Researchers have linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to a loss of regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells. The findings, which were published in the March 1, 2023, issue of Science Translational Medicine, suggest that boosting the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells could delay or perhaps even prevent the progression of DMD. DMD is “an early and horrible disease,” senior author Frederic Relaix, who is the director of a research team studying the biology of the neuromuscular system at the Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research told BioWorld. Read More
The U.S. Recover program, set up in July 2022 to identify the causes of long COVID, find biomarkers of disease and discover new therapeutic targets, is now preparing to move to its next phase and begin testing potential treatments in a multi-arm, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. But with 200 different symptoms, and limited understanding of relevant system-level pathological targets, there are significant hurdles to be overcome. Read More
Researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and collaborators recently conducted a study investigating the regulation of immune checkpoint molecules in cancer. Analyzing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas pan-cancer cohort (over 10,000 patients and 11,000 samples across 34 different cancer subtypes), they found that high expression of the immune checkpoint B7-H3 (CD276) and high mTORC1 activity correlate with immunosuppressive phenotypes and worse clinical outcomes. Read More
The University of Hong Kong has synthesized silver complexes with high aqueous solubility reported to be useful for the treatment of dental caries. Read More
Flagship Pioneering Inc. has unveiled Ampersand Biomedicines, a company creating programmable medicines that are safer, more tolerable and effective by acting at the site of disease. Flagship has initially committed US$50 million to advance Ampersand's Address, Navigate, Design (AND) Platform and develop an initial pipeline of medicines across a range of disease areas. Read More
Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy suppresses HIV, but viral replication rebounds once treatment is discontinued. The redistribution of lipids in the plasma membrane to form microdomains is crucial for viral entry and biogenesis during HIV infection. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) to be a key component of the late stages of HIV viral assembly and maturation; they hypothesized that nSMase2 inhibitors could help avoid viral rebound. Read More
IFM Due Inc. has identified stimulator of interferon genes protein (STING; TMEM173) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
The Texas Heart Institute Center for Cardiovascular Care has divulged piperazine-based integrin αLβ2 (LFA-1) and/or integrin α4β1 (ITGA4; VLA-4) agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of diabetes, infertility, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure, myocardial infarction, spinal cord injury, pulmonary fibrosis and Parkinson's diseases. Read More
A lot of focus has been put on targeting T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) for HIV infection treatment, but no attention has been given to targeting its ligand, CD155. Read More
Massachusetts General Hospital and University of California Oakland have described 15-lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of stroke, among others. Read More
