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Physicists Find a Superconductor That ‘Breaks’ The Symmetry of Time — A First For Its Kind
Under certain conditions – such as bone-brittling temperatures lower than that of deep space – superconductors can conduct electricity without resistance and resultant energy loss.
Though they vary in their chemical composition, operational temperature ranges, and magnetic properties, superconductors come in two groupings.
First, conventional and unconventional superconductors differ in how their electrons become entangled in tandems called Cooper pairs, an identity-sharing state that allows them to gracefully glide through the atomic jumble of their materials to facilitate uninterrupted electric flow.
Cell-preservation technique could make CAR-T cell therapy more accessible
Immune cells that are engineered to attack cancer cells, known as CAR-T cells, are used to treat some types of blood cancer. However, only about 5 percent of hospitals in the United States have the ability to generate and deliver CAR-T cells to patients. For many patients, this means the cells need to be frozen and shipped long-distance.
To help make this type of therapy accessible to more people, researchers at MIT have developed a new way to protect the cells from damage that can occur when they are frozen for storage and shipment. Their technique significantly reduces the use of a chemical preservative that is now used to protect the cells, which should make it easier for more hospitals to provide this treatment option to patients.
Instead of treating the cells with a cryoprotective chemical that has to be removed before treatment, the researchers were able to preserve them using a nontoxic antifreeze sugar.
Neuroepithelial Tumor with AAV Integration after Intracisternal Magna Vector Delivery
Clinical report on a boy who developed a brain tumor after AAV gene therapy for treating his mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS). Fortunately, the boy has so far survived and thrived despite the MPS, the cancer, and the surgery to remove the tumor. Molecular analysis of the tumor revealed that it was caused by integration of parts of the AAV’s DNA into the genome, triggering overexpression of an oncogene called PLAG1. This case highlights the clinical importance of rare integration events in AAV gene therapy and reminds us that we must remain vigilant of the risks from these treatments.
Recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are predominantly nonintegrating, but rare genomic integration events have been associated with oncogenesis in neonatal murine models. Here we report a case of a neuroepithelial tumor that developed in a 5-year-old boy with severe mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPSI, Hurler subtype) 4 years after intracisternal magna administration of AAV serotype 9 gene therapy. The patient underwent successful resection of the primary tumor. Postoperatively, he has continued to have advanced cognitive function for his age, a finding that indicates mitigation of MPSI. Molecular analysis of the tumor showed clonal integration of rearranged AAV vector elements into the gene PLAG1 and expression of a chimeric AAV-PLAG1 transcript.
Mitochondrial carrier SLC25A34 links clock, diet, and temperature control of adipocyte lipid cycling
An unexpected and potentially big finding:
A single mitochondrial protein has an outsized role, acting as a central node, coordinating our circadian clock, temperature, dietary cues, sleep/wake cycle to control brown fat metabolism.
Brown/beige fat burns energy to keep the body warm and is linked to metabolic health. Its activity follows a daily rhythm (high when you’re awake, low during sleep), but it can also ramp up *suddenly* in response to cold weather or a fatty meal. How one system handles both scheduled and surprise demands was a mystery — until now.
The answer: one mitochondrial protein, SLC25A34.
The researchers found that three different signals — the circadian clock, diet, and temperature — all funnel through a single orphan mitochondrial transporter called SLC25A34.
How it works:
- During sleep: The circadian clock proteins REV-ERBα/β shut off SLC25A34 production.
Common Viral Infections May Accelerate ALS
“A lot of the previous work in this area has been epidemiological in nature, without much focus on the molecular mechanisms that actually underpin the connection between infections and ALS,” says Ahmed, who co-first authored the new paper with Miller Lab alumni Art Marzok and Jonathan Mapletoft. “What makes our study unique is that we did take a mechanistic approach — we explored why this connection might exist.”
What the researchers found was that even common respiratory viruses that do not infect neurons can leave lasting changes to the nervous system.
In their animal models, Miller’s team observed that COVID-19 and flu infections triggered an inflammatory response from immune cells in the nervous system — a process called gliosis — that remained elevated in the spinal cord even after the virus had been cleared from the body. Gliosis, Ahmed notes, is already known to play an important role in ALS, but the findings suggest that an infection may amplify this process, helping to accelerate the disease.
Catalog of mitochondria across life’s family tree unearths unusual functions
A research consortium has generated the broadest look yet at the proteins that make up mitochondria, capturing the organelle’s diversity across multiple branches on the tree of complex life. With major contributions from Broad Institute scientists and its Proteomics Platform, the consortium generated and analyzed the mitochondrial proteomes of one plant and five single-celled pathogens that affect millions of people globally every year.
Their results reveal unexpected functions of the organelle, clues to its origin and role in the evolution of complex-celled organisms known as eukaryotes, and potential new drug targets for neglected tropical diseases.
The MitoCarta Tree of Life project was led by scientists at the Broad Institute, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School (HMS), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Their findings appear in nine scientific papers and a commentary article in Cell and related journals.