The authors showed that TGF-β signaling in smooth muscle cells during embryogenesis and early postnatal life is essential for normal aortic development. This observation left open the possibility that antagonism of TGF-β signaling in adult life might not be harmful. To address this question, they used a genetic approach to ablate TGF-β signaling in smooth muscle cells of adult (11-month-old) mice. Ablation of smooth muscle cell TGF-β signaling caused structural and functional abnormalities of the proximal aorta.
A study published in Nature Genetics brings scientists closer to unraveling the genetic mechanisms underpinning autoimmune disease risk. The work “Prioritization of autoimmune disease-associated genetic variants that perturb regulatory element activity in T cells” pinpoints many regions of the genome that vary between individuals (termed genetic variants) that could potentially cause autoimmune disease. Most of these regions lay outside of…
Faraday Pharmaceuticals Inc., today announced the enrollment of the first patient in its Iocyte AMI-3 study — a Phase 3 clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of FDY-5301 in reducing cardiovascular (CV) death and heart failure in anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous intervention (PCI). The trial is being conducted under a Special Protocol Agreement reached with the…
Federal research agencies strive to fund a healthy percentage of the grant applications they receive, ensuring that scientists can pursue their best ideas. A steadily rising budget is their preferred method for maintaining a robust success rate. But a fall in applications can have the same effect. A new report from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on its merit review…
Your immune system’s ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease. These cloned immune cells cannot be infinitely created, and a key hypothesis of a new University of Washington study is that the body’s ability to create these cloned cells falls…
What’s going on in our brains when we are fooled by an optical illusion? How do our neurons take shortcuts to avoid sensory overload while taking in the world around us? What happens when our predictions of the world don’t match reality? New research projects are underway at the Allen Institute to address these questions through OpenScope, the shared neuroscience…
Dr. Meghan Koch’s work in mice on how breast milk’s immune proteins shape infant immune system, long-term health could someday help human babies. Much like actual infants, infant immune systems are short on experience. They need to be taught how to differentiate friend from foe, when to fight and when to make peace. These early lessons can have long-term implications…
The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) awarded grants to three researchers its 2022 Annual Meeting. ISHLT grants fund research to improve the care of patients with advanced heart and lung disease through transplantation, mechanical circulatory support (MCS), and innovative therapies. The ISHLT/O.H. Frazier Award in MCS Translational Research was presented to Maziar Khorsandi, MD, FRCS C/Th, cardiothoracic surgeon and Assistant…
BBI interviewed Drs. Evan Eichler and Danny Miller, as well as postdoctoral fellow Dr. Glennis Logsdon, on the first complete sequence of the human genome, announced in late March in a series of papers published in Science. BBI: What is the backstory behind this breakthrough paper of the completion of sequencing the human genome? Eichler: When we were finishing the…
IPD scientists report in Nature Biotechnology the design of custom protein-based biosensors that can detect coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies in blood. This research, which builds on prior sensor design technology developed in the Baker lab, was led by Baker lab postdoctoral scholars Jason Zhang, PhD, and Hsien-Wei (Andy) Yeh, PhD. They utilized the de novo designed LOCKR (Latching, Orthogonal Cage/Key pRotein) system as…
