Researchers found that methamphetamine and PCP cause a phenomenon known as neurotransmitter switching, impairing memory. This change is reversible, pointing to potential treatments for drug-induced cognitive deficits and related neuropsychiatric conditions.
Stem cells are special in the way they can keep on replicating, and turn themselves into many other types of cell. Now scientists have discovered how their superpowers get a remarkable boost when they’re grown in space.
The microgravity environment increases some of the regenerative capacities of stem cells even further, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Florida have found, based on experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS).
As stem cells play such a crucial role in the body’s repair process, with their ability to quickly replicate and differentiate, these findings could help in the study of disease prevention and treatment.
Lykke Sylow, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, presents at the 11th Aging Research and Drug Discovery meeting: Preserving muscle mass for healthy aging: Old tricks and new targets.
Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT®)consists of clusters of gas-filled microbubbles and oil microdroplets.
During the last decade ACT® has been evaluated preclinically in various cancer models and combined with different drugs. It was first observed that ACT was able to increase the fluorescence from a tumor when sonoenhancement was combined with fluorescent macromolecules (Wamel 2016, Figure 1). Here it was found that already one minute after sonoenhancement, fluorescence had increased in the tumor compared to a non-treated control, followed by a fluorescence uptake that remained for several hours. Subsequently, ACT has been tested therapeutically in preclinical models of prostate cancer (Wamel 2016), pancreatic cancer (Kotopoulis 2016, Ng 2022), colon cancer (Bush 2019) and breast cancer (Bush 2020). The combination of ACT and drug was significantly better than the drug alone in all these studies, with quite large numbers of complete remissions. Combining ACT with the drug nab-paclitaxel for treatment of prostate cancer resulted in complete tumor remission in all tested animals. This shows that ACT provides sonoenhancement across very different cancer types and with different types of drugs, which increases the likelihood of seeing effects also in clinical trials as the tumor models collectively represents a variety of cancer biology.
Side effects and toxicity have also been tested in various small animal models during the last decade. During treatment, no bleeding or macroscopic damage was observed, and pathological evaluation has not identified microscopic damages. ACT was extensively tested for systemic toxicities, including studies in rats and dogs where ultrasound to the heart and liver was used to activate the ACT bubbles, and no significant adverse effects have been detected.
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The trial, run by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Al Barqawi, MD, was for a new procedure for treating prostate cancer.
James Bird underwent the Nanoknife procedure for prostate cancer as part of a clinical trial run by Al Barqawi, MD.
A ultrasound technique from the University of Nottingham will allow the production of sharper images inside live cells without causing damage at resolutions that were previously unattainable.
The project, from the Faculty of Engineering’s Optics and Photonics research group, explores a way to look deep inside tiny structures, such as single cells, that regular light-based microscopes cannot, and without harming them. The work is published in the journal Photoacoustics.
This technique has been used to measure the stiffness of cancer cells at a single-cell level, which could allow for new methods of early cancer diagnosis to be developed.
The Human Cell Atlas aims to map the location, identity, and function of every cell in the human body by 2026.
Scientists with the Human Cell Atlas have profiled 100 million cells from over 10,000 people worldwide, aiming to map the human body down to the cellular level.
DNA can be damaged by normal cellular processes as well as external factors such as UV radiation and chemicals. Such damage can lead to breaks in the DNA strand. If DNA damage is not properly repaired, mutations can occur, which may result in diseases like cancer. Cells use repair systems to fix this damage, with specialized proteins locating and binding to the damaged regions. Now, researchers from the Kind Group at the Hubrecht Institute have mapped the activity of repair proteins in individual human cells. The study demonstrates how these proteins collaborate in so-called “hubs” to repair DNA damage. These findings may lead to new cancer therapies and other treatments where DNA repair is essential.
The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications in an article titled, “Genome-wide profiling of DNA repair proteins in single cells.”
“Accurate repair of DNA damage is critical for maintenance of genomic integrity and cellular viability,” the researchers wrote. “Because damage occurs non-uniformly across the genome, single-cell resolution is required for proper interrogation, but sensitive detection has remained challenging. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of repair protein localization in single human cells using DamID and ChIC sequencing techniques.”
This age-related deterioration affects both innate and adaptive immunity, compromising immune function and leading to chronic inflammation that accelerates aging. Immunosenescence is characterized by alterations in immune cell populations and impaired functionality, resulting in increased susceptibility to infections, diminished vaccine efficacy, and higher prevalence of age-related diseases. Chronic low-grade inflammation further exacerbates these issues, contributing to a decline in overall health and resilience. This review delves into the characteristics of immunosenescence and examines the various intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to immune aging and how the hallmarks of aging and cell fates can play a crucial role in this process. Additionally, it discusses the impact of sex, age, social determinants, and gut microbiota health on immune aging, illustrating the complex interplay of these factors in altering immune function. Furthermore, the concept of immune resilience is explored, focusing on the metrics for assessing immune health and identifying strategies to enhance immune function. These strategies include lifestyle interventions such as diet, regular physical activity, stress management, and the use of gerotherapeutics and other approaches. Understanding and mitigating the effects of immunosenescence are crucial for developing interventions that support robust immune responses in aged individuals.
The immune system plays a crucial role in protecting our bodies from harmful pathogens. It is divided into two segments: innate immunity and adaptive immunity. The innate immune system acts as an immediate but non-specific first responder to defend against pathogens, composed of phagocytic and natural killer cells. Besides innate immune cells, another important component of the innate system includes physical barriers like skin and mucous membranes. Meanwhile, adaptive immunity is more specialized and requires time to mount a high-affinity and specific response, relying on anticipatory receptors that recognize pathogen-specific antigens. The adaptive immune response is centered around B and T lymphocytes, which are produced in the bone marrow and thymus, respectively (Farber, 2020; Lam et al., 2024). With age, the ability of our immune system to mount productive and timely responses to pathogens diminishes.
Dr. Anirban Maitra is a Professor of Pathology and Translational Molecular Pathology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focuses on the early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Originally studying pediatric pathology, Dr. Maitra’s career trajectory changed upon attending a seminar on pancreatic cancer, which motivated him to address knowledge gaps in the disease’s biology. He wanted to explore the molecular and clinical aspects of the disease for the sake of improving patient prognosis. “This is a disease where there’s an opportunity to make a huge difference,” said Dr. Maitra.
Later, Dr. Maitra’s lab developed a pancreatic cancer liquid biopsy method, which is a non-invasive blood test that detects the presence of tumors. “There’s still a long way to go, but now we know what to look for and who to look in,” said Dr. Maitra regarding the future direction of pancreatic cancer detection.
