MedTech News:

DISEASE ADVANCES

New imaging combines light and sound to watch brain oxygen supply in real time

The brain is a black box of densely packed neurons, blood vessels and immune cells, all locked away in a sealed skull. WashU’s Song Hu has dedicated his career to unlocking that puzzle box by developing new ways to “see” inside. His team’s newest innovation could give researchers a new view of how brain cells and blood vessels work together and what happens when the coupling between the two breaks down.

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Scientists engineer ready-to-use cancer-fighting T cells for solid tumors

T-cell receptor, or TCR, therapy is a cancer treatment that genetically reprograms immune cells, called T cells, to hunt down cancer with precision. It’s similar to another treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, but with one key difference: CAR T-cell therapy can only spot proteins that naturally appear outside a cancer cell. TCR therapy, however, can also catch small protein fragments from inside the cell that are carried to the surface and displayed like little name tags.

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Bacteria that can make testosterone: What could that mean for prostate cancer?

Many prostate cancers depend on androgen hormones, including testosterone, to grow. That is why treatments for advanced disease often try to reduce testosterone production or block its effects. Now, scientists have identified an unexpected participant in androgen chemistry: a bacterium from the human urinary tract that can convert the steroid precursor DHEA into testosterone under laboratory conditions.

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