Cancer drugs struggle to reach a tumour's core. Cambridge researchers develop cellular 'Trojan horse' to deliver cancer drugs more effectively.
As ubiquitous messengers, exosomes play a role in how our bodies manage energy. From adipocytes to the gut microbiome, new insights into how exosomes modulate human metabolism might be providing a glimpse into the future of metabolic disease treatment.
It is said that a drug without side effects is a drug without efficacy. Could the same be true of artificial sweeteners? Are we hoping too much that the sweetness we crave can be satisfied without the normal cost in calories, cavities and surges in blood sugar levels?
Both hormones and exosomes regulate physiological processes by transmitting signals to distant cells. Although clearly distinct, these two systems interact in complex and important ways.
Look hard enough and microscopic crystals are common in animals, including humans. Naturally occurring crystals in-vivo play important roles in health as well as disease. Recombinant protein crystals are also being used, or are in development, as drug delivery systems providing therapies to treat diseases including diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis and macular degeneration.
When proteins are used therapeutically, each protein and its target pair present unique challenges for delivery. Placing proteins in the right place (targeting) for a sufficient period (sustained delivery) to achieve efficacy requires solutions appropriate to each drug.
Pattern recognition is one of the mechanisms by which the immune system discriminates pathogens from self. Immune cells are not simply identifying common pathogenic patterns, but instead, respond to fragments of pathogens released during unsuccessful pathogenic adaptation activities.
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.
