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Category: biotech/medical – Page 662

How Evolution Shaped the Brain’s Understanding of Numbers

Summary: Human number cognition may be rooted in the putamen, a deep brain structure traditionally associated with movement rather than abstract thought. Neurosurgery patients demonstrated activity in this area while processing numbers as symbols, words, and concepts, suggesting that numerical understanding emerged early in evolution.

Researchers also observed activity in expected areas like the parietal lobe, highlighting how different brain regions collaborate in number processing. These findings could improve surgical outcomes by protecting areas crucial for number cognition and open pathways to enhancing math learning through targeted interventions.

Next-Generation Size Selection for Optimized Long-Read Sequencing Workflow

All DNA is prone to fragmentation, whether it is derived from a biological matrix or created during gene synthesis; thus, any DNA sample will contain a range of fragment sizes. To really exploit the true benefits of long read sequencing, it is necessary to remove these shorter fragments, which might other wise be sequenced preferentially.

DNA size selection can exclude short fragments, maximizing data yields by ensuring that those fragments with the most informational content are not blocked from accessing detection centers (for example, ZMWs) by shorter DNA fragments.

Next-generation size-selection solutions Starting with clean, appropriate-length fragments for HiFi reads can accelerate research by reducing the computation and data processing time needed post-sequencing. Ranger Technology from Yourgene Health is a patent-protected process for automating electrophoresis-based DNA analysis and size selection. Its fluorescence machine vision system and image analysis algorithms provide real-time interpretation of the DNA separation process.

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.

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