R&D

Structural studies offer "how-to" guide for designing cancer drugs

To design drugs that stall the growth of aggressive cancers, it helps to know the structures of the proteins that are revving the cancers' engines.

In a series of three papers published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Scripps Research scientists have illuminated the three-dimensional structure of phosphoinositide 3-kinase alpha (PI3Kα), a protein often mutated in cancer cells.

New clue discovered for how and why cancer cells spread

An international team of researchers has uncovered a new mechanism that enables cancer cells to move throughout the body, providing a potential new target to stop metastasis, which is responsible for 90 per cent of cancer deaths.

In findings published in Nature, the team identifies that cancer cells move faster when they are surrounded by thicker fluids, a change that occurs when lymph drainage is compromised by a primary tumour.

Nanotech strategy shows promise for treating autoimmune disease

Scientists at Scripps Research have reported success in initial tests of a new, nanotech-based strategy against autoimmune diseases.

The scientists, who reported their results on November 23, 2022, in the journal ACS Nano, engineered cell-like "nanoparticles" that target only the immune cells driving an autoimmune reaction, leaving the rest of the immune system intact and healthy.

Remdesivir reduces COVID-19 mortality in a real-world setting

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of clinical research resulting in the development of a variety of vaccines and treatments, although the efficacy of some remains controversial. Now, researchers from Japan report that remdesivir, a drug whose effectiveness has been debated, appears to make a big difference in Japanese patients with COVID-19 who received corticosteroids in the ICU.

Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment

Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are more likely to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery, until now. Researchers of the University of Bristol-led study, published in Science Advances today, say their findings could lead to the development of a pan-coronavirus treatment to defeat all coronaviruses - from the 2002 SARS-CoV outbreak to Omicron, the current variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as dangerous variants that may emerge in future.

Machine learning can help predict patient response to cancer immunotherapy

Predicting which patients will respond well to treatment is a quandary that has plagued the field of cancer immunotherapy for more than four decades. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy are one step closer to solving that problem.

Making melanoma immortal: Pitt scientists discover key genetic step in cancer’s race to live forever

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.

In a paper published in Science this week, Jonathan Alder, Ph.D. and his team describe how they discovered the perfect combination of genetic alterations that tumors use to promote explosive growth and prevent their own demise, a development that could change the way oncologists understand and treat melanoma.

Research & Development

Structural studies offer "how-to" guide for designing cancer drugs

New clue discovered for how and why cancer cells spread

Nanotech strategy shows promise for treating autoimmune disease

Remdesivir reduces COVID-19 mortality in a real-world setting

Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment

Machine learning can help predict patient response to cancer immunotherapy

Making melanoma immortal: Pitt scientists discover key genetic step in cancer’s race to live forever

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