Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular disease, with over 16.4 million cancer-related deaths predicted by 2040. It is well known for its complex and dynamic nature, which has meant that it is challenging to study with 2D cell culture models, although understanding of the disease has improved.
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In autologous cell therapy, cells that originate in the patient are returned to the patient for therapeutic purposes. If we accept the obvious notion that human cells grow best in humans, the quicker cells can be re-implanted, the better. But many cells require complex, sustained manipulation to differentiate and mature into the cells required for therapeutic effect. Technologies that enable cells to differentiate and maturate autonomously in the patient following implant will enable this goal.
It is important to understand that there is a big difference between in vivo and in vitro stability of growth factors. In-vivo, growth factor half-lives can be just a few minutes. But the same growth factors have in-vitro half-lives of a few hours. What causes this?
In an exciting development, biomaterials scientists have used advanced biomaterials and an ingenious manufacturing method to produce co-axial extruded, cellularized blood vessels incorporating cells derived in situ from fat stem cells from the patient.
As well as actual, canonical time marked by ticking of a clock, time can be marked by events. Pseudotime and canonical expression time are concepts used in the study of gene expression dynamics, particularly in the context of developmental biology and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).
The ability of cells to generate exosomes varies significantly between different types of cells. Cancer cells, for example, reliably yield large amounts of exosomes when grown in culture. Immune cells and MSCs are also relatively high-yielding. But what about exosome ingestion?
Scientific fraud, while not extremely common, is a significant concern within the scientific community. Does the lack of reproducibility point to a greater problem?
Drug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) is challenging. CNS drugs, for example, that are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) cannot be delivered orally or intravenously. Developing drug delivery technologies that can address the specific challenges of delivery to the CNS is a very active area of research. The interaction between drugs and immune cells modulates pharmacodynamics. A new paper from researchers at Keele University explores the interaction between a candidate drug microparticle technology and brain immune cells.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, can be used therapeutically. Rion, a company spun out of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently began phase II trials to evaluate the use of a powdered formulation of platelet-derived exosomes to treat diabetic foot ulcers.
