Ultrasound sticker senses changing stiffness of internal organs, could help identify early signs of acute liver failure https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02- ... early.html
by Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT engineers have developed a small ultrasound sticker that can monitor the stiffness of organs deep inside the body. The sticker, about the size of a postage stamp, can be worn on the skin and is designed to pick up on signs of disease, such as liver and kidney failure and the progression of solid tumors.
In an open-access study appearing in Science Advances, the team reports that the sensor can send sound waves through the skin and into the body, where the waves reflect off internal organs and back out to the sticker. The pattern of the reflected waves can be read as a signature of organ rigidity, which the sticker can measure and track.
"When some organs undergo disease, they can stiffen over time," says the senior author of the paper, Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. "With this wearable sticker, we can continuously monitor changes in rigidity over long periods of time, which is crucially important for early diagnosis of internal organ failure."
Cornell University researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli—a bacteria commonly used as a research tool due to its ability to synthesize proteins—to conduct low-cost and scalable synthetic biological experiments.
As an inexpensive multiplier—much like having a photocopier in a test tube—the bacteria Vibrio natriegens could help labs test protein variants for creation of pharmaceuticals, synthetic fuels and sustainable compounds that battle weeds or pests. The microbe can work effectively without costly incubators, shakers or deep freezers and can be engineered within hours.
Drug-loaded nanoparticles may prevent paralysis from spinal cord injury
By Paul McClure
February 14, 2024
Researchers have developed drug-loaded nanoparticles that selectively target the cells responsible for causing damaging inflammation following a spinal cord injury. Given to mice soon after an injury, the novel therapy reduced inflammation and improved motor function, opening the door to new therapeutic possibilities for people with spinal injuries.
Sustaining a spinal cord injury (SCI) is devastating enough, but the subsequent inflammation and the damage it causes to the spinal cord can worsen the clinical outcome. This secondary injury can develop over time and lead to paraplegia or quadriplegia that may not have been present at the time of the primary injury.
Research has shown that in the first days after SCI, microglial cells are activated and proliferate, causing secondary injury via the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These cells and their cytokines activate destructive astrocyte cells that further exacerbate inflammation. Microglia and astrocytes are subtypes of glial cells, the non-neuronal cells of the brain and nervous system.
Developing effective immune-based therapies that selectively target glial cells has been challenging. However, researchers at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Milan, have developed novel nanogel-based nanoparticles that target these cells and release an active compound that reduces inflammation.
Stubborn wounds meet their match in cold plasma jet-charged dressing
By Paul McClure
February 18, 2024
Using a cold plasma jet to activate hydrogel, researchers have created a dressing with antibacterial and wound-healing properties. The technology could be used as an alternative to current treatments that rely on antibiotics to treat chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers.
The growing global number of diabetics means that there will be more people who experience a foot ulcer in their lifetime. For 60% of diabetics, these ulcers will become infected, and because of poor wound healing associated with the condition, the ulcers often become chronic wounds.
Recombinant protein vaccines, like the Novavax vaccine used to fight COVID-19, offer several advantages over conventional vaccines. They're easy to produce precisely. They're safe and potentially more effective. And they could require smaller doses.
Because of these traits, there is much interest in developing recombinant influenza vaccines. To date, however, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only one such vaccine.
A University at Bufalo-led research team hopes to add to that number. It is developing a new recombinant flu vaccine—described in a study published in Cell Reports Medicine—that has the potential to compete with existing vaccines.
Human cells contain ribosomes, a complex machine that produces proteins for the rest of the body. Now the researchers have come closer to understanding how the ribosome works.
"It is amazing that we can visualize the atomic details of the ribosome. Because they are tiny—around 20–30 nanometers," says Associate Professor Eva Kummer from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, who is responsible for the new study published in Nature Communications.
The ribosome is a part of the human cell consisting of ribosomal RNA and ribosomal proteins. It is like a factory that builds proteins by following a set of instructions inherent in the genes.
Ribosomes are found floating in the cell cytosol, cellular organelles such as mitochondria or the protoplasm of bacteria.
Using electron microscopy, Kummer and her colleagues Giang Nguyen and Christina Ritter have managed to produce a 3D model of a part of the human cell, the ribosome, which is no more than 30 nanometers in diameter.
More specifically, they have taken snapshots of how a ribosome is made.
"It is important to understand how the ribosome is built and how it works, because it is the only cell particle that produces proteins in humans and all other living organisms. And without proteins, life would cease to exist," says Kummer.
Proteins are the primary building blocks of the human body. Your heart, lungs, brain and basically your whole body are made of proteins produced by the ribosome.
"From the outside, the human body looks pretty simple, but then consider the fact that every part of the body consists of millions of molecules, that are extremely complex, and that they all know what to do—that is pretty breathtaking," says Kummer.
Asthma drug staves off food allergies in up to 68% of patients
By Paul McClure
February 25, 2024
Omalizumab, currently used to treat asthma, has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of potentially life-threatening reactions in people aged one and older with multiple common food allergies, including peanuts, following accidental exposure. While not a cure, the now FDA-approved drug could improve the quality of life for food allergy sufferers.
The incidence of food allergies has risen globally over the last decade, affecting approximately one in 10 adults and one in 12 children. The cause of the rise is unknown, but several theories have been proposed. The ‘hygiene hypothesis’ suggests that an excessive emphasis on cleanliness has contributed to sensitivities that weren’t seen when kids were allowed to play in (and, yes, eat) dirt. The ‘dual allergen exposure hypothesis’ holds that food particles that enter the body through broken skin cause the production of antibodies, whereas oral ingestion causes tolerance. This theory fits the observation that eczema, which causes dry, cracked and itchy skin, is the leading risk factor for developing food allergies.
What is known is that, from an immune system perspective, food allergies are driven by immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, which sets them apart from lactose intolerance or autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease. And, unlike intolerances, food allergies have the potential to be life-threatening. The situation can be more dire for people with multiple food allergies, especially in the context of accidental exposure.
A gel of tiny keratin spheres has been found to promote hair follicle growth. Given that our bodies naturally produce keratin, the research highlights the potential application of using keratin microspheres as a safe and effective hair-growth treatment.
Keratin is added to shampoos and conditioners to strengthen and improve the appearance of hair. We also produce the protein, which does the same thing – it keeps hair, skin, and nails healthy and strong. Given their biocompatibility, keratin-based nanoparticles have been explored as carriers for anti-cancer, antimicrobial and wound-healing drugs.
The skin’s top layer, or epidermis, is a barrier to penetration, which is both good and bad. While it’s a barrier against pathogens and chemicals, that barrier can stop therapeutic agents from entering. Hair follicles, however, present a potential pathway to enter the skin’s deeper layers. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, created a gel made of tiny spheres of water-soluble keratin that penetrated the hair follicle to regrow hair in mice.
Anatomy of the skin. The dermal papilla cells responsible for regulating hair growth are found at the base of the hair follicle
Scientists use a new type of nanoparticle that can both deliver vaccines and act as an adjuvant
by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Many vaccines, including vaccines for hepatitis B and whooping cough, consist of fragments of viral or bacterial proteins. These vaccines often include other molecules called adjuvants, which help to boost the immune system's response to the protein.
Most of these adjuvants consist of aluminum salts or other molecules that provoke a nonspecific immune response. A team of MIT researchers has now shown that a type of nanoparticle called a metal organic framework (MOF) can also provoke a strong immune response, by activating the innate immune system—the body's first line of defense against any pathogen—through cell proteins called toll-like receptors.
In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this MOF could successfully encapsulate and deliver part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, while also acting as an adjuvant once the MOF is broken down inside cells.
While more work would be needed to adapt these particles for use as vaccines, the study demonstrates that this type of structure can be useful for generating a strong immune response, the researchers say.
"Understanding how the drug delivery vehicle can enhance an adjuvant immune response is something that could be very helpful in designing new vaccines," says Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and one of the senior authors of the new study.
Antibody therapeutics are a rapidly growing class of drugs used to treat infections as well as a range of diseases. Among them are cancer and autoimmunity particularly important, and the use of antibody therapeutics transforms the lives of patients. Thus, there is an intense interest in engineering new antibody formats with improved efficacy for both therapeutic and prophylactic use.
To engineer the next generation of antibodies, one must carefully consider which of the antibody effector functions should be maintained, enhanced, or abolished. To achieve potent and specific treatment with minimal risk of side effects this is crucial. In all cases, the pharmacokinetic profile of the antibody will guide dosing size and frequency, so as to secure high concentration of active antibody in blood and tissue, and with as much as possible reaching the target over time.
