Investigators at MIT have identified a protein capable of delivering its own mRNA to cells, and engineered that protein to deliver mRNA sequences of their choosing.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers has identified Upd3, a cytokine, as an important modulator of tumor growth and host wasting via activation of JAK/STAT signaling.

For most people, neither polyglutamine disorders nor neuromuscular disorders are likely to be among the things they associate with androgen receptor (AR) dysfunction. But the three are indeed linked. And researchers have reported new insights into the nature of those links that could lead to a treatment for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, and possibly other disorders linked to AR signaling dysfunction.

A whole genome sequencing study has been the first to demonstrate a strong association between infection with the avian influenza A virus H7N9 and rare, heterozygous single-nucleotide variants in the MX1 gene encoding for the myxovirus resistance protein A.

PARIS – Magnetic fields can be used to stimulate blood vessel growth, according to a new study published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. The discovery, by researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal, could lead to new treatments for cancer and help regenerate tissues that have lost their blood supply.

When SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in 2020, with respiratory symptoms as the most obvious feature of infection, the most obvious comparison was to influenza. COVID-19, of course, was never just another flu.

Researchers have shown that glucocorticoids, a type of steroid hormones, target both neuroplasticity-related genes and genes related to ciliary function in the brain. However, the effects on the different processes are mediated via different receptors, and in response to different stimuli. A study investigated the specific targets of glucocorticoids, giving new insights into the biological mechanisms of stress adaptations, and how they are linked to neural plasticity.

A Japanese study has discovered a new means of regulating endogenous gene expression in the CNS, using systemically administered antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) in rodents, which facilitates development of ASO-based therapies for patients with neurological diseases requiring prolonged treatment.

Scientists at Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University have used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify biomarkers contained in naturally occurring collagen that could predict whether breast cancer will return after treatment. Identified from standard tissue biopsy slides of early-stage breast cancer, collagen-based assays could also be less expensive than gene expression-based assays typically conducted at highly specialized labs in California.

A multi-omics analysis led by Chinese scientists at Tsinghua University in Beijing has demonstrated that aberrant metabolism of the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) was responsible for microcephaly induced by Zika virus infection during pregnancy.