Users of the healthcare app Alan whose queries were answered by a medical AI reported high satisfaction levels, but one exchange included “potentially dangerous inaccuracies”
Category: biotech/medical – Page 547
FDA Approves New Cancer Treatments
In August, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval of Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel)— the first T-cell receptor therapy for solid tumors—for people with inoperable or metastatic synovial sarcoma. Tecelra is a gene therapy created from a patient’s own T cells. A sample of cells is removed and genetically modified to express a natural T-cell receptor that targets MAGE-A4, an antigen expressed on cancer cells. In the Phase II SPEARHEAD-1 trial, the overall response rate was 43%, and 39% of responders were still doing well a year later.
Short Sleep and High Blood Pressure Linked to Brain Aging
Summary: Research reveals that people with high blood pressure who also sleep less than six hours per night face increased risks of brain injury, accelerated brain aging, and impaired executive function. The study assessed 682 participants from the Framingham Heart Study, analyzing sleep patterns, blood pressure, cognitive performance, and brain MRIs.
These risks were not present in individuals with normal blood pressure, highlighting a concerning interaction between sleep deprivation and hypertension. Researchers suggest treating sleep problems and hypertension as potential interventions to protect brain health and delay cognitive decline.
Efficient Liposome Loading onto Surface of Mesenchymal Stem Cells via Electrostatic Interactions for Tumor-Targeted Drug Delivery
📝 — Kono, et al.
In this paper, the authors attempted to load liposomes on the surface of MSCs by using the magnetic anionic liposome/atelocollagen complexes that we previously developed and assessed the characters of liposome-loaded MSCs as drug carriers.
Full text is available 👇
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a tumor-homing capacity; therefore, MSCs are a promising drug delivery carrier for cancer therapy. To maintain the viability and activity of MSCs, anti-cancer drugs are preferably loaded on the surface of MSCs, rather than directly introduced into MSCs. In this study, we attempted to load liposomes on the surface of MSCs by using the magnetic anionic liposome/atelocollagen complexes that we previously developed and assessed the characters of liposome-loaded MSCs as drug carriers. We observed that large-sized magnetic anionic liposome/atelocollagen complexes were abundantly associated with MSCs via electrostatic interactions under a magnetic field, and its cellular internalization was lower than that of the small-sized complexes.
Molecule Implicated in Regulating Immunotherapy Resistance
Cancer cells have evolved sophisticated strategies to evade the immune system, prolonging their survival and growth. They have also developed survival tactics to resist immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) treatments. Yet, our understanding of how cancer cells escape the immune response or immune activities perpetuated by anti-cancer immunotherapies remains incomplete. A recent study published in Cancer Discovery has shed light on one such mechanism, revealing how tumors develop ICI resistance and enhancing our understanding of cancer immunotherapy.
The researchers screened 208 metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) biopsies searching for genes commonly observed in tumors. Once they identified candidate genes, the investigators compared their expression to that of signatures related to cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), the immune cell subset responsible for identifying and killing cancer cells. The analysis identified an enzyme, ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme 1 (UBA1), which the researchers found particularly interesting. Tumors with high expression of UBA1 had low expression of CTL genes.
Further investigation revealed that elevated UBA1 expression predicted which tumors would develop resistance to ICI and which patients would experience the shortest survival outcomes.
Targeting novel molecular mechanisms may repair damaged DNA in cancer cells
Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered new molecular mechanisms underlying DNA repair dysregulation in prostate cancer cells, findings that may inform the development of new targeted therapies for patients that have become resistant to standard treatments, according to a recent study published in Science Advances.
Qi Cao, Ph.D., the Anthony J. Schaeffer, MD, Professor of Urology, was senior author of the study.
DNA damage is a natural occurrence in cells caused by various intercellular and external stressors. However, if left unrepaired, this damage can lead to genetic mutations that can lead to the development of different diseases, including cancer.
How Stress Changes our Memories: Engrams and the Endocannabinoid system may inform new PTSD treatments
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have uncovered that stress changes how our brain encodes and retrieves aversive memories, and discovered a promising new way to restore appropriate memory specificity in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you stumble during a presentation, you might feel stressed the next time you have to present because your brain associates your next presentation with that one poor and aversive experience. This type of stress is tied to one memory.
But stress from traumatic events like violence or generalized anxiety disorder can spread far beyond the original event, known as stress-induced aversive memory generalization, where fireworks or car backfires can trigger seemingly unrelated fearful memories and derail your entire day. In the case of PTSD, it can cause much greater negative consequences.
New Study Looks at Why Cancer Treatments Cause Heart Damage
New drugs and therapies have become indispensable for treating an array of cancers. Unfortunately, they can also cause damage to the heart, a side effect that has led to the development of a new discipline in medicine, called cardio-oncology. Now teams from University of California San Francisco and Stanford University…
ISFMS2025: Dear Colleagues
We cordially invite you to participate in the 5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Molecular Sciences Regulatory Mechanisms of Biological Function and Drug Discovery based on Protein Structure/Function Analysis, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, from August 26 to 29, 2025. The symposium will present outstanding research results that elucidate the molecular mechanisms of biological function and regulation, and it will also facilitate drug design based on molecular biology, biophysical characterization, in vivo environmental homeostasis, organ interactions based on sensory systems, physiome, and AI-assisted analysis of protein structures and functions.
The venue will be the Inamori Hall, Liberal Arts and Science Building and the Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives (Rekisaikan), both affiliated with Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and the Kyoto Prefectural Government, located in Kyoto City. The venue is conveniently located approximately 20 minutes by subway or car from Japan Railway (JR) Kyoto Station, which is also easily accessible from Kansai International Airport (KIX) by JR (approximately 1 hour 20 minutes) or limousine bus (approximately 1 hour 30 minutes).