A team of researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Rogel Cancer Center at the University of Michigan has developed a new strategy to improve immunotherapy treatments.

The protein p53 is mutated in many cancer cells, meaning it can no longer fulfill its protective function against tumor development. A team of scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt, along with the universities of Marburg, Cologne, and Zurich, has now succeeded in developing a type of mini-antibody (known as DARPins) that restores p53 functionality in the laboratory. These mini-antibodies can stabilize many p53 mutants and could therefore be suitable as therapeutic agents for a wide range of cancers in the future.

Cure, the premier healthcare innovation ecosystem, is launching the Cure Innovation Index, the first data-driven framework to measure how effectively U.S. biomedical institutions translate scientific discovery into real-world healthcare solutions and treatments. The Index sets a new standard for measuring translational performance based on the full set of factors required to move innovation from discovery to early research to clinical and commercial impact. The Index ranks the top 303 U.S. academic institutions, selected from more than 6,000 nationwide, and provides benchmarked comparisons and customized improvement recommendations, making translational performance visible, comparable, and actionable. 

It is the first known protein kinase with the ability to activate using both the usual cellular fuel, ATP, and its waste product, ADP.

The research is published in ‘Nature Communications’.

This study reveals a novel multimodal mechanism for anti-photoaging by a topical lotion (JDY). Integrating transcriptomics, cellular assays, and clinical imaging, the authors demonstrate that JDY coordinates three key pathways: upregulating glutathione metabolism (GSTA4, GSTM2) to alleviate oxidative stress, activating TGF-β/Smad signaling (TGFBR1, SMAD3) to boost collagen/elastin synthesis, and suppressing MAPK/AP-1 (FOSL1, MMP1) to reduce matrix degradation. In UVA-irradiated fibroblasts, JDY enhances COL1 and ELN by ~14% and inhibits MMP-1. Clinical data show improved elasticity, hydration (+31.7%), and reduced wrinkles, providing a mechanism-based paradigm for anti-aging formulation development.

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people are undernourished or malnourished. A new study by the Universities of Bonn and Ghana shows how rising incomes and urbanization are influencing dietary patterns of local populations. According to this, the wealthier segments in African countries are increasingly eating like people in Western industrialized countries. Although this improves their supply of important nutrients, it also has a greater negative impact on the environment. The study also looks at how this environmental damage can be minimized. It has been published in the journal ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’