The mitochondria may be the powerhouse of the cell, but mounting evidence suggests this organelle is also a driving force behind cancer. Now, new evidence points to the mitochondrial metabolite glutathione, highlighting its central role in helping breast cancer cells break away from the primary tumor, travel through the body, and take root in other tissues.

The findings are among the first to link a specific mitochondrial metabolite to metastasis, with strong implications for the study of cancer at the cellular level.

Patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial conducted by UMass Chan Medical School of a dual vector gene therapy for GM2 gangliosidosis, which includes Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases, exhibited a biochemical correction of the disease with minimal adverse reactions.

"Biochemically it worked," said study investigator Heather Gray-Edwards, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of genetic & cellular medicine at UMass Chan.

New research from the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney has uncovered a new biological pathway that may help explain why people with type 2 diabetes are more prone to developing dangerous blood clots, potentially paving the way for future treatments that reduce their cardiovascular risk.

The study, led by Associate Professor Freda Passam from the Central Clinical School and Associate Professor Mark Larance from the School of Medical Sciences, was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

ADAMTS2, a member of the ADAMTS zinc metalloproteinase family, is widely recognized for its pivotal role as a procollagen I N-proteinase. This enzyme plays a crucial part in the maturation of fibrillar collagens, which are essential for maintaining the structural integrity of connective tissues. Beyond its traditional role, recent discoveries have revealed that ADAMTS2 is involved in a diverse range of biological processes that extend well beyond collagen maturation.

The pharmaceutical industry stands at a transformative crossroads as artificial intelligence reshapes the landscape of drug development. In a Correspondence published in the KeAi journal Current Molecular Pharmacology, a group of researchers from China illuminate how large language models (LLMs) - the sophisticated AI systems powering advanced chatbots - are delivering unprecedented breakthroughs across the entire drug discovery pipeline.

Over the past 20 years, a class of cancer drugs called CD40 agonist antibodies have shown great promise - and induced great disappointment. While effective at activating the immune system to kill cancer cells in animal models, the drugs had limited impact on patients in clinical trials and caused dangerously systemic inflammatory responses, low platelet counts, and liver toxicity, among other adverse reactions - even at a low dose.

Following a heart attack, blood flow to the heart is interrupted and the resulting lack of oxygen can cause heart damage. The heart wall can rupture in severe cases, requiring immediate surgical intervention. Today, bovine pericardial patches are used to repair such heart defects owing to their stability, permeability, and ease of implantation.