Cancer cells can "infect" nearby healthy cells

Healthy cells next to tumors can support cancer growth like stem cells, a new study shows.
The discovery was led by professor Levi Waldron of the American institute of medicine. The researchers used a new technique to study the tissues around tumors, known as tumor microenvironments, which are closely related to the growth and spread of cancer.
"Our new technology allows us to analyze cell changes in the tumor microenvironment with great precision," Waldron said. We found that healthy cells in the tumor microenvironment returned to a stem cell state to support cancer growth." "Healthy cells are getting stem cell-like features by getting relevant proteins from neighboring cancer cells," explains Waldron.

The researchers hope the technique will be used by other scientists to better understand local changes caused by cancer, which could lead to newer treatments for the disease. This is not limited to cancer, though, as similar methods allow scientists to study the interactions between different cell types in the body.

Significance of fatty acid binding protein in early diagnosis of Intestinal Ischemia

Fatty acid binding protein (FABP), a member of the cytoplasmic fatty acid binding protein family, is widely distributed in mammalian cardiac muscle, small intestine, liver and other tissue cells, and has different types in different tissues.
FABP was isolated from the gut for the first time, accounting for 2% of intestinal protein. With the in-depth understanding of FABP, it is found that multiple FABPs can be expressed in the same cell. For example, two FABPs can be expressed in intestinal tissues: intestinal type (I-FABP) and liver type (l-FABP). I/ l-FABP is mainly expressed in villi cells. The basic function of FABP is to promote the transport of long-chain fatty acids in cells, and its binding with long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) is 1:1. FABP also plays a role in regulating gene expression by mediating fatty acid transduction signals to peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR), and plays a protective role in myocardium with high concentration of LCFA.
Among various intestinal diseases, I-FABP is of great significance for the early diagnosis of intestinal diseases such as acute intestinal ischemia, graft rejection, necrotizing enteritis, etc. Although I/ l-FABP cannot be detected in the serum of normal people, when intestinal mucosa is injured, I-FABP is released into the blood, leading to the increase of plasma I-FABP concentration. Serum I-FABP was identified by ELISA as a sensitive and specific biochemical marker for intestinal mucosal injury. I-FABP can not only be detected in peripheral bleeding after intestinal injury, but also has a good correlation with the degree of intestinal ischemia. Therefore, I-FABP is a sensitive indicator of early intestinal ischemia.

Although I-FABP is increasingly applied in the diagnosis of intestinal ischemia, there is no further stud......

Methods to determine cell age

Do you know how old you are？What about your cells？Are they the same age？To solve this problem, a team of researchers at the University of California is developing a way to accurately age cells, a result that could eventually help clinicians assess the health effects of aging and suggest ways to slow it down.

Mihue Jang, a PhD in molecular biology at the University of California, led the study. The multidisciplinary team of engineers and clinicians examined dermal cells from men and women aged between 2 and 86 years under the skin's surface. The researchers hope to design a system that can measure various factors in cells through computational analysis. Based on this information, they can determine an individual's biological age more accurately. "We have combined some of the classic biological markers of aging to try to further elucidate the physiological properties of aging cells." Dr. Mihue Jang said.
Accurate systems allow clinicians to predict the extent to which cells age when treating age-related diseases, allowing doctors to recommend treatments or lifestyle changes, such as exercise or diet changes. This work may help clinicians make skin transplants more successful by matching cells from the donor and transplant site, and predict the progression of some age-related diseases. Mihue Jang and her team hope the work will enable clinicians to measure a person's health.

Too much coffee can trigger migraines

Drinking three or more caffeinated drinks a day can trigger migraines, according to a new study published in the American journal of medicine. The results were consistent even after controlling for daily changes in alcohol intake, stress, sleep and other related factors.
"According to our study, two caffeinated drinks a day cannot be said to be unrelated to the onset of migraines, but three or more doses may be associated with a higher incidence of headaches," said lead researcher Frank Bullard. Migraine is a disabling primary headache, a common pain disorder affecting about 500 million people worldwide. In addition, limited scientific evidence suggests that migraines can also be triggered by weather or lifestyle factors, such as sleep disturbances and stress.
About 85 percent of Americans consume about 183 milligrams of caffeine a day. Although caffeine is an important trigger for migraines, the effect depends on the dose and frequency. So caffeine can cause illness, but it also has an analgesic effect.
The researchers analyzed data from 78 adults with sporadic migraines. Participants completed records twice a day for six weeks, reporting their intake of caffeinated beverages, as well as lifestyle factors and the timing and characteristics of migraines. The study compared the incidence of migraines and the number of days each participant consumed caffeinated beverages. The data showed that participants typically experienced an average of three headaches a month and 65 per cent of headache sufferers drank three or more cups a day. The results showed that the effect of caffeinated beverages on headache risk was significant when taken three or more times during the day. Further studies are needed to examine the potential effects of caffeine on subsequent onset of symptoms in the next few hours and the interactions between sleep, caffeine, environmental factors and migraine headaches.

New cancer drugs keep cancer cells asleep forever

British scientists have discovered for the first time a new anti-cancer drug that can put cancer cells to a permanent sleep, stopping the growth and spread of tumors without causing harmful side effects to other cells.
The new drug offers an alternative for cancer patients, and preliminary studies have shown great potential to halt cancer progression and delay recurrence in blood and lung cancer models. Dr Cedric Feschotte, of cancer treatment UK, said the new drug was the first to target KAT6A and KAT6B proteins, which play important roles in the development of cancer. Research suggests that inhibiting KAT6A and KAT6B may be a new way to treat cancer.
"A long time ago, we found that in animal models of cancer with lymphoma, KAT6A lived four times longer than normal cells. Dr Cedric Feschotte said: "recognizing that KAT6A is an important driver of cancer, we began to look for ways to inhibit proteins to treat cancer. And compounds that inhibit proteins have shown great potential in preclinical testing. This new anticancer drug is effective in preventing the development of cancer in the model."
Among anticancer treatments, chemotherapy and radiation can cause irreversible DNA damage. Cancer cells cannot repair the damage and die. The downside is that the treatment causes significant damage to healthy cells, with side effects such as nausea, fatigue, hair loss and susceptibility to infection, as well as long-term effects such as infertility and an increased risk of developing other cancers.
Dr Cedric Feschotte said: "this new cancer drug does not cause DNA damage, as chemotherapy and radiotherapy do, but just puts cancer cells into a permanent sleep. This new compound prevents cancer cells from dividing by blocking the flow of the cell cycle."
Dr Cedric Feschotte says the project has many hurdles to overcome and his team is now working to develop the compound into a drug suitable for human trials.