By treating mice with antifibrotic drugs, researchers were able to stave off functional decline of the ovaries. Six weeks of systemic treatment with the antifibrotic pirfenidone, which is approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in early middle age improved both the morphology and the endocrine function of the animals’ ovaries at 1 year of age.

How do exercise and insulin collaborate in metabolism? The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation recognized the work of Juleen Zierath in this topic with the Diabetes Prize for Excellence at their recent annual meeting.

The Annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) meeting in Copenhagen this week is celebrating its 40th edition. In recognition of this landmark, the plenary session and opening lecture were attended by Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Afterward, the hot topic session on neuroprotective therapies set the stage for the subsequent discussions on the latest trends in the management and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

How do exercise and insulin collaborate in metabolism? The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation recognized the work of Juleen Zierath in this topic with the Diabetes Prize for Excellence at their recent annual meeting.

One of the current challenges of immunotherapy is the hunt for good targets, and the Claudins – a family of roughly two dozen transmembrane proteins – would appear to have a lot going for them. “Some Claudins distribute in a tissue-specific manner, and malignant transformation causes their exposition,” Cinta Hierro told the audience at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. “Others are rarely expressed in healthy tissue.”

Metastatic solid tumors may be curable now. Among the most profound results presented over the weekend at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress were the 10-year data from the Checkmate-067 and Keynote-006 trials, the phase III trials that tested Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) as first-line agents in advanced or metastatic melanoma.

Immortality and eternal youth have been the stuff of myths and legends from ancient times on. Now, in the 21st century, real studies of current medicine could be applied to repair tissues and organs damaged by age. During the 11th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting held at the University of Copenhagen at the end of August, scientists explained the molecular keys of rejuvenation, as many artists imagined in the past.

By looking at the electrical activity of tumor cells, rather than the neurons that innervate them, investigators at Baylor College of Medicine have added both basic and translational insights to the emerging field of cancer neuroscience. In their studies, which were published in Cancer Cell on Sept. 5, 2024, the researchers identified the cell of origin for IDH-mutated gliomas.

A novel gene therapy that leads to cellular rejuvenation could restore vision after non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and glaucoma. The technique is based on a reprogramming process that reverses the epigenetic DNA alterations caused by aging. Preclinical studies in glaucoma mice and nonhuman primates (NHP) models for this stroke-like disorder that affects the eye, showed an improvement of vision and restoration of the damaged axons of the optic nerve.