Rice scientists reengineer cancer drugs to be more versatile

Rice University scientists have enlisted widely used cancer therapy systems to control gene expression in mammalian cells, a feat of synthetic biology that could change how diseases are treated.
Photo Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Engineered PROTAC-CID Systems

The Core Concept: Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), highly specific small molecules traditionally used as cancer therapies, have been reengineered by scientists to function as genetic switches that precisely control and induce gene expression in mammalian cells.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: While standard PROTACs function by targeting specific oncogenic proteins and flagging them for targeted degradation, this novel approach repurposes their molecular infrastructure to achieve chemically induced dimerization (CID). In this reengineered system, the small molecules act as inducers that bind two proteins together to turn targeted gene expression on or off, granting unprecedented spatial and temporal control over genetic activation rather than destroying the target protein.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• PROTACs (Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras): Small molecules traditionally utilized to target and disintegrate harmful, disease-causing proteins without prompting drug resistance.
• Chemically Induced Dimerization (CID): A biological mechanism in which two distinct proteins bind together exclusively in the presence of a specific third molecule, known as an inducer.
• Temporal and Spatial Control: A regulatory framework where the natural metabolization of small molecules dictates the duration of gene expression (temporal), and localized delivery restricts activity to specific organs to prevent systemic toxicity (spatial).

The Scent of Discovery

 Gonzalo Otazu, Ph.D., examines the equipment used in the study.
Photo Credit: Steven Gaines

New research from the College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) could help explain how the sense of smell is impacted in individuals with autism.

Individuals with autism have an “insistence on sameness,” and often avoid unfamiliar elements, including new smells and foods, which can impact their quality of life. While many studies have focused on the behavioral features of autism, additional research is needed to help explain its sensory aspects.

A study led by Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences Gonzalo Otazu, Ph.D., published in the journal Nature Communications, analyzes a mouse model of autism and reports differences in the neurological processes responsible for smell.

Heart failure places a great strain on healthcare

Anna Norhammar, adjunct professor at KI.
Photo Credit: Ulf Sirborn

Patients with heart failure often suffer from co-morbidities, which places a great strain on the healthcare services, a multinational study published in Heart reports. The researchers, who are based at Karolinska Institutet, identify an urgent need to improve risk management of the disease.

Up to 64 million people around the world have heart failure a figure that is expected to rise as populations age and diagnostic methods improve.

According to the new study, there are no multinational studies describing heart failure patients and the consequences of the disease.   

“Given that we know that the incidence of heart failure increases with population age, a modern, broad view of what the heart failure population looks like, involving risks and costs, is important for all forms of care planning,” says Anna Norhammar, adjunct professor at the Cardiology Unit, Department of Medicine (Solna), Karolinska Institutet.

When the light is neither "on" nor "off" in the nanoworld

Illustration of the slit-shaped nanostructure in gold with quantum state highlighted.
Illustration Credit: Daniel Fersch / Universität Würzburg

Scientists at the Universities of Würzburg and Bielefeld detect the quantum properties of collective optical-electronic oscillations on the nanoscale. The results could contribute to the development of novel computer chips.

Whether the light in our living spaces is on or off can be regulated in everyday life simply by reaching for the light switch. However, when the space for the light is shrunk to a few nanometers, quantum mechanical effects dominate, and it is unclear whether there is light in it or not. Both can even be the case at the same time, as scientists from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and the University of Bielefeld show in the journal “Nature Physics.”

“Detecting these exotic states of quantum physics on the size scales of electrical transistors could help in the development of optical quantum technologies of future computer chips,” explains Würzburg professor Bert Hecht. The nanostructures studied were produced in his group.

Researchers identify new molecular mechanism key to planarian regeneration

These flatworms are capable of regenerating any part of their bodies, even their heads.
Photo Credit: Teresa Adell.

Planaria are freshwater flatworms that have become a key model for studying regeneration and stem cells, as they can regenerate any part of the body, even the head. But how does the animal know what part of its body is missing and what kind of tissue it needs to regenerate? Researchers from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) have studied the regeneration process of these animals and have identified how the modulation of the intercellular signaling pathway Wnt modifies chromatin, the set of genetic material that cells own in the cell nucleus. A few hours after an amputation, this mechanism lets the wound stem cells know the fate of the new tissue.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, involves researchers from the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville and the University of East Anglia (Norwich, England).

Four classes of planetary systems

Artist impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. A new architecture framework allows researchers to study an entire planetary system at the systems level. If the small planets within a system are close to the star and massive planets further away, such systems have ‘Ordered’ architecture. Conversely, if the mass of the planets in a system tends to decrease with distance to the star these systems are ‘Anti-Ordered’. If all planets in a system have similar masses, then the architecture of this system is ‘Similar’. ‘Mixed’ planetary systems are those in which the planetary masses show large variations. Research suggests that planetary systems which have the same architecture class have common formation pathways.
Illustration Credit: © NCCR PlanetS / Tobias Stierli

Astronomers have long been aware that planetary systems are not necessarily structured like our solar system. Researchers from the Universities of Bern and Geneva, as well as from the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS, have now shown for the first time that there are in fact four types of planetary systems. This classification will allow scientists to study planetary systems as a whole and to compare them with other systems. The results can be found in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

In our solar system, everything seems to be in order: The smaller rocky planets, such as Venus, Earth or Mars, orbit relatively close to our star. The large gas and ice giants, such as Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune, on the other hand, move in wide orbits around the sun. In two studies published in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, researchers from the Universities of Bern and Geneva and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS show that our planetary system is quite unique in this respect. 

Lung cancer study finds new target for treatment resistance after EGFR inhibitors

Monique Nilsson, Ph.D. | John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified CD70 as being highly expressed on drug-resistant cancer cells in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), highlighting a novel therapeutic target that could be used to eliminate resistant cells remaining after treatment with commonly used EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The study published today in Cancer Cell.

The preclinical research was led by Monique Nilsson, Ph.D., and corresponding author John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. The researchers discovered that CD70, a cell surface protein normally found on immune cells, is highly overexpressed in resistant cells as well as in the residual cancer cells immediately following TKI treatment. They demonstrated that CD70 can be effectively used to target these cells with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) or cell therapies in laboratory models.

“Residual cancer cells left over from TKI treatment are essentially a reservoir from which future resistant cells eventually grow,” Heymach said. “These findings set the stage for a really promising approach in which we may give initial effective therapies and immediately follow them with these CD70-targeting drugs to eliminate the remaining residual cells.”

Urban birds prefer native trees

Urban great tits prefer native trees for breeding
Photo Credit: Sandra Alekseeva

Small passerine birds, such as blue and great tits, avoid breeding in urban areas where there are many non-native trees. Chicks also weigh less the more non-native trees there are in the vicinity of the nest. This is shown in a long-term study from Lund University in Sweden.

City trees contribute to several important ecosystem services such as lowering local temperature and purifying air but are also homes to birds and insects. Vegetation, especially trees, is the primary managed biological component of a city’s ecosystem. It is therefore important to understand the consequences of our planning of parks and green spaces. To find out how different types of trees affect birdlife, a research team, led by Lund University, monitored 400 nest boxes in five parks in the Swedish city Malmö over a seven-year period.

The results, now published in the scientific journal, Oecologia, show that native trees – defined in the study as species that have been in the ecosystem for at least 700 years – provide more resources and are preferred by urban birds.

Researchers solve a 150-year-old mystery

A reconstruction - of the aetosaur assemblage in its habitat.
Illustration Credits: © J. Kowalski (drawing) and P. Janecki (coloring)

The Aetosaurs had a small head and a crocodile-like body. The land dwellers were up to six meters long and widely distributed geographically. They died out about 204 million years ago, at the end of the Triassic. In Kaltental near Stuttgart, Germany, an assemblage of 24 Aetosaurus ferratus individuals, only between 20 and 82 centimeters long, was discovered in 1877. Since then, scientists have been puzzling over whether they were juveniles or small adults. A team led by Elżbieta M. Teschner from the University of Bonn has now solved the mystery: Bone examination of two specimens shows that they are juveniles. The results have now been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Reptiles of the genus Aetosaurus ferratus were discovered in a quarry near Kaltental, now a district of Stuttgart, and were first described nearly 150 years ago. The assemblage of about 24 individuals was dated to be about 215 million years old. "What was striking was that the total body length was only between 20 and 82 centimeters," says Elżbieta M. Teschner, who is pursuing a doctorate in paleontology at the University of Bonn while also conducting research at the University of Opole (Poland). "Interestingly, they were also the only fossils found in the area," she adds.

A sense of purpose may have significant impact on teens' emotional well-being

Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner found in a study of more than 200 adolescents that feeling a sense of purpose had a significant impact on their emotional well-being. Those who scored high on purposefulness were more satisfied with their lives and experienced more positive emotions in general. 
Photo Credit: Fred Zwicky

Adolescents who feel a greater sense of purpose may be happier and more satisfied with life than peers who feel less purposeful, suggests a recent study of more than 200 teens.

Studies with adults have suggested that a sense of purpose in life is an integral component of well-being that fuels hope and optimism and has a variety of positive effects on individuals’ physical and mental health.

However, less is known about the effects of purposefulness in adolescents, who, while characteristically hopeful, are in the throes of developing their identities, making choices that reflect who they are and aspire to be, according to the study.

Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign led the current study, which examined how youths’ feelings of purposefulness related to their daily levels of life satisfaction and subjective well-being.