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Cells from human brain tissue have genetic hallmarks of neural progenitors, AI-aided study finds

Found in China, 300,000-year-old digging sticks reveal a lost technology

Cognitive scientists question new Centaur model’s ability to predict human behavior

In recent years, acquired brain injuries (ABIs) have been implicated in the development and pathogenesis of dementia; however, existing data is conflicting and often lacks precise classifications or comprehensive analyses. This review sought to synthesize available evidence to assess the association between four major ABI types-traumatic brain injury (TBI), cerebral atherosclerosis (AS), intracranial hemorrhage, and ischemic stroke-and risk of subsequent all-cause dementia (ACD) and dementia...

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mRNA-based in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell engineering offers advantages over ex vivo therapies, including streamlined manufacturing and transient expression. However, current delivery methods require antibody-modified vehicles with manufacturing challenges. In this study, inspired by cardiolipin, we identify cardiolipin-like di-phosphoramide lipids that improve T cell transfection without targeting ligands, both in vitro and in vivo. The T cell-favored tropism is likely due to...

Perturbing mitochondrial translation represents a conserved longevity intervention, with proteostasis processes proposed to mediate the resulting lifespan extension. Here, we explore whether other mechanisms may contribute to lifespan extension upon mitochondrial translation inhibition. Using multi-omics and functional in vivo screening, we identify the ethylmalonyl-CoA decarboxylase orthologue C32E8.9 in C. elegans as an essential factor for longevity induced by mitochondrial translation...

Aging is a dominant risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is associated with compositional and functional changes in our immune system, called immunosenescence. To gain insights into the impact of immunosenescence on atherosclerosis, we investigated plaque development and the immune landscape in an AAV-PCSK9 mouse model. Young (3 months) and aged (18 months) male C57Bl/6 mice received a single i.v. injection of a recombinant adeno-associated virus encoding murine PCSK9...

Brain metastasis occurs in up to 40% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Considerable genomic heterogeneity exists between the primary lung tumor and respective brain metastasis; however, the identity of the genes capable of driving brain metastasis is incompletely understood. Here, we carried out an in vivo genome-wide CRISPR activation screen to identify molecular drivers of brain metastasis from an orthotopic xenograft model derived from a patient with NSCLC. We found that...

SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody titers serve as immune correlates of protection against COVID-19; however, the durability varies among vaccinees. Here, we demonstrate that the durability of vaccine-boosted antibody responses is closely correlated with the pre-booster capacity of spike-reactive CD4^(+) T cells to produce interleukin (IL)-2 and T helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines. IL-2 production by CD4^(+) T cells was also associated with extensive B cell clonal expansion, which preceded the durable...

The taurine transporter (TAUT) mediates cellular taurine uptake, playing a critical role in human health and longevity. In this study, we present cryogenic electron microscopy structures of both mouse and human TAUT in various conformational states. The taurine-bound, occluded forms of mouse and human TAUT reveal the substrate binding pocket and the ion binding sites. The amino group of taurine interacts with Glu406 at the binding site, constituting a key structural feature determining substrate...

The morphological features of particles, notably shape anisotropy, critically influence the rheological properties of dense suspensions, spanning both natural and engineered systems. This work explores the potential of using shape memory particles to dynamically regulate suspension fluid flow through controllable shape transformations. First, we synthesize shape-memory particles with programmable anisotropy from liquid crystal elastomers, such that the stiffness and shapes of the particles can...

The exploration for safe, effective intervention strategies to improve longevity and aging-related diseases is attracting attention to prolong the healthy lifespan. Since aging is based on cellular changes, including telomere attrition, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction, therapies related to stem cells are expected to be a rational strategy for solving aging problems at the cellular level. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an easily accessible, safe candidate, as they supply paracrine...

Canagliflozin (Cana) started at 16 months of age and 16-hydroxy-estradiol (OH_Est) started at 12 months each led to significant increases in lifespan in male UM-HET3 mice but significant decreases in female lifespan. To seek insights into the basis for these sex-specific effects, we performed end-of-life histopathological analyses of control and treated mice for all three interventions testing program sites. There were no significant drug-induced alterations in inferred cause of death, although...

The current depth of site-specific N-glycoproteomics is insufficient to fully characterize glycosylation events in biological samples. Herein, we achieve an ultradeep and precision analysis of the N-glycoproteome of mouse tissues by integrating multiple workflows. The largest N-glycoproteomic dataset to date is established on mice, which contains 91,972 precursor glycopeptides, 62,216 glycoforms, 8939 glycosites and 4563 glycoproteins. The database consists of 6.8 million glyco-spectra...

Proteases recognize substrates by decoding sequence information-an essential cellular process elusive when recognition motifs are absent. Here, we unravel this problem for γ-secretase, an intramembrane-cleaving protease associated with Alzheimer's disease and cancer, by developing Comparative Physicochemical Profiling (CPP), a sequence-based algorithm for identifying interpretable physicochemical features. We show that CPP deciphers a γ-secretase substrate signature with single-residue...

Parkinson disease (PD) is a heterogeneous syndrome. There is a need for biology-driven subtyping to inform specific therapeutic strategies. In a two-center study with de novo and established PD cohorts, we use vesicular acetylcholine transporter ligand [^(18)F]FEOBV brain PET to assess cholinergic systems changes in early to moderate PD. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to data from 245 PD subjects to define cholinergic subgroups at baseline. Three PD subgroups are identified:...

Circulating blood factors are critical for homeostasis of the adult ventricular-subventricular (V-SVZ) and subgranular zones, which contain neural stem cells (NSCs) crucial for sustained neurogenesis. Circulating sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) bound to apolipoprotein M (ApoM), a principal component of high-density lipoproteins, is involved in various biological processes, but its role in neurogenic niches is poorly understood. Herein, using Apom^(-/-) mice, we show that blood ApoM-S1P deficiency...

The self-assembly of biomolecules through noncovalent interactions is critical in both physiological and pathological processes, as exemplified by the assembly of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) into oligomers or fibrils in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Developing molecules that can modulate this assembly process holds significant mechanistic and therapeutic potential. In this study, we identified glycopeptides as a class of protein aggregation modulators, showing that β-N-acetylgalactosamine...

Previous studies suggest glial and neuronal changes may trigger synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the link between their markers and synaptic abnormalities in the living brain remains unclear. We investigated the association between glial reactivity and synaptic dysfunction biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 478 individuals in cognitively unimpaired (CU) and cognitively impaired (CI) individuals. We measured amyloid-β (Aβ), phosphorylated tau (pTau181), astrocyte...