Researchers have developed a computational approach to identify GSH sites with significantly higher potential for the safe insertion of therapeutic genes and their durable expression across many cell types. For two out of 2,000 predicted GSH sites, the team provided an in-depth validation with adoptive T cell therapies and in vivo gene therapies for skin diseases in mind. By engineering the identified GSH sites to carry a reporter gene in T cells, and a therapeutic gene in skin cells, respectively, they demonstrated safe and long-lasting expression of the newly introduced genes.

Steroid estrogens play an important role as embryos develop a sense of smell, new research shows. The study, which examined zebrafish embryos, discovered a type of astrocyte glial cell that is new to science, and have been named estrogen responsive olfactory bulb (EROB) cells.

In a new study of the Zika virus, scientists have discovered a key mechanism used by the virus to evade the antiviral response of the cell it is attacking. This finding contributes to a better understanding of how viruses infect cells, overcome immune barriers and replicate — information that is essential for fighting them.

Researchers report successfully removing the nucleus from a type of ubiquitous cell, then using the genetically engineered cell as a unique cargo-carrier to deliver therapeutics precisely to diseased tissues.

Characterizing the way, manner or pattern of evolution in tumors may be important for clinical forecasting and optimizing cancer treatment. Researchers are systematically examining how spatial structure influences tumor evolution. To do this the group developed a computational model with the flexibility to simulate alternative spatial structures and types of cell dispersal.

The human immune system, that marvel of complexity, subtlety, and sophistication, includes a billion-year-old family of proteins used by bacteria to defend themselves against viruses, scientists have discovered.

Understanding how cells die is key to developing new treatments for many diseases, whether the goal is to make cancer cells die or keep healthy cells alive in the face of other illnesses, such as massive infections or strokes. Two new studies have identified a previously unrecognized pathway of cell death — named lysoptosis — and demonstrate how it could lead to new therapies for cervical cancer.

When an individual suffers from cancer, the process of programmed cell death called apoptosis does not occur normally, permitting abnormal cells to thrive.

In a new study, researchers have identified the presence of a specific connection between a protein and an lncRNA molecule in liver cancer. By increasing the presence of the lncRNA molecule, the fat depots of the tumor cell decrease, which causes the division of tumor cells to cease, and they eventually die. The study contributes to increased knowledge that can add to a better diagnosis and future cancer treatments.

Removing one type of T cell from donor blood used for stem cell grafts could greatly reduce a serious complication called graft-versus-host disease in patients with leukemia, according to a new study.

Researchers have developed a unique nanoparticle to deliver genome editing technology, including CRISPR/Cas9, to endothelial cells, which are cells that line blood vessel walls. This is the first time that vascular endothelial cells could be reached for genome editing, since the usual way to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 — through a virus — does not work for this cell type.

Aggressive and relatively common lymphomas called diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) have a critical metabolic vulnerability that can be exploited to trick these cancers into starving themselves, according to a new study.

Scientists have found a way to prove that biochemical signals sent from cell to cell play an important role in determining how those cells develop, findings that can help explain how stem cells differentiate and how cancer arises and proliferates, possibly leading to new treatments.

A molecular building block of many animal proteins, the amino acid valine, plays a key role in cancerous growth seen in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a new study shows.

Researchers have shown that blocking IL-6 and TNF cytokines provides a more effective approach to preventing life-threatening graft-versus-host-disease, an inflammatory condition that develops in patients after their allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Patients with colorectal cancer were among the first to receive targeted therapies. These drugs aim to block the cancer-causing proteins that trigger out-of-control cell growth while sparing healthy tissues. But some patients are not eligible for these treatments because they have cancer-promoting mutations that are believed to cause resistance to these drugs. Now, physician-scientists have used computer modeling and cell studies to discover that more patients may be helped by a common class of targeted therapies than previously thought.

A study in mice has found that stress and tissue damage initiated by angiotensin II, a molecule that is known to increase blood pressure and stiffening in the linings of blood vessels, leads to cellular senescence, a process by which a cell ages and permanently stops dividing but does not die. Importantly, when the researchers eliminated senescent cells from the mice, tissues returned to a normal state in spite of a continued infusion of angiotensin II.

Scientists have developed a new method to determine how proteins are organized on the surface of cells. Insights gained with the technology could lead to the development of novel drugs to fight cancer.

A recent study demonstrates that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to detect early signs of tumor cell death in response to a novel virus-based cancer therapy.

As an autoimmune disease, Type 1 diabetes raises important questions about immune cell activity that have broad implications for immunotherapy.

Researchers have pioneered a new method to track the progression of prostate cancer in mice, from its birth to its spread into other tissues. This approach allows researchers to study the origins of prostate cancer in a more realistic context than traditional methods allow.

Immunotherapies, which harness the body’s natural defenses to combat disease, have revolutionized the treatment of aggressive and deadly cancers. But often, these therapies — especially those based on immune cells — must be tailored to the individual patient, costing valuable time and pushing their price into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Doctors and scientists have successfully tested a neoantigen-specific transgenic immune cell therapy for malignant brain tumors for the first time using an experimental model in mice.

Studying mice, researchers have developed a method of stem cell transplantation that does not require radiation or chemotherapy. Instead, the strategy takes an immunotherapeutic approach, combining the targeted elimination of blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow with immune-modulating drugs to prevent the immune system from rejecting the new donor stem cells.

A metabolic enzyme that has been studied in cancer biology and is important for T cell function may offer a new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics, researchers have discovered. They report that inhibiting or genetically deleting the enzyme, called MTHFD2, reduced disease severity in multiple inflammatory disease models.