Category Biology/Biotechnology

Illustration of a neutrophil cell membrane-coated nanoparticle.
Credit: Qiangzhe Zhang/Nature Nanotechnology

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed neutrophil “nanosponges” that can safely absorb and neutralize a variety of proteins that play a role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Injections of these nanosponges effectively treated severe rheumatoid arthritis in two mouse models. Administering the nanosponges early on also prevented the disease from developing.

“Nanosponges are a new paradigm of treatment to block pathological molecules from triggering disease in the body,” said senior author Liangfang Zhang, a nanoengineering professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering...

During breast cancer, some cancer cells will leave the tumor to invade into nearby tissues. In this new paper, Salk scientists find that the gene Sox10 is important in activating this local invasion. Left panel: Significant numbers of invasive cancer cells with Sox10 (red) in them can be found outside of the tumor (green cells, outlined). Right panel shows the invasive cells’ proximity to blood vessels (white).
Credit: Salk Institute

A team at the Salk Institute has identified a master switch that appears to control the dynamic behavior of tumor cells that makes some aggressive cancers so difficult to treat. The gene Sox10 directly controls the growth and invasion of a significant fraction of hard-to-treat triple-negative breast cancers.

Recently, the Salk lab led by Professor Geoffrey Wa...

Scientists used CRISPR gene editing to halt the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in dogs. The images illustrate dystrophin (in green) in a healthy diaphragm muscle (left), absence of dystrophin in a dog with DMD (center), and restoration of dystrophin in dogs treated with CRISPR (right).
Credit: UT Southwestern

Scientists for the first time have used CRISPR gene editing to halt the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in a large mammal, according to a study by UT Southwestern that provides a strong indication that a lifesaving treatment may be in the pipeline...

This graphic illustrates how eating within a 10-hour window protects mice from metabolic disease regardless of whether their bodies have functional circadian clocks.
Credit: Salk Institute

Periods of fasting can protect against obesity and diabetes. Scientists at the Salk Institute found that mice lacking the biological clocks thought to be necessary for a healthy metabolism could still be protected against obesity and metabolic diseases by having their daily access to food restricted to a 10-hour window.

The work, which appeared in the journal Cell Metabolism on August 30, 2018, suggests that the health problems associated with disruptions to animals’ 24-hour rhythms of activity and rest – which in humans is linked to eating for most of the day or doing shift work – can be corrected by eat...