Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden have identified a new treatment strategy for neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. By combining two antioxidant enzyme inhibitors, they have converted cancer cells in mice into healthy nerve cells. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Researchers at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a novel algorithm that could provide a revolutionary tool for determining the best options for patients - both in the treatment of cancer and in the prescription of medicines. As recently published in Nature Communications, Jinze Liu, Ph.D., and Kevin Byrd, D.D.S., Ph.D., created Threshold-based Assignment of Cell Types from Multiplexed Imaging Data (TACIT), which assigns cell identities based on cell-marker expression profiles.

A series of digital tests, carried out via a smartphone app, could enhance the detection of disease progression in Huntington's disease and improve the efficiency of clinical trials, finds research led by scientists at University College London (UCL) and Roche.

The research, published in Brain, highlights how digitising tests designed to measure the progression of motor symptoms in people with Huntington's disease can provide a sensitive and reliable way to track changes in the function of patients.

We have all heard of antibodies - proteins produced by our bodies to bind to viruses or bacteria, marking them for elimination by the immune system. But not all of us are familiar with aptamers: short segments of DNA or RNA that are designed to bind, like antibodies, to specific targets. Synthetic and inexpensive to produce, aptamers are attractive alternatives to antibodies for biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics.

Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified the optimal fermentation conditions for pulses - the dried edible seeds of legumes - that increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content.

Using the bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as the microorganism, the team fermented pulses obtained from varying concentrations of black bean, black-eyed pea, green split pea, red lentil and pinto bean flours.

In the quest to design vaccines that better help the body's immune system fight disease, scientists are always looking for more tools for their arsenal. The strong antibody responses generated by vaccines provide an important first round of defense, but "you always want to have a backup plan," says Biomedical Graduate Studies Ph.D. student Emily A. Aunins, considering viruses mutate to evade antibody responses that become widespread in a population.

Results from a new clinical trial suggest that a high-fiber plant-based diet could benefit patients at risk for developing multiple myeloma, the second most common type of blood cancer. The study showed that the diet was not only feasible and well-received but also improved several factors that could potentially delay the progression of precancerous conditions that can lead to multiple myeloma.