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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    Research demonstrates that Killer T cells can support Tissue Regeneration

    January 17, 2024, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Killer T cells support tissue regeneration
    Wound healing and target killing are both effector mechanisms of CD8 T cells. (A) Combined proliferation and killing assay in the presence of influenza-specific CD8 T cells and varying amounts of pulsed peptides on MRC-5 and HaCaT cells seeded in a 30:70 ratio. Left, representative image with labels (0 versus 5 h; T cells only versus T cells + 100 ng/ml peptide). Right, representative quantification of Cas3/7 activity (green) and HaCaT proliferation (red) with titrated amounts of influenza peptide, with statistical verification across experiments using normalized area under the curve (AUC, n = 3, one-way ANOVA, symbols indicate individual experiments). Scale bars = 400 µm; enhanced for improved visibility...
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    Novel Regulator of Immune Evasion in Cancer identified

    January 16, 2024, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Novel regulator of immune evasion in cancer identified
    Representative images from immunohistochemical staining of PD-L1, ATXN3, IRF1, and HIF-2α in human lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and melanoma patients. Courtesy of Deyu Fang, PhD. Credit: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023). DOI: 10.1172/JCI167728

    Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified a previously unknown regulator of tumor immune evasion, which may help improve the efficacy of current and future antitumor immunotherapies, according to recent findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

    “The study provides a molecular insight into understanding why some cancer patients cannot be treated by the checkpoint blockade antitumor therapy, but others can,” said Deyu Fang, Ph.D...

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    New Fuel Cell Harvests Energy from Microbes in Soil to Power Sensors, Communications

    January 16, 2024, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    New fuel cell harvests energy from microbes in soil to power sensors, communications
    The clean fuel cell in the lab. Credit: Bill Yen/Northwestern University

    A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt.

    About the size of a standard paperback book, the completely soil-powered technology could fuel underground sensors used in precision agriculture and green infrastructure. This potentially could offer a sustainable, renewable alternative to batteries, which hold toxic, flammable chemicals that leach into the ground, are fraught with conflict-filled supply chains and contribute to the ever-growing problem of electronic waste.

    To test the new fuel cell, the researchers used it to power sensors measuring soil moisture and detecting touch, a capability that could be valuable for track...

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    Study: In patients with Long COVID, Immune cells don’t follow the rules

    January 15, 2024, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Kailin Yin speaking with Nadia Roan in the lab
    Kailin Yin (left), a postdoctoral fellow in the Roan Lab and co-first author of the study, collaborates with Gladstone Senior Investigator Nadia Roan. Their study revealed unusual activity among certain immune cells in people with long COVID.

    People with long COVID have dysfunctional immune cells that show signs of chronic inflammation and faulty movement into organs, among other unusual activity, according to a new study by scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF).

    The team analyzed immune cells and hundreds of different immune molecules in the blood of 43 people with and without long COVID...

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