Scientists at Osaka University have discovered that intercellular communication via extracellular vesicles from osteoblasts, cells that are specialized for laying down new bone, is a key factor for the transition from bone formation to resorption via a microRNA (miRNA)-mediated mechanism.

A study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institute has shown that individuals who carry the major genetic risk variant for severe COVID-19 infection are less likely to contract HIV.

Antibiotic treatment that changed the lung microbiome affected the activity of microglia, the brain-specific version of macrophages, and could prevent the development of the multiple sclerosis model experimental autoimmune encephalitis in mice.

Timothy syndrome, a rare autosomal-dominant disorder, is characterized by presence of a heart arrhythmia (long QT syndrome), which causes the cardiac muscle to take longer than usual to recharge between beats and can result in sudden death. Now scientists at Columbia University have discovered that a common FDA-approved over-the counter cough suppressant, dextromethorphan, can shorten the prolonged QT intervals in both cellular and mouse models of TS.

Researchers at Inserm have developed a method to direct pre-existing antibodies toward new targets. Their bimodular fusion proteins could be a broadly useful method for expanding access to antibody therapy. In a study that appeared in the Feb. 11, 2022, issue of Science Advances, the teams showed that antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which are present in 95% of the global population, could be redirected to a target cell of their choosing by fusing an EBV antigen to a cellular targeting ligand.

An international study led by scientists at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium has shown that Wnt ligand signaling specificity is adjustable and may represent a means of treating CNS disorders by normalizing blood-brain barrier (BBB) function.

Engineers at Atlanta-based Georgia Tech’s Center for 3D Medical Fabrication have developed a 3D-printed tracheal splint as an airway for children born with a rare condition known as tracheal agenesis or the absence of a trachea or windpipe.

Researchers at Inserm have developed a method to direct pre-existing antibodies toward new targets. Their bimodular fusion proteins could be a broadly useful method for expanding access to antibody therapy. In a study that appeared in the Feb. 11, 2022, issue of Science Advances, the teams showed that antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which are present in 95% of the global population, could be redirected to a target cell of their choosing by fusing an EBV antigen to a cellular targeting ligand.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies are one of the most powerful weapons against HIV. And like everything that is effective in the fight against HIV, they are hard to come by.

Barely more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, there are five approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 available in the U.S. Forty years into the HIV pandemic, there are none. That contrast was repeatedly made by speakers at the 2022 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).