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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,554

Cryogenic electron microscopy reveals drug targets against common fungus

Most people carry the fungus Candida albicans on their bodies without it causing many problems. However, a systemic infection with this fungus is dangerous and difficult to treat. Few antimicrobials are effective, and drug resistance is increasing. An international group of scientists, including Albert Guskov, associate professor at the University of Groningen, have used single-particle cryogenic electron microscopy to determine the structure of the fungal ribosome. Their results, which were published in Science Advances on 25 May, reveal a potential target for new drugs.

Candida albicans usually causes no problems, or just an itchy skin infection that is easily treated. However, in rare cases, it may cause systemic infections that can be fatal. Existing antifungal drugs cause a lot of side effects and are expensive. Furthermore, C. albicans is becoming more drug-resistant, so there is a real need for new drug targets. “We noted that no antifungal drugs are targeting protein synthesis, while half of the antibacterial drugs interfere with this system,” says Guskov. A reason for this is that fungal ribosomes, the cellular machineries that translate the genetic code into proteins, are very similar in humans and fungi. “So, you would need a very selective drug to avoid killing our own cells.”

A new approach to therapy-resistant tumors targets a specific cell-death pathway

In a paper appearing in Nature today, an international group of scientists report a new way to kill hard-to-treat cancers. These tumors resist current immunotherapies, including those using Nobel Prize-winning checkpoint-blocking antibodies.

The approach exploits Z-DNA. Rather than twisting to the right like B-DNA, Z-DNA has a left-handed twist. One role for Z-DNA is to regulate the to viruses. The response involves AADR1 and ZBP1, two proteins that specifically recognize Z-DNA. They do so through a Zα domain that binds to the Z-DNA structure with high affinity.

The Zα domain was originally discovered by Dr. Alan Herbert of InsideOutBio, a communicating author on the paper. The ADAR1 Zα domain turns off the , while the other ZBP1 Zα turns on pathways that kill virally infected , as previously shown by Dr. Sid Balachandran, the other communicating author on the paper. The interactions between ADAR1 and ZBP1 determine whether a cell lives or dies.

Researchers may have found the missing link between Alzheimer’s and vascular disease

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙯𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 … See more.

The Neuro-Network.

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐳𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 20 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣… See more.

For more than 20 years, scientists have known that people with hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, or obesity have a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The conditions can all affect the , damaging blood vessels and leading to strokes. But the connection between vascular disease in the brain and Alzheimer’s has remained unexplained despite the intense efforts of researchers.

Continue reading “Researchers may have found the missing link between Alzheimer’s and vascular disease” | >

First Patient Injected With Experimental Cancer-Killing Virus in New Clinical Trial

An experimental cancer-killing virus has been administered to a human patient for the first time, with hopes the testing will ultimately reveal evidence of a new means of successfully fighting cancer tumors in people’s bodies.

The drug candidate, called CF33-hNIS (aka Vaxinia), is what’s called an oncolytic virus, a genetically modified virus designed to selectively infect and kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones.

In the case of CF33-hNIS, the modified pox virus works by entering cells and duplicating itself. Eventually, the infected cell bursts, releasing thousands of new virus particles that act as antigens, stimulating the immune system to attack nearby cancer cells.

Cathie Wood Sees This Technology Accelerating GDP Growth To 50% Per Year

Noted fund manager and Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood on Saturday suggested that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will likely give a strong lift to economic growth.

The fund manager is of the view that a breakthrough in AGI will lead to the acceleration of GDP within the next six to 12 years. The analyst estimates that GDP growth will increase from the 3–5% year-over-year rate currently to 30–50% per year. New DNA will win,’ she added.

Bold Biotech Startup Set to Bring TIGER and ZEBRA Meat to Your Dinner Plates This Year

Cultivated meat company to bring tiger and zebra meat to your dinner plates this year!

Hey it’s Han from WrySci-HX going through the recent announcement that Primeval Foods will hold tasting events for lion, tiger and zebra meat in 2022. No animals harmed in the process! More below ↓↓↓

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Continue reading “Bold Biotech Startup Set to Bring TIGER and ZEBRA Meat to Your Dinner Plates This Year” | >

Monkeypox goes global: why scientists are on alert

The virus is called monkeypox because researchers first detected it in laboratory monkeys in 1958, but it is thought to transmit to people from wild animals such as rodents or from other infected people. In an average year, a few thousand cases occur in Africa, typically in the western and central parts of the continent. But cases outside Africa have previously been limited to a handful that were associated with travel to Africa or with the importation of infected animals. The number of cases detected outside of Africa in the past week alone — which is almost certain to increase — has already surpassed the total number detected outside the continent since 1970, when the virus was first found to cause disease in humans. This rapid spread is what has scientists on high alert.

But monkeypox is no SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, says Jay Hooper, a virologist at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland. It doesn’t transmit from person to person as readily, and because it is related to the smallpox virus, there are already treatments and vaccines on hand for curbing its spread. So although scientists are concerned — because any new viral behaviour is worrying — they are not panicked.

Unlike SARS-CoV-2, which spreads through tiny air-borne droplets called aerosols, monkeypox is thought to spread from close contact with bodily fluids, such as saliva from coughing. That means a person with monkeypox is likely to infect far fewer close contacts than someone with SARS-CoV-2, Hooper says. Both viruses can cause flu-like symptoms, but monkeypox also triggers enlarged lymph nodes and, eventually, distinctive fluid-filled lesions on the face, hands and feet. Most people recover from monkeypox in a few weeks without treatment.

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