LMU researchers have shown that a particular type of immune cell acts more flexibly than previously thought - with potential for new therapeutic approaches.

As part of the innate immune system, dendritic cells are in the body's first line of defense against infections. They detect pathogens and coordinate the immune response.

Working toward more effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccines, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed two strains of mycobacteria with "kill switches" that can be triggered to stop the bacteria after they activate an immune response. Two preclinical studies, published, Jan. 10 in Nature Microbiology, tackle the challenge of engineering bacteria that are safe for use in controlled human infection trials or as better vaccines.

Vaccines to treat cancers have been around since 2010, the first being approved for prostate cancer, and another in 2015 for melanoma. Since then, many therapeutic - as opposed to preventive - cancer vaccines have been in development, but none approved. One hurdle is the difficulty in finding antigens in tumors that look foreign enough to trigger an immune response.

New research suggests that antidepressants can accelerate cognitive decline in people with dementia. At the same time, some drugs appear to be less harmful than others, which can help doctors make better treatment decisions, according to the study published in BMC Medicine.

Antidepressants are often used to relieve symptoms such as anxiety, depression, aggressiveness, and sleep disturbances in dementia sufferers.

For the average person, living at high altitude - where oxygen is sparser than at sea level - can have health benefits ranging from lower rates of heart disease to increased endurance. But for those born with inherited mitochondrial diseases, who rarely survive past childhood, low-oxygen air like that found at mountain peaks could be life-saving, potentially extending their lifespan and eliminating their symptoms.

A research team co-led by scientists at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson found that an osteoporosis drug might counter a rare genetic mutation underlying a type of heart disease. The results were published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and could have implications for treating other rare diseases.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a group of disorders defined by weak cardiac muscles.

Scientists at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) have developed a ground-breaking technique to deliver therapeutic molecules directly to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier.

Led by Dr Haosheng Shen, lead researcher from the Synthetic Biology Translational Research Programme, NUS Medicine and the NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI) this novel approach utilises a naturally occurring nasal bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp),