Research News

Scientists have identified a drug that can be repurposed to prevent COVID-19 in research involving a unique mix of ‘mini-organs’, donor organs, animal studies and patients.

Novartis announced the pivotal Phase III PSMAfore study with PluvictoTM (INN: lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan), a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligand therapy, met its primary endpoint. Pluvicto demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) in patients with PSMA–positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after treatment with androgen-receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) therapy, compared to a change in ARPI1.

Adding a daily ounce of peanuts or about a teaspoon of herbs and spices to your diet may affect the composition of gut bacteria, an indicator of overall health, according to new research from Penn State. In two separate studies, nutritional scientists studied the effects of small changes to the average American diet and found improvements to the gut microbiome.

While scientists have struggled in the past to create an effective vaccine against HIV, a novel vaccine design strategy being pursued by researchers at Scripps Research, IAVI, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (Fred Hutch) and the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC) shows new promise, according to data from a first-in-human clinical trial.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common types of epilepsy worldwide. Although symptomatic medications are available, one-third of TLE patients remain unresponsive to current treatment, so new drug targets are critically needed. A research team co-led by a City University of Hong Kong (CityU) neuroscientist recently identified and developed a new drug candidate that has potential for effectively treating TLE by suppressing neuroinflammation.

A common chemotherapy drug could carry a toxic inheritance for children and grandchildren of adolescent cancer survivors, Washington State University-led research indicates.

Scientists have revealed the inner workings of a key protein involved in a wide range of cellular processes – potentially paving the way for better and less toxic cancer drugs.

Using Nobel Prize-winning microscopy techniques, the researchers revealed how the tankyrase protein switches itself on and off by self-assembling into 3D chain-like structures.

With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have succeeded in designing synthetic DNA that controls the cells' protein production. The technology can contribute to the development and production of vaccines, drugs for severe diseases, as well as alternative food proteins much faster and at significantly lower costs than today.

With the continuous emergence of new variants and the risk of new strains of the virus, the development of innovative therapies against SARS-CoV-2 remains a major public health challenge. Currently, the proteins that are on the surface of the virus and/or are involved in its replication are the preferred therapeutic targets, like the Spike protein targeted by vaccines. One of them, the non-structural protein Nsp1, had been little studied until now.