The unprecedented rise in life expectancy has made advances in the understanding of biological hallmarks of aging, at both the molecular and cellular levels, essential. A joint effort between Baylor College of Medicine, Genentech Inc., Stanford University and collaborating institutions has led to the release of the first Aging Fly Cell Atlas (AFCA) as a result of a deep dive analysis of 163 different cell types in Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly.
In a study published in Cancer Cell on May 25, 2023, researchers from the University of Chicago and colleagues reported that the inhibition of YTHDF2, an immune suppressor protein, can be a valuable strategy to improve radiotherapy outcomes by overcoming resistance while enabling extra help from the immune system.
The aqueous supernatants resulting from ultracentrifugation of brain samples from patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) contain aggregates so far described as soluble oligomers of amyloid-β protein (Aβ), which are responsible for the neurotoxicity underlying AD and thus considered targets to watch in this devastating condition. Now, a group of scientists from Harvard Medical School have determined that these aggregates are in fact insoluble diffusible fibrils with the same atomic structure as plaque fibrils.
Researchers at NYU Langone Health and Janssen Biotech Inc. have reported on mAbtyrins, bioengineered molecules composed of human monoclonal antibodies and centyrins that are a new way to fight Staphylococcus aureus infection on all fronts.In their experiments, which were published in Cell Host & Microbe on April 24, 2023, the team described mAbtyrin, as “a protein-based therapeutic that targets 10 disease-causing mechanisms employed by S. aureus,” senior author Victor Torres told BioWorld.
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have successfully reversed epigenetic changes and slowed tumor growth in mouse models of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) using antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology. DIPG is a rare pediatric brain cancer where the tumor’s location in the pons of the brainstem makes surgery impossible, and fractioned radiotherapy and chemotherapy efforts have failed to improve survival so far.
Scientists from the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge have described how cytosolic antibody receptor TRIM21 contributes to in vivo protection during tau immunotherapy. Their work on TRIM21’s mechanism of action may help in moving a step closer toward enhanced second-generation antibodies for tauopathy treatments.
When undertaking a study on allergen-induced anaphylaxis in mice, researchers have found that not only the immune but also the nervous system may potentially play a part in the anaphylactic response. In their study published March 17, 2023, in Science Immunology, researchers from Duke University Medical Center reported that mice undergoing anaphylaxis displayed an “extended posture behavior” similar to the one that mice exhibit when exposed to high temperatures.
