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Category: biotech/medical

Unlocking secrets of human development: How early nerve cell choices shape the peripheral nervous system

Millions of neurons branch throughout our bodies, keeping them in close communication with our brains. This peripheral network begins to take shape long before birth, as the cells of a growing embryo move into position and adopt their specialized roles. This crucial stage of human development can’t be monitored directly, but by examining genetic clues that linger in adult cells, scientists have now gained surprising insights into the developmental origins of the peripheral nervous system.

Researchers led by Xiaoxu Yang, Ph.D., at University of Utah Health, and Keng Ioi Vong, Ph.D., and Joseph Gleeson, M.D., at the University of California San Diego, have discovered that within the first few weeks of development, some of an embryo’s cells have already been selected to take on particular roles in the peripheral nervous system. Their findings, recently reported in the journal Nature, overturn longstanding assumptions in biology.

Their discovery could change the way scientists think about treatments for a variety of childhood diseases that begin in the cells of the peripheral nervous system.

Multiple myeloma cells adapt after immunotherapy, helping explain why many patients relapse

Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in adults. It starts in the white blood cells that are responsible for creating antibodies that help the body fight infections. Once the myeloma cells begin to multiply, it makes it harder for the blood cells to function properly. There are effective treatments for multiple myeloma, including immunotherapies that can significantly extend survival; however, in some, the cancer cells become treatment resistant.

A University of Calgary study led by members of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, published in Nature Medicine, takes a closer look at why patients often relapse after immunotherapy by studying how the myeloma cells adapt to treatment. By understanding how the cancer builds resistance, future treatments can be designed to take this into account with the goal of preventing another relapse.

“Multiple myeloma tumor cells are highly adaptable under therapeutic pressure,” says Dr. Holly Lee, MD, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor at the Cumming School of Medicine and first author on the study. “A treatment could be incredibly effective, bringing disease bulk down from about 100% to about 1% to 2% but all it took was that one to two percent of the cells that were left to adapt and cause this relapse in patients.”

ForSight says it completed first fully robotic cataract surgery

ForSight Robotics said it has completed what it described as the world’s first fully robot-assisted cataract surgery in a human patient, using its proprietary JASPER platform in a procedure the company says could mark a major step toward expanding access to eye surgery worldwide.

The Israel-based surgical robotics company said the operation was performed by Dr. Alexey Rapoport, with Dr. Robert Edward T. Ang of the Asian Eye Institute in Manila serving as principal investigator.

According to the company, the procedure was the first cataract surgery in a human patient to be completed from start to finish with robotic assistance and without the use of general anesthesia, which it said aligns with the standard practice for modern cataract procedures. The company said earlier ophthalmic robotic procedures had been limited to partial tasks during cataract surgery and had been performed under general anesthesia.

Taking a closer look at immune ‘memory’ could spur progress in the fight against lethal illnesses

The average human has about 1.8 trillion immune cells. These cells patrol the body for bacteria, viruses, cancers, and other threats. Vaccines enhance this security system by teaching our immune cells to target specific pathogens. According to the World Health Organization, vaccine-induced immunity saves about six lives every minute. But how long does this protective immune “memory” last?

According to Shane Crotty, Ph.D., Professor and Chief Scientific Officer at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), we still have much to learn about immune memory.

“There are actually not many studies of human immune memory due to vaccines,” says Crotty. “Scientists traditionally don’t track immune memory past one year after vaccination—or even six months after vaccination—and that’s a bit of a problem.”

Translational prospectives for deep brain stimulation and low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation: IFCN Handbook chapter

[IFCN Handbook chapter: DBS and focused ultrasound neuromodulation] Neumann & Darmani: “In the present book chapter we review emergent innovations that have recently surfaced or are imminent to make the leap, improving the treatment of patients with brain disorders.”

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MS Risk Upped Significantly With EBV Mononucleosis

Laboratory-confirmed Epstein-Barr virus-positive infectious mononucleosis (EBV-mono) was linked to a more than threefold higher risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) than not having EBV-mono, a new retrospective study showed.

“Mononucleosis is a relatively uncommon illness, but developing strategies to prevent infection with the virus that causes this disease could help us to lower the number of MS cases in the future,” lead study investigator Jennifer L. St. Sauver, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, said in a press release.

Epstein-Barr virus-positive infectious mononucleosis (EBV-mono) is associated with a threefold higher multiple sclerosis risk than not having EBV-mono, new research shows.

Heart Rate Variability Moderates the Association Between Trait Anxiety and Sympathetic Nerve Activity in Humans

A new study challenges the long-standing view that Alzheimer’s is driven primarily by amyloid plaques, instead pointing to a subtle but critical competition inside neurons.

New research led by the University of California, Riverside, suggests Alzheimer’s disease may not be driven solely by plaque buildup in the brain, as widely believed. Instead, it may result from one protein disrupting the normal function of another.

For years, scientists have focused on amyloid beta (a-beta) as the main cause of Alzheimer’s. Clusters of this protein are commonly found in patients, and genetic mutations that raise a-beta levels are known to trigger early-onset Alzheimer’s.

A stretchy, heat-activated skin patch could be a surgery-free melanoma treatment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“A Stretchable, Transparent, Photothermally Stimulated Laser-Induced Graphene Patch for Noninvasive Skin Tumor Treatment” ACS Nano

Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer that is typically removed surgically. Now, researchers publishing in ACS Nano report they have developed a potential noninvasive treatment for melanoma in the form of a stretchy, heat-activated patch similar to a bandage. When activated, the patch releases copper ions that kill the underlying cancer cells and prevent them from spreading. In tests with mice, the researchers say the patch reduced melanoma lesions without damaging surrounding tissue.

CRISPR takes a bold leap toward silencing Down syndrome’s extra chromosome

Scientists have taken an important step toward a gene therapy that could one day turn off the extra genetic material that causes Down syndrome (DS). Down syndrome is a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome 21 (and consequently hundreds of triplicate genes) that leads to developmental and neurological issues. According to the Washington-based National Down Syndrome Society, approximately 1 in every 640 babies in the United States is born with DS. That makes it the most common chromosomal condition.

Traditional gene therapy targets one or two genes, but in this approach, scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School found a way to silence much of the extra chromosome’s activity in the cell at once.

Details of their research are published in a paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Immunogenic XAPs are released by NETosis and associated with high-risk vasculopathy in patients with SSc

AutoimmuneDiseases affect nearly 50 million Americans, and 4 out of 5 patients are women.

https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI198291 In this Research Letter, Howard Y. Chang & team show novel autoantibodies target hotspots on the XIST ribonucleoprotein complex in female-biased autoimmune diseases.

1Department of Dermatology and.

2Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

3RNA Medicine Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

4Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

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