The Hippo pathway is involved in regulating contact inhibition of proliferation and organ size control and responds to various physical and biochemical stimuli. It is a kinase cascade that negatively regulates the activity of cotranscription factors YAP and TAZ, which interact with DNA binding transcription factors including TEAD and activate the expression of target genes. In this study, we show…
Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are reporting today how B cells, a type of blood cell critical to the immune system, can be efficiently engineered to make antibodies against specific diseases, working much like a vaccine. Antibodies are tiny, Y-shaped proteins that lock onto bacteria, viruses and fungi encountered in the body. B cells are the natural factories…
Naturally occurring RNAs are known to exhibit a high degree of modularity, whereby specific structural modules (or motifs) can be mixed and matched to create new molecular architectures. The modular nature of RNA also affords researchers the ability to characterize individual structural elements in controlled synthetic contexts in order to gain new and critical insights into their particular structural features…
Forward progress sometimes requires a backward glance. A twenty-five-year-old blood sample from an infant infected with HIV could hold clues to modeling a better HIV vaccine, according to work published in Nature Communications by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The sample, which held a special HIV-blocking protein that can develop after HIV infection, was taken during a groundbreaking HIV transmission…
Ever since Alyssa Clements can remember, she’s wanted to be a doctor. Her father is a chiropractor in south New Jersey, and his business partner was Clements’ own doctor when she was younger. “I grew up hanging out in their office,” Clements said. “My father’s patients always felt like part of our family. I always imagined myself being able to…
Like dirty diapers and sleepless nights, ear infections are just one of those things that come with having a young child. Sometimes the problem is obvious, complete with ear-tugging and screaming. Other times it’s not so obvious — leading to unnecessary doctor’s visits. Researchers at the University of Washington have a clever fix for this problem. They’ve developed a smartphone…
“May the fourth be with you” just took on a whole new meaning for UW researchers. In the middle of the night on May 4, otherwise known as “Star Wars Day,” the sky lit up as a SpaceX spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida headed toward the International Space Station (ISS). Aboard that spacecraft are 72 credit card-sized chips…
T cell-mediated immune memory provides the host with the capacity to rapidly and efficiently respond to pathogen re-encounter, often without symptoms or disease. In addition to conventional memory T cell responses that are pathogen-specific, there also exist a subset of unconventional memory T cells that share many of the characteristics of conventional memory T cells without the initiating requirement of cognate antigen recognition. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism whereby regulatory T cells limit the...
Understanding the structure–function relationships between diverse cell types in a complex organ environment requires detailed in situ reconstruction of cell-associated molecular properties in the context of 3D, macro-scale tissue architecture. We recently developed clearing-enhanced 3D (Ce3D), a simple and effective method for tissue clearing that achieves excellent transparency; preserves cell morphology, tissue architecture, and reporter molecule fluorescence; and is robustly…
The UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is delighted to announce this year’s Investment of Catalytic Funds to Access Resources (iCFAR) Awardees. The Investment of Catalytic Funds to Access Resources Awards (iCFARs) are to provide enhanced support for short-term innovative HIV-related pilot projects that leverage existing CFAR services, data, and/or specimens in excess of what can be offered to a single…
