CBEHx

The use of oncolytic viruses is an immunotherapeutic strategy used to infect and kill cancer cells. A wide range of oncolytic viruses (natural and genetically engineered) has been considered as prospective therapeutic agents for cancer. The oncolytic viruses preferentially infect the tumor cells, replicate within them and destroy them. The dying tumor cells release new infectious viruses or virions that subsequently infect the remaining tumor cells and destroy them. While some oncolytic viruses have natural preference for tumor cells, the engineered viruses have modified viral attachment protein to allow them to preferentially attach onto tumor cells.

Missense Mutation: A genetic change that swaps one amino acid for another in a protein. This can alter the protein’s function, potentially causing disease. Nonsense Mutation: A genetic change that converts an amino acid codon into a stop codon, leading to a prematurely shortened protein. This often results in a nonfunctional protein. These definitions highlight the impact of single nucleotide changes on protein function and how they can lead to various genetic disorders.

A study published on October 31 in Science highlights that reducing added sugars during the first 1,000 days following conception—covering pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life—can lower the likelihood of developing diabetes and hypertension later in adulthood. Read this article at Tadeja Gracner et al. ,Exposure to sugar rationing in the first 1000 days of life protected against chronic disease.Science0,eadn5421DOI:10.1126/science.adn5421 #neuroscience #science #biology #medicine #cbehx

In the majority of eukaryotes, mitochondria are always inherited in a maternal fashion.

Transfer RNA (tRNA) is a type of RNA molecule that plays a crucial role in the process of translation, which is the synthesis of proteins from amino acids in cells. Each tRNA molecule has a specific three-nucleotide sequence called an anticodon, which pairs with a complementary codon on the messenger RNA (mRNA) strand. At the other end of the tRNA is an attachment site for a specific amino acid. As the ribosome moves along the mRNA during translation, tRNA molecules bring the appropriate amino acids in sequence, facilitating the formation of a growing polypeptide chain. This ensures that proteins are built accurately according to the genetic instructions encoded in the mRNA.

Mounting media is essential for adhering a coverslip to a tissue section or smear, providing protection against damage. There are two main types of mounting media: organic and aqueous. These media can also include DAPI, a nuclear counterstain. Imaging of the slide can be performed using a fluorescent microscope or a confocal microscope. To prevent photobleaching, it is important to avoid prolonged exposure to light.

Ligand-gated ion channels are one of the four primary types of drug receptors. However, pharmacology recognizes various other ion channels that can also serve as drug targets and are often referred to as “receptors.” These channels, although not directly interacting with neurotransmitters, can have their ability to open and close influenced by drugs. Ions cannot easily penetrate the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane, so they require transporters or channels to facilitate their entry. Ion channels are proteins with water-filled pores that can exist in two fundamental states: open and closed. Ions move through these pores following their electrochemical gradient, which includes both the chemical gradient (difference in solute concentration across the membrane) and the electrical gradient (difference in charge across the membrane). In living cells, the interior is typically electrically negative, with higher concentrations of potassium (K+) and lower concentrations of sodium (Na+) compared to the extracellular environment. Sodium ions (Na+) tend to move into the cell due to both their concentration and electrical gradients, as positive charges are attracted to the negatively charged interior. However, this dynamic is not always straightforward. For example, potassium ions (K+) tend to move into the cell because of the electrical gradient (positive charges moving inward), but the concentration gradient drives potassium ions out of the cell, demonstrating a more complex interaction.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have developed a versatile AI model, similar to ChatGPT, that can handle a variety of diagnostic tasks for different types of cancer. Read this article at https://lnkd.in/gRU-3AtN

Once variants are identified and translated into peptides from DNA data, neoantigen prediction software calculates binding affinities between HLA Class I & II (encoded by MHC genes) and these peptides. #Bioinformatics #Neoantigen

A researcher who completed numerous brain scans found that her cerebral cortex volume was 1% smaller while using hormonal contraceptives. Read this article at https://lnkd.in/dQi9SeUh