One of the ideas most of us learn early in biology is that only a few specialized cells can communicate through electrical signals. Neurons do it. Muscle cells do it. Epithelial cells, the cells that form our skin and line most organs, supposedly do not. However, a recent study by Yu and Granick demonstrates that […]
Scientists have developed remarkably long, precisely patterned molecular threads that could open new possibilities for designing advanced materials. The scientists also discovered these threads — called supramolecular polymers — can dramatically enhance brain cell activity. Built from self-assembling molecules, the longest threads reach dimensions greater than the diameter of a cell. By molecular standards, they […]
Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) confers a cellular fitness advantage to human cancer cells, including in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), where it disrupts myeloid differentiation and promotes leukemogenesis. Loss-of-function mutations in TSGs are frequently observed in patients with hematologic malignancies , driving disease progression by blocking differentiation and enhancing self-renewal. Therefore, restoration of tumor […]
For decades, Alzheimer’s research has been dominated by a seemingly intuitive idea: the disease is largely explained by the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the brain, primarily beta-amyloid and tau. However, while this view has been useful, it has fallen short in explaining certain fundamental aspects. One of the most striking is that Alzheimer’s affects […]
What if we could stop blood cancers before they even start? New research reveals that chronic inflammation dramatically reshapes the bone marrow environment years before leukemia emerges, potentially offering a window for early intervention. The Hidden Life of the Bone Marrow Every second, your bone marrow produces millions of new blood and immune cells through […]
Chimeric antigen-specific receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA; BCMA-CAR T cells) has produced remarkable clinical responses in advanced multiple myeloma (MM), with a substantial fraction of patients achieving complete remission . However, many patients relapse within months, largely due to insufficient CAR T-cell persistence, a recognized mechanism of acquired resistance . A […]
Androgenetic alopecia is characterized by a progressive hair loss. This represents a cosmetic issue, treated with a limited set of pharmacological tools such as minoxidil or finasteride. While these therapies can be effective in some patients, their results are often inconsistent and frequently accompanied by unwanted side effects. This has driven researchers to search for […]
The world’s population is growing, people are living longer, and industry continues to expand. These changes bring many benefits, but they can also increase risks to human health. Over time, people are exposed to many substances in the environment, some of which may be harmful. At the same time, greater industrial activity means more chemicals […]
For decades, biology textbooks have repeated the same idea with almost ritual certainty: neural stem cells, the cells that fuel the birth of neurons and glia during development, live exclusively inside the brain and spinal cord. They are the architects of the central nervous system, and nowhere else. It has always seemed like an elegant […]
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) are aggressive hematological malignancies that arise from abnormal activation of oncogenes and/or inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes, followed by a differentiation arrest and uncontrolled clonal expansion of immature thymocytes . Proviral integration site for Moloney-murine leukemia 1 (PIM1) is a known JAK-STAT target gene that […]