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Category: biotech/medical – Page 125

Insights into Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Reservoirs in Chronic Long COVID

Long COVID (LC), also known as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 infection (PASC), is a heterogeneous and debilitating chronic disease that currently affects 10 to 20 million people in the U.S. and over 420 million people globally. With no approved treatments, the long-term global health and economic impact of chronic LC remains high and growing. LC affects children, adolescents, and healthy adults and is characterized by over 200 diverse symptoms that persist for months to years after the acute COVID-19 infection is resolved. These symptoms target twelve major organ systems, causing dyspnea, vascular damage, cognitive impairments (“brain fog”), physical and mental fatigue, anxiety, and depression. This heterogeneity of LC symptoms, along with the lack of specific biomarkers and diagnostic tests, presents a significant challenge to the development of LC treatments.

Exploration of tumor-immune landscape in colorectal adenocarcinoma using AI-powered multiplexed image analysis

Colorectal cancer is a high disease burden cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The first-line treatment option is surgical resection of cancerous tissue. However, the clinical picture becomes more complex for recurrent disease, which occurs in roughly 20% of patients, and a variety of therapies such as adjuvants and immunotherapies have been employed to manage this manifestation of colon cancer. As a result, novel therapeutics are in demand, and a deeper understanding of the tumor microenvironment of colon cancer tissues, such as colon adenocarcinoma, or CAC, is needed.

Yale Scientists Solve a Century-Old Brain Wave Mystery

Yale scientists traced gamma brain waves to thalamus-cortex interactions. The discovery could reveal how brain rhythms shape perception and disease. For more than a century, scientists have observed rhythmic waves of synchronized neuronal activity in the brain. Now, for the first time, researcher

Scientists just made gene editing far more powerful

Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a revolutionary gene-editing method using bacterial retrons that can correct multiple disease-causing mutations at once. Unlike traditional tools limited to one or two mutations, this retron-based system replaces large defective DNA regions, dramatically improving efficiency and inclusivity for patients with complex disorders like cystic fibrosis.

Simple DNA switch helps tropical butterflies change wing patterns with the seasons

Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered a simple DNA “switch” that helps tropical butterflies adjust the size of their wing eyespots in response to seasonal temperatures, shedding light on the evolution of environmental sensitivity. The findings could inform future efforts to understand and potentially bolster adaptation in a changing climate.

Insects often adapt in surprising ways to their surroundings. Some even change their colors with the seasons. This seasonal flexibility, called plasticity, helps them survive but its evolutionary origins have remained a mystery.

A team led by Professor Antónia Monteiro from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, identified a stretch of DNA that helps certain butterflies switch their wing patterns between wet and dry seasons.

Breastfeeding linked to lasting immune protection against breast cancer

A team of researchers led by Peter Mac’s Professor Sherene Loi has uncovered how having children and breastfeeding reduces a woman’s long-term risk of breast cancer.

Published today in the prestigious journal Nature, the study provides a biological explanation for the protective effect of childbearing and shows how this has a lasting impact on a woman’s immune system. Professor Loi says the findings also offer new insights into breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Mitochondria and lysosomes reprogram immune cells that dampen inflammation

Metabolism guides the activation states of regulatory T cells, the immune cells that prevent inappropriate activation of the immune system. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists recently uncovered how mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells, and lysosomes, cellular recycling systems, work together to activate and deactivate these immune controllers. Their discoveries carry implications from understanding autoimmune and inflammatory diseases to improving immunotherapy for cancer. The findings were published today in Science Immunology.

When the immune system identifies and responds to a threat, it creates inflammation to combat the problem. A subset of immune cells, called regulatory T cells, also become activated and ensure that the inflammation is properly controlled. They return a tissue to normal once the threat is neutralized. Regulatory T cells play such an important role that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in recognition of their original discovery.

When regulatory T cells don’t function properly, people can develop tissue damage from uncontrolled inflammation or autoimmune disorders due to the immune system being inappropriately activated. Despite their importance, the precise molecular process driving regulatory T cell activation has been unclear. This limits the capacity to harness these cells to treat autoimmune or inflammatory disorders.

Nicotinamide Significantly Lowers Skin Cancer Risk

Nicotinamide, a vitamin B3 derivative, could significantly reduce skin cancer risk. The corresponding study was published in JAMA Dermatology.

“There are no guidelines for when to start treatment with nicotinamide for skin cancer prevention in the general population,” said the study’s corresponding author, Lee Wheless, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Dermatology and Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in a press release.

“These results would really shift our practice from starting it once patients have developed numerous skin cancers to starting it earlier,” he added.

Astrocyte-derived vesicles could link stress to intestinal inflammation

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic and autoimmune conditions characterized by the inflammation of the intestinal tract. This inflammation can cause nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, fatigue, fever, and various other debilitating symptoms.

While the underpinnings of IBDs have been widely investigated, the factors that can contribute to its emergence have not yet been clearly elucidated. Past findings suggest that the symptoms of these diseases are often exacerbated by psychological and .

Researchers at Universidad de los Andes and the Center of Interventional Medicine for Precision and Advanced Cellular Therapy (IMPACT) in Chile recently carried out a study aimed at shedding new light on the neurobiological mechanisms via which stress could worsen IBDs. Their findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, hint at the existence of a brain-to-gut communication pathway that is mediated by small communication vehicles known as small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), which are released by astrocytes.

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