Molecular Awards

  Researchers at ETH Zurich recently explained the role of a molecular complex that orchestrates the production of proteins in our cells. They now show that this complex also controls the processing of proteins that compact DNA. These new insights could form the basis for new approaches in cancer treatment, but they also critically extend the current understanding of protein biosynthesis. The protein factories in cells—ribosomes—have a central task: during a process known as translation, amino acids are linked together according to messenger RNA, forming a growing peptide chain that later folds into a functional protein. However, before a newly emerging protein can even begin to fold, it must be processed and transported to the correct location within the cell. As soon as it emerges from the ribosome, enzymes can remove its initial amino acid, attach small chemical groups, or determine to which cellular compartments the protein should be sent. These activities already take place du...

  The combination therapy demonstrated substantial clinical benefits in trial data, with patients receiving talazoparib plus enzalutamide experiencing extended survival and delayed disease progression. Overall survival reached 45.8 months versus 37 months for the single-agent treatment – representing an improvement of nearly 9 months. Additionally, progression-free survival showed even more dramatic gains, extending to 33.1 months compared with 19.5 months on enzalutamide alone – a benefit of more than 13 months. Clinical trials found that people taking talazoparib with enzalutamide lived significantly longer and had more time before their cancer got worse. Overall survival was 45.8 months compared with 37 months for those on enzalutamide alone – an increase of nearly nine months. The time people live without their cancer getting worse also increased: 33.1 months compared with 19.5 months – an increase of over a year. “For these men, having talazoparib appr...

  Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used pain relievers in the United States, commonly taken for headaches, muscle aches, and menstrual pain. New research suggests this familiar medication may have effects that go beyond pain relief. Scientists are now examining whether it could also play a role in lowering the risk of certain cancers. vidence suggests that ibuprofen’s possible benefits may extend beyond endometrial cancer. Research has linked its use to a lower risk of bowel, breast, lung, and prostate cancers. For example, people who previously had bowel cancer and took ibuprofen were less likely to experience recurrence. It has also been shown to inhibit colon cancer growth and survival, and some evidence even suggests a protective effect against lung cancer in smokers. Inflammation is a hallmark of cancer and ibuprofen is, at its core, anti-inflammatory. By blocking COX-2 enzyme activity, the drug reduces production of prostaglandins, chemical me...

  The core principle of QEC is to flag physical errors while not destabilizing the underlying logical quantum information. QEC circuits contain measurements that can localize physical errors to a "detecting region", containing a few qubits over a few QEC cycles. In other words, when an error is flagged, the detecting region specifies where and when that error could have occured. By combining many overlapping detecting regions, we can narrow down the location of physical errors and prevent any impact on the logical quantum information. In standard surface code circuits, these detecting regions form a square tiling. Error correction circuits deform these detecting regions in spacetime. In the standard code, the detecting region tiling always returns to its starting point. In dynamic codes, the tiling of detecting regions changes each cycle. As expanded upon below, we demonstrated three new circuits featuring this periodic re-tiling of the detecting regions:  hexagonal ,  wa...

  The study found that common genetic variants can speed up or slow down this process by up to fourfold, and that certain expanded sequences are linked to serious diseases including kidney failure and liver disease. Why it matters More than 60 inherited disorders are caused by expanded DNA repeats: repetitive genetic sequences that grow longer over time. These include devastating conditions like Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy, and certain forms of ALS. Most people carry DNA repeats that gradually expand throughout their lives, but this instability and what genetic factors control it hadn’t been fully analyzed within large biobanks. This study demonstrates that DNA repeat expansion is far more widespread than previously recognized and identifies dozens of genes that regulate this process, opening new avenues for developing treatments that could slow disease progression. What the study did Researchers from UCLA, the Broad Institute, and Harvard Medical School analyzed whole...

  When does that seasonal suntan become a risk for melanoma? At what point could those extra pounds trigger diabetes? Could severe head injuries tip one over into Alzheimer’s disease? In the larger scheme of things, the risk factors include genetics, lifestyle and age, with the answers often only coming after the unfortunate diagnoses.   However, a record of the physical slights, injuries, bad choices we make and abuses we experience exists as stress at a cellular level. UC Santa Barbara researchers have found a way to map this cellular “stress memory landscape,” which interprets the stresses that cells have already undergone and predicts the cells’ future reaction to stressors.   “We’ve developed a platform that could allow us to eventually figure out how all stress-related diseases occur,” said molecular biologist   Max Wilson,  a senior author of a paper that appears on the cover the journal Cell System. In addition to demystifying the onset of cellular ...