News by Subject Medicine & Health

The body's immune system is the first line of defense against infections like bacteria, viruses or cancers. Some cancers, however, have developed the art of molecular deception to avoid destruction by the body's immune system. Now, a University of Missouri researcher might have found a new way to help the body's immune system get past that deception and destroy the cancer.

After 14 years studying the action of the enzyme LMWPTP in tumor cells, Brazilian researchers conclude that the molecule is associated with chemotherapy resistance and metastasis.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed, in collaboration with researchers in Germany and the US, new small antibodies, also known as nanobodies, which prevent the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from entering human cells. The research study, published in Science, shows that a combined nanobody had a particularly good effect - even if the virus mutated. According to the researchers, the nanobodies have the potential to be developed into a treatment for COVID-19.

An unfortunate truth about using mechanical ventilation to save lives is that the pressure can cause further lung damage. Scientists have identified a helpful molecule produced by immune cells during ventilation and are working to boost that natural process in pursuit of a therapy that could lower the chances for lung damage in patients on vents.

Preclinical studies demonstrated that the identified candidates selectively target two distinct epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at once, which largely prevents the emergence of escape mutants.

Variations and changes in national and state rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome and maternal opioid-related diagnoses were examined in this observational study.

As reported in Nature Communications, researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute have developed a novel, patient-derived model of ulcerative colitis, which will help advance studies into new treatments for the chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The team used the model to identify a promising target that could be inhibited to slow disease progression.