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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.

Almost half of the takeaway meals tested contained more salt than advertised, with some dishes delivering nearly twice the recommended daily limit in a single serving. Surprisingly, classic fish and chips ranked among the lowest-salt options, while pasta, pizza, and curries were often the saltiest.

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...

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,...

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...

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.

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...

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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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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CONCLUSION: COPD is an important risk factor for the occurrence and persistence of frailty in older adults. Anti-inflammatory diets may provide independent protection against persistent frailty and might attenuate the adverse impact of COPD on persistent frailty risk, though further direct comparative analyses are warranted. It is recommended to incorporate anti-inflammatory diet intervention into the comprehensive management plan for COPD patients to reduce the risk of frailty occurrence and...

CONCLUSIONS: Community-dwelling older adults showed distinct psychosocial and cognitive profiles that were differentially associated with health-related quality of life and healthy aging. Healthy aging was most favorable in the group characterized by limited social network resources but high perceived social support, low depressive symptoms, and favorable subjective cognitive function. These findings suggest that healthy aging may depend not only on social network resources, but also on...

Mitochondrial decline is a hallmark of ageing, yet the role of intergenomic compatibility in shaping ageing trajectories remains poorly understood, particularly in an ecologically relevant framework. Hormetic interventions have been proposed as strategies to modulate metabolism and lifespan, but it is unknown how this operates in the context of mitonuclear discordance. Here, we demonstrate that mitonuclear mismatch accelerates age-related mitochondrial decline, elevates reactive oxygen species...

Synaptic transmission can be tuned through plasticity mechanisms that regulate synaptic strength, structure, and number. In vivo measurements demonstrate remarkable spine dynamics, with subsets of synapses persisting for months. This correlates with the longevity of certain memories, which can persist for an organism's lifetime. The molecular basis supporting the long-term stability of specific synapses and the long-term durability of memories remains unknown. At the protein level, most proteins...