The advance could help scientists identify drugs to treat fibrosis, which plays a role in chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and many other conditions.
Research brief: The new method, using robotics, will speed up how researchers test for therapies that block the metabolism of non-small-cell lung cancer tumors.
The study, conducted in mice, is the first to show that creatine uptake is critical to the anti-tumor activities of what is known as killer T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system.
Findings of the research conducted in mice could inform the development of therapies that reduce the time it takes for people to recover from nerve injuries.
A technique they developed coaxes pluripotent stem cells — which can can be grown indefinitely in the lab — into becoming mature T cells capable of killing tumor cells.
The condition, which affects red blood cells’ ability to produce regulatory T cells, can affect the intestines, pancreas and thyroid, as well as other parts of the body.
Previous research hinted that small cell cancers from different organs may be driven by common mechanisms, but the new study is the first to so clearly describe the steps in their evolution.
The results could have implications for treating cancer, when people’s blood-forming stem cells may be depleted, and for people undergoing transplant surgery.
The study, led by Professor Amander Clark, could lead to important advances in an area of medicine that historically has been underfunded and underappreciated.
The new method uses 'nanospears' to deliver genes directly to patient cells. Gene therapy has shown great promise as a treatment for a host of diseases, including hemophilia and certain types of cancer.
“Our ultimate goal is to be able to regenerate cardiomyocytes after an injury like a heart attack,” Dr. Reza Ardehali said. “But we’re first trying to learn from the embryonic heart.”