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Redington Life Sciences News | Double Issue October 2, 2020 | ||
In this issue: Dana Farber scores in kidney cancer, Duke on suicide, dirty secrets of caregivers, precision combos against drug-resistant cancers, keeping politics out of the CDC, Yale’s treatment path for muscular dystrophy, for the love of butterflies, learning deficits vs. memory loss in Alzheimer’s, immune system’s role in depression, breaking the cycle of inflammation, Mayo on deadliest form of pancreatic cancer, Emory on Covid-19 and the brain, heavy-up on blankets for a better sleep, and more… | |||
 | Identical Quantum Particles Pass Practicality Test A new study proves that far from being mere mathematical artifacts, particles that are indistinguishable from one another can be a potent resource in real-world experiments |
 | Guts and brains: How microbes in a mother’s intestines affect fetal neurodevelopment In pregnant mice, the maternal gut microbiata plays a key role in regulating which genes are activated in the growing brain, UCLA biologists say. |
 | Vaccinex Announces Clinical Collaboration with Merck to Evaluate Pepinemab in Combination with KEYTRUDA® in Advanced, Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Vaccinex, Inc. announced that it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck (known as MSD outside the US and Canada), through a subsidiary, to evaluate the combination of Vaccinex’s investigational SEMA4D inhibitor, pepinemab, and Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in the treatment of patients with advanced, recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)... |
 | Breaking a vicious cycle of inflammation In response to dry soil, a sensor in a garden triggers a sprinkler to deliver a shower of rain. Disaster strikes, though, if the sensor gets stuck in the "on" position. The shower turns into a stalled storm that floods the garden. A similar problem can occur in the body. Immune cells contain danger sensors. They respond to danger with a sprinkling of signals that trigger healing inflammation. |
 | Researchers identify potential targets for deadliest form of pancreatic cancer A team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute has identified specific potential therapeutic targets for the most aggressive and lethal form of pancreatic cancer. In what is believed to be the most comprehensive analysis of adenosquamous cancer of the pancreas (ASCP), the Mayo Clinic and Translational Genomics Research Institute |
 | Axsome Therapeutics Presents New Data from GEMINI Phase 3 Trial with AXS-05 Demonstrating Rapid and Significant Improvements in Patient-Reported Outcomes in Major Depressive Disorder Rapid, durable, and statistically significant improvement demonstrated in patient-reported depressive symptoms, as measured by the QIDS-SR-16 total score compared to placebo (p=0.001)... |
 | Learning deficits may predate memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease The reduced ability to learn new information may be one of the earliest signs of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. |
 | Science Surgery: ‘How are children’s cancers different from adults’ cancers?’ Science blog Our Science Surgery series answers your cancer questions. Dr Francis Mussai , a Cancer Research UK -funded children’s cancer researcher and consultant oncologist at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital , says that t he types of cancers that we see in children are very different to the cancer that we see in adults. "C ancer types that we frequently hear about in adults, such as breast.. |
 | Immune system may have another job — combatting depression An inflammatory autoimmune response also found in the spinal fluid of healthy people suggests immune cells may play a role in protecting our mental health. |
| Study finds lung transplant patients not given antifungal preventive drugs have higher risk of death Antifungal preventive medications reduce mortality risk by half in the first year following lung transplantation, according to Mayo Clinic research involving 667 patients who received lung transplants from 2005 to 2018. The retrospective study, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, is the largest ever to evaluate the effectiveness of... |
 | Provide shady spots to protect butterflies from climate change Researchers have discovered significant variations in the ability of different UK butterfly species to maintain a suitable body temperature. Species that rely most on finding a suitably shady location to keep cool are at the greatest risk of population decline. |
 | Rare immune cells drive gut repair, but can tip toward cancer or fibrosis in inflammatory bowel disease A team of scientists, led by King’s College London, have discovered an unexpected tissue reparative role for a rare immune cell type in the gut that could tip toward fibrosis or cancer if abnormal or impaired. |
| Novel immune-oncology approach for potential cancer treatment A research collaboration between Monash University and Lava Therapeutics details a novel immune-oncology approach for the potential treatment of cancer. |
| We Can't Allow the CDC to Be Tainted by Politics If science doesn’t drive the agency’s crucial weekly reports about disease prevalence and mortality, we’ll lose a key tool for fighting this pandemic... |
 | The Dirty Secret Behind Caregiving Do you know the dirty little secret of caregiving? Here it is: No one loves it. None of us like to admit how much of a struggle it is, because it makes us sound like bad people. But caregivers who hate caregiving aren’t bad, just honest. Allow me to quickly add that while the majority of caregivers don’t love the job, most embrace it, and that’s not an oxymoron. The paradox It’s a rare person who |
| A regenerative approach to facial reconstruction after cancer Imagine going to the hospital to have basal cell skin cancer removed from your face, only to learn it had spread so aggressively that your entire nose had to be removed. That is what happened to one Arizona woman. In the past, her only option may have been a prosthesis through which she couldn't breathe. |
 | New vaccine strategy harnesses ‘foot soldier’ T-cells to provide protection against influenza As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza. In a study published in Cell Reports Medicine today (Sept. 22), scientists describe a T-cell-based vaccine strategy that is effective against multiple... |
| Drugging the undruggable: Yale finds treatment path for muscular dystrophy Researchers have identified a possible treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic disease for which there is currently no cure or treatment. |
 | Strong activation of anti-bacterial T cells linked to severe COVID-19 A type of anti-bacterial T cells, so-called MAIT cells, are strongly activated in people with moderate to severe COVID-19 disease, according to a new study. |
 | Study provides insight on how to build a better flu vaccine Flu season comes around like clockwork every year, and sooner or later everyone gets infected. The annual flu shot is a key part of public health efforts to control the flu, but the vaccine’s effectiveness is notoriously poor, falling somewhere from 40% to 60% in a typical year. A growing body of evidence suggests that a history of exposure to influenza virus might be undermining the effectiveness |
| Facts about vaccines and what people need to know Vaccines save lives. That's the message Dr. Priya Sampathkumar, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, wants the public to know. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Sampathkumar says it is doubly important that everyone get a flu vaccine. While getting a flu vaccine won't protect against COVID-19, flu vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness... |
 | Hard-to-treat pancreatic cancer hijacks immune system and could be targeted with immunotherapies Scientists have used artificial intelligence to reveal an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer that is more likely to respond to immunotherapy, in the most extensive analysis of the immune landscape of these tumours to date. |
| Shared protein fingerprint could simplify treatment of common inherited heart disease Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart disease, marked by an abnormally thickened heart muscle that can obstruct blood flow and lead to sudden death in young adults. A dizzying array of over 1,400 genetic mutations can lead to the disease, puzzling doctors on how to treat so many unique varieties. But in new research, University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists discovered... |
 | How COVID-19 impacts the brain When Elizabeth Matthews had a stroke, doctors discovered she also had COVID-19. From strokes to mental health, the Emory Brain Health Center is leading research on the neurological effects of the pandemic. |
 | Financial Strains Significantly Raise Risk of Suicide Attempts Financial strains such as high debt, low income and unemployment are associated with suicide attempts and should be considered key factors when assessing mental health interventions, a new study from Duke Health researchers shows. While the study was undertaken before the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings are especially relevant within the context... |
 | Keeping cancer clinical research on track during a pandemic: A case study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Study details how actions taken at Dana-Farber enabled cancer clinical trials to stay on track during COVID-19 pandemic |
| Antibody blockade effective in treatment of severe COVID-19 Researchers find an overlap in the pathogenesis of cytokine release syndrome and COVID-19, and show that the symptoms of both can be alleviated by IL-6 signaling blockade. |
| Preventing Bias Against People With Alzheimer’s Disease Ageism is brutal, especially when combined with a misunderstanding of dementia. Somehow, rude people forget that they will one day get old. If we’re fortunate, growing older is the road ahead for us all. It should be everyone’s goal, since growing older is better than the alternative. With this in mind, why aren’t elders treated more respectfully? People with dementia face bias I am of course... |
 | Study shows weighted blankets can decrease insomnia severity Weighted blankets are a safe and effective intervention in the treatment of insomnia, according to Swedish researchers who found that insomnia patients with psychiatric disorders experienced reduced insomnia severity, improved sleep and less daytime sleepiness when sleeping with a weighted chain blanket. Results of the randomized, controlled study show that participants using... |
| NIH 'Very Concerned' about Serious Side Effect in Coronavirus Vaccine Trial? The test was halted when a participant suffered spinal cord damage, and U.S. scientists launched an investigation... |
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