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Scientists found a surprising cancer fighter hiding inside tumors

2 weeks ago
Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have turned an unlikely source into a potential new weapon against cancer: bacteria that naturally live inside tumors. They developed a peptide called aurB, inspired by a bacterial protein, that infiltrates cancer cells and effectively cuts off their energy supply by targeting the mitochondria—the cells’ power plants.

Restoring the balance: Resistance exercise-induced insulin-like growth factor-1 restores PI3K/Akt and MAPK/ERK cross-talk to ameliorate Alzheimer's disease

2 weeks 1 day ago
Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a progressive neurodegenerative disorder without effective disease-modifying therapies. Epidemiological evidence indicates that regular resistance exercise substantially reduces AD risk, an effect potentially mediated by insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). However, the complete mechanistic pathway from exercise-induced peripheral IGF-1 synthesis to its central neuroprotective actions has not been systematically integrated. This review provides a comprehensive...
Zizi Liu

Cryo-EM structure of soluble VPS13C suggests its regulation by a conformational switch and by calmodulin

2 weeks 1 day ago
Bridge-like lipid transfer proteins (BLTPs) play fundamental roles in cellular lipid redistribution between organellar membranes. They comprise bridge domains spanning organelles at contact sites that allow lipids to transit through the cytosol between adjacent membranes. The assembly of BLTPs into complexes with adaptor proteins enables lipid transfer. To address the mechanisms underlying the assembly and regulation of BLTP complexes, we used cryo-EM to resolve the structure of one such BLTP,...
Dazhi Li

Preventative semaglutide and tirzepatide treatment does not alter disease progression in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

2 weeks 1 day ago
There is growing evidence that long-acting mimetics of the gut-derived incretin hormones GLP-1 and GIP act as disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we temporally characterize the efficacy of the approved incretin receptor agonists semaglutide, a GLP-1R agonist, and tirzepatide, a GLP-1R/GIPR co-agonist, in preventing AD progression. In 5xFAD mice treated for 2 or 4 months, both incretin therapies lower body weight and improve glucose tolerance, yet neither compound...
Anika Vear

Assessing the relationships between frailty, sarcopenia and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers: A scoping review

2 weeks 1 day ago
CONCLUSIONS: Conclusions are limited by substantial heterogeneity in the assessment of frailty, sarcopenia, AD biomarkers, and a lack of longitudinal data. Future studies are needed that include longitudinal analyses, consensus in AD biomarker, frailty and sarcopenia assessments, and incorporation of novel AD biomarkers, in particular tau and neuroinflammation, to help clarify these relationships.
Andrew Lh Huynh

Empowering clinical trial design with agentic intelligence and real-world data

2 weeks 1 day ago
Clinical trial design (CTD) is a time-consuming process that requires substantial domain expertise. Large-scale real-world data (RWD), such as electronic health records (EHR), encodes practice-based evidence that is of tremendous value to CTD. In recent years, many machine learning methods have been developed to extract such real-world evidence (RWE) from the RWD to inform CTD, but they still need to be communicated with the domain experts extensively in an iterative manner to be further refined...
Haoyang Li

FGF21 connects ER stress to sulfide signaling to enhance cellular resilience

2 weeks 1 day ago
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a stress-induced endocrine hormone that regulates metabolism. Grandl et al. show that FGF21, through its receptor β-klotho (KLB), enhances sulfide signaling and hydrogen sulfide production, strengthening the unfolded protein response and integrated stress response to promote stress resilience, metabolic adaptation, and potentially healthy aging.
Sarah Hatem

Core gastric microbiota linked to pathogenesis and preserved across age-stratified cohorts

2 weeks 1 day ago
The stomach harbors a complex microbial niche, yet the persistence and disease relevance of its core microbiota remain unclear. Using full-length 16S and ITS sequencing of 255 pediatric samples, this study identifies 11 core bacterial genera organized into two antagonistic communities, CST1A and CST1B. CST1A is enriched in non-ulcer controls, whereas CST1B is associated with gastroduodenal disease, with limited fungal involvement. Stratified analyses show that Helicobacter pylori infection...
Weidong Huang

Brain health across the lifespan and the impact of nutrition, exercise, microbiota, and sleep

2 weeks 1 day ago
Dietary strategies that support long-term cognitive health and resilience against neurodegenerative diseases are important with aging and senescence. Brain aging is a consequence of intricate biological changes that occur over the lifespan. The process of aging involves the decline in metabolic and physiologic functions, and changes in anatomical structure. However, our lifestyle practices, including diets and nutrient intakes, physical exercise, sleep quality, and cognitive activity can help to...
Andrew C Shin

AI-driven advances in vascular aging research: From mechanisms to precision medicine

2 weeks 1 day ago
Vascular aging is a fundamental contributor to the development of chronic diseases and has emerged as a critical focus in biomedical research. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), new opportunities have arisen to enhance the precision and efficiency of vascular aging studies. AI techniques, particularly those applied to large-scale multi-omics and medical imaging data, enable the identification of novel biomarkers and the development of robust models to quantify the rate...
Zhong-Ling Dai

Lactylation in the ageing nervous system: Epi-metabolic regulation, disease mechanisms, and translational challenges

2 weeks 1 day ago
Lactate was long considered a waste metabolic byproduct. Currently, lactate functions as an energy substrate, signaling molecule, and epigenetic regulator in the central nervous system (CNS). Lysine lactylation (Kla), a novel lactate-dependent PTM, acts as a core epi-metabolic mediator by directly linking cellular metabolism to epigenetic remodeling. This review summarizes lactate production, shuttling, and the regulatory mechanism of lactylation (donors, writers, erasers, readers). We outline...
Wenbo Li

TNF-α induces type I IFN signalling to suppress neurogenesis and recruit T cells

2 weeks 1 day ago
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is essential for learning, memory, and mood regulation, and its disruption is implicated in ageing, neurodegeneration, and mood disorders. However, the mechanisms linking inflammation to adult hippocampal neurogenesis impairment remain unclear. Here, we identify chronic tumour necrosis factor-alpha signalling as a key driver of neurogenic dysregulation via a previously unrecognised type I interferon autocrine/paracrine loop in human hippocampal progenitor cells....
Tinne A D Nissen

Mechanically locking enzymes in covalent organic frameworks via light-responsive nanohands for stable biocatalysis

2 weeks 1 day ago
Enzyme immobilization is pivotal to sustainable biocatalysis, yet the most widespread protocol of physical adsorption on static porous supports suffers from enzyme leakage and short catalytic lifespan. We introduce a dynamic-pore mechano-locking strategy employing tetrafluoroazobenzene-engineered covalent organic frameworks (COFs), where visible-light-mediated isomerization enables precise and reversible pore-size variation for adaptive enzyme confinement. This approach significantly enhances...
Tiantian Wang