Several studies have indicated that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath can be altered by lung cancer and serve as identifiable biomarkers. A limitation of using these VOCs as clinical biomarkers has been the fact that hundreds of such molecules are present in exhaled breath and it is experimentally challenging to monitor the molecular concentration changes of all the VOCs and further use them in lung cancer detection.
Several studies have indicated that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath can be altered by lung cancer and serve as identifiable biomarkers. A limitation of using these VOCs as clinical biomarkers has been the fact that hundreds of such molecules are present in exhaled breath and it is experimentally challenging to monitor the molecular concentration changes of all the VOCs and further use them in lung cancer detection.
In a study published on Nov. 30, 2022, in PLOS One, researchers at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, analyzed the metabolic carbonyl compounds present in exhaled breath of the patients and developed a machine learning approach involving relevant VOC selection and use in cancer patient classification model training.
Now, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that by targeting CD47 – better known for its role as an innate immune checkpoint akin to PD-1 and CTLA-4 in the adaptive immune system – they were able to restore muscle stem cell function. Aged mice regained muscle strength comparable to younger animals after receiving an antibody treatment targeting CD47 signaling in muscle stem cells.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment reduced levels of estrogen and important heart-protective proteins, researchers reported in the Nov. 2, 2022, online edition of Science Translational Medicine. Hormone therapies could target this endocrine-cardiac-immune pathway and mitigate myocarditis risk without affecting treatment responses.
Investigators from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark have developed a cell line engineered to express bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and key extracellular matrix genes and critical factors that regulate and support human hematopoiesis. The findings were reported in the Oct. 12, 2022, issue of Science Translational Medicine. One of the clinical applications that the research team is interested in involves exploiting the MSOD-B hOss as a tumor model for bone colonization in the context of various cancers.
Two new studies now have uncovered fungal DNA in tumors throughout the body and endeavor to characterize the cancer mycobiome. Both studies were published in the Sept. 29, 2022, online issue of Cell. Although the association between cancer and individual microbes has long been explored, recent attention has focused on the whole human microbiome.
Following epigenetic STING (stimulator of interferon genes) derepression, inhibition of the MPS1 kinase strongly reactivated cGAS-STING signaling in mutations in both the oncogene KRAS and the tumor suppressor kinase LKB/STK11. Exploiting these findings could lead to a new therapeutic strategy to target treatment-refractory tumors with mutations in KL tumors, which have mutations in both KRAS and LKB1/STK11.
The mosaic loss of Y chromosome in myeloid cells is a major risk factor for increased incidence of cardiovascular and fibrotic diseases during aging. The authors of a study published in the July 14, 2022, online edition of Science found that bone marrow-derived myeloid cells exhibited mLOY during aging.
Failure to ovulate and release mature oocytes is one of the most common female infertility problems. With increasing age or conditions like obesity, no oocytes are released even on ovulation induction with hormonal treatment.
