Decoding the language of immune responses: Research has implications for improved immunotherapy treatments
Researchers from McGill University and the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) have made some surprising discoveries about our immune system. By using mathematical modelling to look at specific aspects of immune responses in mice and humans, their data-driven approach, described in a recent article in Science, reveals that immune responses may exist on a finer […]
High fat diet, unregulated athletic exercise endurance enhancers linked to risk of pancreatic cancer
Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have found a cell nuclear receptor activated by high fat diets and synthetic substances in unregulated athletic performance enhancers fuels the progression of precancerous pancreas lesions into pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly lethal form of cancer with rising occurrence, and strategies to prevent […]
Malnutrition links kidney disease, weaker muscles
Scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University utilized a Japan-developed, objective, and simple nutritional indicator called the Nutrition Risk Index (NRI) to unveil a long-suspected yet unverified relationship between sarcopenia and malnutrition in end-stage kidney disease patients. Their findings confirmed that malnutrition contributes to sarcopenia, which can be detected through NRI. End-stage kidney disease patients undergoing maintenance […]
Investigational drug attacks synovial sarcoma, a rare type of tumor
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a way to attack synovial sarcoma — a rare tumor of soft tissues, such as ligaments and muscles — using an investigational drug that triggers cell death. The drug was developed by Washington University researchers who are planning a phase 1 clinical trial […]
Ultrasound-guided microbubbles boost immunotherapy efficacy: New platform to improve both antitumor immune responses and responses to checkpoint inhibitors
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed an ultrasound-guided cancer immunotherapy platform that generates systemic antitumor immunity and improves the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade. The findings from the preclinical study were published today in Nature Nanotechnology. As the first-of-its-kind platform, the Microbubble-assisted UltraSound-guided Immunotherapy of Cancer (MUSIC) approach […]
Where do ‘Hawaiian box jellies’ come from?
An insightful cross-disciplinary team of University of Hawai’i (UH) at Manoa researchers, working for over a decade, published a study recently revealing that a key number of hours of darkness during the lunar cycle triggers mature “Hawaiian box jellyfish” (Alatina alata) to swim to leeward O’ahu shores to spawn. Led by Angel Yanagihara, associate research […]
Dietary cholesterol worsens inflammation, sickness in mice with influenza
New research from the University of Illinois suggests high levels of dietary cholesterol make mice sicker when infected with influenza. The study is the first to link cholesterol in the diet with exacerbation of a viral infection. Previously, scientists linked high-fat diets and elevated blood cholesterol with increased susceptibility to infection and lowered immune response. […]
Study reveals imaging approach with potential to detect lung cancer earlier, at the cellular level
Researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to identify lung cancer at the cellular level in real time during a biopsy, offering promise in the ability to detect the disease earlier and with more confidence. The findings, which build on previous Penn research, demonstrate that an imaging […]
New material can ‘capture toxic pollutants from air’
Researchers at University of Limerick, Ireland have developed a new material that has the ability to capture toxic chemicals from the air. The material is capable of capturing trace amounts of benzene, a toxic pollutant, from the air and crucially use less energy than existing materials to do so, according to the researchers. The sponge-like […]
New theory promises to reshape how we think about polymer superstructures: Predict how double-gyroid networks form
Polymer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced in the journal Nature Communications that they have solved a longstanding mystery surrounding a nanoscale structure, formed by collections of molecules, called a double-gyroid. This shape is one of the most desirable for materials scientists, and has a wide range of applications; but, until now, […]