A team of researchers led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has developed a novel delivery system for messenger RNA (mRNA) using extracellular vesicles (EVs). The new technique has the potential to overcome many of the delivery hurdles faced by other promising mRNA therapies.   In the study, the researchers use EV-encapsulated mRNA to initiate and sustain collagen production for several months in the cells of photoaged skin in laboratory models. It is the...

Testing the contents of a simple sample of wastewater can reveal a lot about what it carries, but fails to tell the whole story, according to Rice University engineers. Their new study shows that composite samples taken over 24 hours at an urban wastewater plant give a much more accurate representation of the level of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in the water. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotic resistance is a global health threat responsible...

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a novel immunotherapy combination, targeting checkpoints in both T cells and myeloid suppressor cells, that successfully reprogrammed the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and significantly improved anti-tumor responses in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer.   In this study, researchers used comprehensive immune profiling in mouse and human pancreatic cancers to systematically identify mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance and investigate potential therapeutic targets. They found that neutralizing several distinct immunosuppressive mechanisms...

Imagine a 68-year-old patient who has COVID-19. Most likely she will also have high blood pressure and kidney problems as these issues often go together in older adults. When she goes to see a doctor, the treatment cannot just focus on the COVID-19 infection, but also needs to consider the other health conditions, and factor them into an overall health risk and treatment plan.   To help health care professionals find the connections between health...

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are presented compelling findings from three clinical trials. These oral presentations highlight encouraging results to advance the use of targeted therapies and novel combinations in multiple types of leukemia, including high-risk and newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in older and younger patients and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).   Older or high-risk patients with newly diagnosed AML respond well to triplet therapy Researchers observed encouraging response rates in older or high-risk...

The chemotherapy-free regimen of ponatinib and blinatumomab achieved high response rates and reduced the need for an allogeneic stem cell transplant for patients with recently diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to results from a Phase II trial. One of the lead investigators, Nicholas Short, M.D., assistant professor of Leukemia, presented the findings recently.   “Traditionally, Ph+ ALL responds poorly to standard chemotherapy and is high-risk for relapse, so these survival results and reduced...

A Rice University laboratory, with a boost from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will develop a once-a-year treatment for patients infected with HIV and other infectious diseases. The Rice lab of bioengineer Omid Veiseh has received a $3 million foundation grant to develop implants that produce and deliver monoclonal anti-HIV antibody (mAb) therapeutics for at least a year. Michael Diehl, an associate professor of bioengineering and chemistry at Rice, is co-investigator on the grant.   The project joins Veiseh’s other implantable...

Using a novel response-adapted ultra-low dose radiation therapy strategy, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center observed a 90% complete response rate in patients with orbital indolent B-cell lymphoma.   This study, led by Chelsea C. Pinnix, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology, is the first to prospectively examine the use of a response-adapted strategy in this setting, allowing patients who have a complete response to ultra-low radiation doses — 4 Gray (Gy) in two fractions — to forego...

The cells in your body are pretty good at monitoring themselves, but they don’t always signal what’s going on to the outside world. A Rice University bioengineer has plans to enhance their ability to communicate. Jerzy Szablowski, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering, is developing technology to measure gene expression in deep tissues, particularly in the brain. His noninvasive, site-specific reporters will be secreted by cells to report on...

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have developed a way to study gestational disease thanks to a breakthrough that mimics pregnancy using miniature organ models made up of human cells embedded onto silicon surfaces.   The team, led by Dr. Ramkumar Menon, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, used these devices to successfully test drugs for conditions like preterm birth and pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. This breakthrough in preclinical research is...