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Scientists have successfully tested an AI-designed universal coronavirus vaccine in humans for the first time, finding it to be safe and well tolerated. The vaccine generated immune responses against multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, SARS, and related bat viruses with pandemic potential. By targeting features shared across an entire virus family, it aims to provide protection even as viruses evolve.

Scientists have identified genetic variants that may make some people less responsive to GLP-1 drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes. Roughly 10% of the population carries these variants, which appear to cause a mysterious form of "GLP-1 resistance." In several clinical trials, carriers were significantly less likely to reach healthy blood sugar targets while taking GLP-1 medications.

Cancer and cell aging studies may have relied on antibodies to incorrect molecule

The mechanism(s) causing selective vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD) remain largely elusive. To improve our understanding of mitochondrial involvement and related pathways suggested to play a role in this selective vulnerability, we used tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-mCherry reporter-induced pluripotent stem cells generated by CRISPR/Cas9. We sorted neurons into pure TH-positive and TH-negative neurons upon differentiation into a dopaminergic neuron-containing cell...

Microglia play crucial roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the molecular mechanisms are unclear. Here, we show that CD31, a recognized endothelial marker, is predominantly expressed in microglia but not in neurons or astrocytes, and it is significantly elevated in the brains of AD patients and mouse models. Microglia-specific CD31 knockdown in 5xFAD mice substantially attenuated the dysregulated transcription networks, suppressed microglia hyperactivation and the disease-associated microglia...

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's, pose significant challenges due to their progressive nature and late diagnosis. Early detection remains difficult, particularly when using conventional machine learning approaches that fail to capture complex spatial and temporal patterns in multimodal clinical data. Motivated by the need for accurate, scalable, and clinically applicable diagnostic tools, this study proposes a hybrid deep learning framework...

Protollin, a nasal adjuvant, was evaluated in a randomized double-blind phase 1 study of 16 early Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients to determine safety and to assess its immunomodulatory effects. In a double-blind dose escalation study, subjects received nasal Protollin at doses of 0.1 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, and 1.5 mg or placebo twice over a two-week period. Treatment was well-tolerated with minimal side effects. Transcriptomic and single-cell analyses demonstrated that prior to treatment, AD...

The properties of functional brain networks are an important determinant of cognitive function in aging and dementia. Despite this, few studies have comprehensively examined demographic and biopsychosocial predictors of functional brain networks, and none have attempted to do so across the adult lifespan while accounting for collinearity among these predictors. The current study used data from 525 individuals between the ages of 35 and 100 years from the Human Connectome Project 2.0 Lifespan...

Andes virus (ANDV) is the most virulent New World orthohantavirus, responsible for hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS)-a severe and frequently fatal disease characterized by non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, vascular collapse, and dysregulated immune activation. The April 2026 outbreak of ANDV aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, in which several older adults were among those most severely affected, has renewed attention to host age as a potential determinant of disease severity. Although...

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that MetS may play a significant role in the development and progression of frailty. Accordingly, targeting MetS could be a viable approach for preventing or delaying the onset of frailty in older adults.

In Indonesia, adults living in rural areas have a longer life expectancy than their urban counterparts. Beyond observed longevity, attention has focused on lifespan and healthspan expectations as predictors of health outcomes. This study examines expected lifespan and expected healthspan and their associated factors among rural and urban populations in Java, Indonesia. The cross-sectional Healthy Longevity (HELO) survey collected data from the general population using in-person interviews and an...

CONCLUSIONS: Perceived control over falling among older adults with CaF is a dynamic, multidimensional process that extends beyond physical risk factors. Fall-prevention interventions should therefore move beyond purely physical components to incorporate psychological, social, and life-course dimensions, supporting adaptive appraisals, resilience, independence, and sustained engagement in daily life.

Heterointerface degradation under operational stress represents a critical limitation to perovskite solar cell longevity. Here, we demonstrate contrasting aging behaviors between bulky anionic and cationic passivators at heterointerfaces, wherein anionic species induce lattice expansion under thermal stress. To address the thermal instability of conventional passivators, we synthesized cesium pyridine-3-carboxylate, which triggers reactive surface reconstruction, suppresses ion migration, and...

Do viral infections accelerate aging, and does this acceleration scale with pathogenicity? Using transcriptomic aging clocks, we measured biological age in Drosophila melanogaster infected with four enteric RNA viruses spanning a broad pathogenicity range (i.e., reduction of host lifespan). All pathogenic infections accelerated aging and the magnitude of acceleration tracked pathogenicity. This pattern held across oral and systemic infection routes and was conserved in Caenorhabditis elegans...

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) promote malignant progression through sustained expression of the viral oncoprotein E6, which drives degradation of the tumor suppressor p53 and creates an oncogenic dependency in HPV-positive cancers. Here, we identify a genotype-defined therapeutic vulnerability by selectively and irreversibly inactivating HPV-16 E6 through covalent targeting a cysteine proximal to its E6AP-binding interface. Pharmacologic inhibition of E6 restored p53 protein stability...

The gut microbiome undergoes dynamic, sex-dependent changes across the lifespan. However, comprehensive studies examining the combined effects of age and sex are limited. This study investigated both compositional and functional alterations in the gut microbiome of young (4 months, n = 14) and aged (20 months, n = 20) C57BL/6 J mice of both sexes using 16S rRNA gene (V3-V5) sequencing. Microbial community structure and predicted functional profiles were analyzed via QIIME2 and PICRUSt2, with...

Here, we review the history, advancements, and broad utility of the NTR/prodrug system, and suggest future strategies for developing versatile ablation models. As a chemogenetic tool, the nitroreductase (NTR)/prodrug system enables precise spatiotemporal control over cell ablation. The technology leverages bacterial NTR enzymes (e.g. nfsB) to convert inert prodrugs into cytotoxic agents, thereby allowing researchers to induce targeted cell death. Although the NTR/prodrug approach was first...

Magnesium is traditionally viewed as a permissive electrolyte required for cellular viability. Emerging evidence, however, reveals a more central role for Mg^(2+) as an active regulator of mitochondrial bioenergetics and metabolic resilience. In this Review, we synthesize recent advances in renal magnesium handling, mitochondrial Mg^(2+) transport, and MgATP chemistry to propose a unifying framework in which magnesium functions as a bioenergetic checkpoint. At the cellular level, Mg^(2+)...

Temporal prediction is the ability to anticipate the likely time of occurrence of events and is important for adaptive behaviour in our everyday lives. Studies indicated that predictive aspects of environmental stimuli can be leveraged to reduce reaction times and enhance stimulus processing. Particularly, a recent study showed that this optimized behaviour is associated with a phase adjustment of ongoing neural oscillations aligning with the expected onset of upcoming stimuli. In ageing, there...

Against the backdrop of an accelerating global aging population, the epidemiological correlation between cognitive impairment and osteoporosis has become increasingly prominent. These two conditions exhibit a profound pathological coupling mediated by the bidirectional regulatory network of the "bone-brain axis." The operation of this axis is rooted in an intricate neuro-skeletal signaling network involving hormonal dysregulation, systemic inflammatory cascades, and the aberrant regulation of...