Cells

Organ development has traditionally been tricky to study, thanks largely to the difficulty in getting sensors in there without damaging the organs. Now, researchers from Harvard have developed a way to create “cyborg organoids” by integrating nanoelectronics into cell cultures.

​Considering how important an organ it is, it’s a shame that the heart is so bad at repairing itself. Stem cells are an emerging solution, and now researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Washington have combined heart muscle cells and supportive cells to help mend broken hearts.

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell, but nature sometimes has room for improvement. Now a team from the Institute for Protein Design and the University of California San Francisco has created a new artificial protein that acts like a switch, turning regular cells into “smart cells.”

One of the main reasons cancer is hard to beat is because it spreads through the body. But now researchers from Vanderbilt University have developed a new technique that uses nanoparticles to enhance immune cells, helping them hunt down cancer cells migrating through the bloodstream.

The biggest missing link lies between non-living matter and the earliest living cells. A new study has found a mechanism that may have helped droplets transition into early cells, taking place in ponds, puddles and waterways that dried out and refilled repeatedly over time.

The heart is notoriously fragile, having quite a lot of difficulty in repairing itself after sustaining damage. But now, researchers from the University of Calgary have found a previously unidentified cell population in the fluid that surrounds the heart, which seems to help heal injuries.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to a new cancer drug called selinexor. This pill has been found to be successful in treating multiple myeloma in patients that hadn’t had success with other treatments. But at this very early stage the drug comes with some major caveats.

A patient’s immune system can often react badly to bone marrow transplants. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) may help, but they too can be cleared out by immune cells. Now, a Harvard team has shown that coating MSCs in a thin hydrogel can protect them, making bone marrow transplants more successful.

CAR-T cell therapy involves reprogramming T-cells to hunt down cancer, which has been effective against blood cancers but not so much against solid tumors. Now, scientists at MIT have found a way to supercharge the technique with a vaccine booster.

Researchers at MIT have identified a surprising new dynamic drug duo to fight cancer, combining two classes that are already beginning to be widely used. Interestingly, the combo appears to work in a completely different way to what scientists previously expected.

Cytokines are small proteins that could help fight cancer, but they're toxic to healthy cells. Now, researchers from MIT have managed to keep cytokines contained in cancer cells, attaching them with proteins that stick like Velcro.

As part of the Human Cell Atlas initiative researchers have mapped the different types of cells in the lungs, and spotted some crucial new differences between healthy and asthma-affected airways that could inspire some new drug targets.