Category Health/Medical

Rutgers researchers identified a small set of simple protein building blocks (left) that likely existed at the earliest stages of life’s history. Over billions of years, these “Legos of life” were assembled and repurposed by evolution into complex proteins (right) that are at the core of modern metabolism. Credit: Vikas Nanda/Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Rutgers scientists have found the “Legos of life” – 4 core chemical structures that can be stacked together to build the myriad proteins inside every organism – after smashing and dissecting nearly 10,000 proteins to understand their component parts...

Two images of EVIR-engineered dendritic cells (green) capturing tumor antigens in exosomes (gold/red). Cell nuclei are colored blue. Credit: C. Cianciaruso/M. De Palma/EPFL

Researchers at EPFL have created artificial molecules that can help the immune system to recognize and attack cancer tumors. Immunotherapies are breakthrough treatments that stimulate the patient’s immune cells to attack the tumor through the recognition of tumor antigens. They can be very effective, but currently can only cure a minority of patients with solid tumors. Researchers and physicians are now looking into ways of increasing the precision and strength of the immune attack on the tumor.

One approach is the “dendritic cell vaccine...

Highlights • Non-classical MHC class I molecules promote homeostatic immunity to the microbiota • Commensal-specific T cells express immunoregulatory and tissue repair signatures • Commensal-specific T cells accelerate wound closure

Insights may inform wound management techniques. Beneficial bacteria on the skin of lab mice work with the animals’ immune systems to defend against disease-causing microbes and accelerate wound healing, according to new research from scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers say untangling similar mechanisms in humans may improve approaches to managing skin wounds and treating other damaged tissues.

Like humans and other mammals, mice are inhabited by the microbiome...

Klotho proteins. Credit: Image courtesy of Yale University

Named after the Greek goddess who spun the thread of life, Klotho proteins play an important role in the regulation of longevity and metabolism. In a recent Yale-led study, researchers revealed the 3D structure of one of these proteins, beta-Klotho, illuminating its intricate mechanism and therapeutic potential. The study findings, published in Nature, could have implications for therapies developed to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers, the researchers said.

The Klotho family of 2 receptor proteins are located on the surface of cells of specific tissues...