capsules—carrying an antibiotic deep into bacterial infection sites and releasing it only when activated by gentle ultrasound. Delivering antibiotics locally, directly to the site of an infection, is important, because treating the whole body with high doses increases the chances of bacteria developing resistance. Nanoagents can carry drugs straight to the infected area providing localized therapy with minimal amount of drug, reducing the risks of antibiotic resistance.
Publishing their findings in JACS Au, researchers from the University of Birmingham and Nottingham Trent University reveal the results of designing the particles so they can hide an antibiotic, rifampicin, in their interior and testing their antibacterial activity when ultrasound is applied. An antimicrobial drug, rifampicin, is used to treat tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus infections, including those associated with medical implants.
Many bacterial infections form biofilms—sticky, protective layers that make them very hard to treat. Biofilms cause a lot of infections and resist many antibiotics because the drugs cannot easily penetrate their thick structure. Water repelling antibiotics like rifampicin are especially ineffective because they struggle to get deep inside these moist, gel-like biofilms.
Heterogeneity of Treatment Effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists
Among adults treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) for weight loss, efficacy was greater in women than men, but similar across age, race, ethnicity, baseline body mass index, and hemoglobin A1c.
These findings indicate that GLP1RA therapy for weight loss is broadly effective across key patient characteristics, supporting inclusive clinical decision-making. GLP-1 RAs include semaglutide, liraglutide, exenatide, lixisenatide, and dulaglutide.
Question How heterogeneous are the treatment effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) on weight loss, by age, sex, race and ethnicity, baseline body mass index, and baseline hemoglobin A1c?
Findings In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 41 articles representing 64 randomized clinical trials, the efficacy of GLP-1 RAs was greater among women than men but did not otherwise differ by age, race and ethnicity, baseline body mass index, or baseline hemoglobin A1c.
Meaning Except for the difference by sex, the efficacy of GLP-1 RAs for weight loss appears to be consistent across many important subpopulations of patients who may be eligible for treatment.