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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:59am

'Quartet Nanocage' vaccine found effective against coronaviruses that haven't even emerged yet

Researchers have developed a new vaccine technology that has been shown in mice to provide protection against a broad range of coronaviruses with potential for future disease outbreaks—including ones we don't even know about. The results are published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

This is a new approach to vaccine development called "proactive vaccinology," where scientists build a vaccine before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges.

The new vaccine works by training the body's immune system to recognize specific regions of eight different coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and several that are currently circulating in bats and have potential to jump to humans and cause a pandemic.

Key to its effectiveness is that the specific virus regions the vaccine targets also appear in many related coronaviruses. By training the immune system to attack these regions, it gives protection against other coronaviruses not represented in the vaccine—including ones that haven't even been identified yet.

For example, the new vaccine does not include the SARS-CoV-1 coronavirus, which caused the 2003 SARS outbreak, yet it still induces an immune response to that virus.

We don't have to wait for new coronaviruses to emerge. We know enough about coronaviruses, and different immune responses to them, that we can get going with building protective vaccines against unknown coronaviruses now.

The new "Quartet Nanocage" vaccine is based on a structure called a nanoparticle—a ball of proteins held together by incredibly strong interactions. Chains of different viral antigens are attached to this nanoparticle using a novel "protein superglue." Multiple antigens are included in these chains, which trains the immune system to target specific regions shared across a broad range of coronaviruses.

This study demonstrated that the new vaccine raises a broad immune response, even in mice that were pre-immunized with SARS-CoV-2.

The new vaccine is much simpler in design than other broadly protective vaccines currently in development, which the researchers say should accelerate its route into clinical trials.

The underlying technology they have developed also has potential for use in vaccine development to protect against many other health challenges.

Proactive vaccination using multiviral Quartet Nanocages to elicit broad anti-coronavirus responses. Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01655-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:55am

The new method uses a nanoparticle made of a biodegradable polymer, previously developed by the team, coupled with two drugs also developed by them that take aim at cancer's energy sources. Because cancer cells often have a different form of metabolism than healthy cells, stifling their metabolism can be an effective way to kill tumors without harming other tissues.

One of these drugs is a modified version of a classic chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, which kills cancer cells by damaging DNA in rapidly growing cells, effectively halting their growth. But tumor cells can repair their DNA, sometimes leading to cisplatin resistance.

The research team modified the drug to shift its target from nuclear DNA, the DNA that makes up our chromosomes and genome, to mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are our cells' energy sources and contain their own, much smaller genomes—and, importantly for cancer therapeutic purposes, they don't have the same DNA-repair machinery that our larger genomes do.

Because cancer cells can switch between different energy sources to sustain their growth and proliferation, the researchers combined their modified cisplatin, which they call Platin-M and attacks the energy-generating process known as oxidative phosphorylation, with another drug they developed, Mito-DCA, that specifically targets a mitochondrial protein known as a kinase and inhibits glycolysis, a different kind of energy generation.

 Dhar, Shanta, Simultaneous targeting of peripheral and brain tumors with a therapeutic nanoparticle to disrupt metabolic adaptability at both sites, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318119121. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318119121

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:53am

Researchers develop a nanoparticle that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier

Researchers  have developed a nanoparticle that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Their goal is to kill primary breast cancer tumors and brain metastases in one treatment, and their research shows the method can shrink breast and brain tumors in laboratory studies.

Brain metastases, as these secondary tumors are called, most commonly arise from solid tumors like breast, lung and colon cancer and are often associated with a poor prognosis. When cancer breaches the brain, it can be difficult for treatment to follow, in part because of the blood-brain barrier, a near-impenetrable membrane that separates the brain from the rest of the body.

In teh present study, by loading the particle with two prodrugs that target mitochondria, the energy production center of the cell, the researchers showed that their method could shrink breast and brain tumors in preclinical studies.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:45am

Wild animals suffer chronic stress, fertility problems and change their migration routes in response to noise. Confined animals are often exposed to high levels of human-generated noise which they cannot escape. Research shows noise causes confined animals pain, fear and cognitive problems.

https://www.aru.ac.uk/news/noise-pollution-is-hurting-animals#:~:te....

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:44am

Laboratory studies and field research have identified four main ways in which animals are adversely affected by noise pollution: (i) hearing loss, with noise levels of 85 Decibel or higher; (ii) masking, such as the inability to hear important environmental and animal signals; (iii) increased heart rate and breathing; and (iv) behavioral effects. There is considerable intra-species variability, and this varies according to the characteristics of the noise. This may lead to territory abandonment and loss of reproduction.

Marine animals such as whales, which depend on sound for communication, can be affected by noise in various ways. Marine mammals live in a habitat that transmits little light but through which sound propagates well and quickly, even over great distances. For this reason, marine mammals rely on sound to communicate, explore the environment, find their prey and avoid obstacles. Research had shown that higher ambient noise levels also caused the animals to vocalize louder (“Lombard Effect”) and that the duration of the humpback whales’ song was longer when there was low-frequency sonar in the vicinity .

Exposure to noise can produce a wide range of effects on marine mammals. The low-level sound may be audible to animals without producing any visible effects; higher-intensity sound can disturb the animals, causing them either to move away or may produce other behavioral changes. Noise can increase the risk of death by modifying the delicate balance between predators and prey, interfering with the use of sounds in communication, especially in relation to reproduction and navigation.

Part 2

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9819367/#:~:text=Labor...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:40am

Humans annoy invertebrates

Researchers have known for a while that noise from human activities is disruptive to aquatic life like dolphins and whales, but a new study by University of Denver researchers finds that human-generated noise can mask the harmony of cricket song, with profound effects across 15 species traits.

Among their findings, they report that at a certain noise level, human-generated sounds can reduce the rate of survival to adulthood and affect the number of hatched offspring. The researchers exposed crickets to four levels of sound often encountered in natural settings: silence, 50 decibels, 60 decibels and 70 decibels. At 70 decibels, a level associated with vacuum cleaners and busy streets, survival to adulthood was reduced.

Previous studies have found that human-generated sounds cause changes to birdsong as birds attempt to make themselves heard over traffic, but this is among the first studies to examine human influence on invertebrates as species numbers are collapsing.

Gabrielle T. Welsh et al, Consistent traffic noise impacts few fitness-related traits in a field cricket, BMC Ecology and Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02190-2

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:32am

Nanotech opens door to future of insulin medication

An international research team has developed a system using nanotechnology that could allow people with diabetes to take oral insulin in the future. The researchers say the new insulin could be eaten by taking a tablet or even embedded within a piece of chocolate.

The new nano carrier, tested in mice, rats and baboon animal models, could help people with diabetes avoid side-effects linked to insulin injections such as hypoglycemia (a low blood sugar event, when too much insulin has been injected).

These animal studies have shown that the greatest strength of the nano-scale material is that it can react to the body's blood sugar levels. The coating dissolves and releases the insulin when there is a high concentration of blood sugar and importantly does not release the insulin in low blood sugar environments.

The new oral insulin uses a type of nano-scale material that is 1/10,000th the width of a human hair. The material acts similarly to acid resistant coating on tablets, which protects it from being destroyed by stomach acid. But this new coating instead surrounds individual insulin molecules and becomes a "nano carrier"—acting like a courier to ferry insulin molecules in the body to the places it needs to act.

Nicholas J. Hunt et al, Oral nanotherapeutic formulation of insulin with reduced episodes of hypoglycaemia, Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01565-2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2024 at 9:26am

A new study managed to accurately date findings from 1st Temple period found in the City of David

A team of archaeologists, antiquities specialists, Bible scholars and mass spectrometry specialists, affiliated with several institutions in Israel working with one colleague from the U.K. and another from the U.S., has dated material uncovered in the First Temple in the city of David, in Jerusalem, to an unpreceded level of accuracy.

In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how they used radio-carbon dating, tree ring analysis and other techniques to accurately date artifacts collected from a dig site in one of the oldest parts of Jerusalem.

The ancient history of Israel, and most particularly the city of Jerusalem, has taken on increased significance over the past several decades as religious and political entities have used it to make claims about current rights to certain parts of the city. One such site is believed to be what has been described in ancient texts as the City of David.

The work by the team involved analysis of artifacts (such as seeds and a bat skull) found among strata dated to between 770 and 420 BC—which has been named the Hallstatt Plateau. The team performed 103 carbon-14 measurements, providing high-resolution results.

The researchers also dated material in the same strata using tree-ring measurements, which allowed for annual resolution. After dating the artifacts, the researchers looked for and found associations between the nature of the artifacts and reported historical events mentioned in several ancient texts, including the Bible.

The team found that they were able to date many of the artifacts to historical events, which allowed them to verify that the city was first settled sometime between the 12th and 10th century BC, and that it expanded westward thereafter. They also found evidence of an earthquake and the rebuilding that occurred thereafter during the 8th century BC—and the Babylonian destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Johanna Regev et al, Radiocarbon chronology of Iron Age Jerusalem reveals calibration offsets and architectural developments, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321024121

Israel Antiquities Authority announcement: www.facebook.com/AntiquitiesEN … Ymyxcnz6GBXxmejmabdl

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2024 at 10:36am

 Parrots prefer live calls over pre-recorded videos

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2024 at 10:32am

In translational patient-based studies, the team also analyzed human tissue, blood and stool samples from Weill Cornell Medicine's Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Live Cell Bank. This analysis revealed that patients with inflammatory bowel disease, like the mice fed inulin, had higher levels of bile acids in their blood and stool and excessive levels of eosinophils in their intestine compared with people without the condition.

The results suggest that the inflammation cascade similar to that in the mice fed inulin is already primed in humans with inflammatory bowel disease, and dietary uptake of inulin may further exacerbate the disease.
These unexpected discoveries may help explain why high-fiber diets often exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease in patients. It may also help scientists develop therapeutic diets to reduce symptoms and gut damage in patients with inflammatory bowel disease or related conditions.

New therapies are urgently needed for these increasingly common gut conditions. Existing biologic therapies can increase the risk of developing infections or autoimmune diseases, which cause the immune system to attack the body. 
The present study shows that not all fibers are the same in how they influence the microbiota and the body's immune system.
These findings could have broader implications for the delivery of precision nutrition to individual patients to promote their overall health based on their unique symptoms, microbiota composition and dietary needs.

Mohammad Arifuzzaman et al, Dietary fiber is a critical determinant of pathologic ILC2 responses and intestinal inflammation, Journal of Experimental Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1084/jem.20232148

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