Cell Guidance Systems Blog

If you are an adult, there is a high probability you already have liver disease. Even if you are of average weight and teetotal. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) now affects more than 30% of the world's population, a number that has risen rapidly over the last 20 years. Cytokines are key modulators of liver disease and understanding their role may be key to improved therapies.

By 2050, the world population is expected to exceed nine billion, putting future global food security at risk. Animal-based food production contributes significantly to climate change. Although plant-based foods have a much lower environmental footprint than their counterparts, they do not satisfy everyone’s tastes or nutritional requirements. In this instance, switching towards an insect-based diet might just be the sustainable option we need to address food insecurities while also being greener on the planet.

As pathogens evolve, they develop ingenious survival strategies. Perhaps some of the most fascinating are the pathogens that have hit upon the strategy of taking up residence in the very cells tasked with their termination: phagocytic immune cells. This strategy also makes the task of clearing infections using drugs very challenging.

Cell Guidance Systems is pleased to announce that we have been selected as a UK Life Sciences Innovator 2023. The Life Sciences Innovator Showcase is a community of UK companies bringing innovative solutions as they 'Go Global' and connect with partners around the world.

Glycosylation is the addition of glycan groups to proteins. This affects about 50% of proteins, including exosomal proteins, modulating their function. This impacts and reflects states of health and disease. As well as characterizing exosome glycosylation states for diagnostic purposes, glycosylation control strategies for therapeutic applications are in development.

Recombinant proteins provide a powerful research tool and have also transformed the treatment of many diseases. From the smallest peptide to larger proteins, such as antibodies, how proteins are delivered and reach their target is critical to their function and just as important as their activity on the target.

Major differences in cell behaviour develop when cells are cultured on petri dishes or hard material surfaces instead of their native biological environment. Biomaterials, particularly hydrogels, which can bridge this gap, are a key area of cell research.

Preserving maternal RNA transmitted by an oocyte to its progeny is an essential aspect of oogenesis, yet not much is known about how this is achieved in mammalian species. In a recent issue of Science, researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Gottingen, Germany [Cheng et al. (2022)] uncovered the MARDO, a novel structure that may help answer this longstanding question.

Living cellular structures that can respond to their environment are being developed. These structures seek to revolutionise the methods of traditional material technology and offer ways to address real-life challenges in medicine, biotechnology and sustainability.

A major challenge of working with exosomes and other types of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is their characterization and agreeing parameters that define each group. Recently, this task has become even more challenging with a dawning realization that proteins (and nucleic acids) loosely associated with the surface of exosomes, once thought to be artefacts of purification, are functionally important.