• Ketogenic Gene Therapy Allows Heart Regeneration and Rejuvenation

  Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with myocardial infarction (heart attack) being the most common cause. Heart transplantation is still the optimal treatment for the disease, but there are insufficient donors to meet the demands. In mammals, including humans, cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) cannot keep dividing and forming new cells after birth, meaning we are unable to regenerate the heart after injury. However, some animals such as salamander and zebrafish can successfully regenerate the heart after injury, using a process called “dedifferentiation”. A new study from Taiwanese researchers has shown that ketone production in the heart links to this dedifferentiation process and can allow for regeneration after injury. This study was recently published in Circulation.

• A receptor-binding domain-based nanoparticle vaccine elicits durable neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern

  ASD254 is a COVID-19 nanoparticle vaccine jointly developed by Dr. Mi-Hua Tao's research group in the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Academia Sinica and Ascendo Biotechnology. This vaccine uses the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein, which composes most of the immune-dominant epitopes for inducing neutralizing antibodies, as antigen and utilizes ASD25x nanoparticle vaccine platform to enhance its immunogenicity.

• Robust Stem Cell Expansion by Hydrogelated Feeder Cell Technology

  A research group led by Dr. Che-Ming Jack Hu of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Academia Sinica in Taiwan developed an innovative cell-derived biomaterial system for robust expansion of stem cells, which has significant therapeutic implication in regeneration medicine and tissue engineering.
  

• The gut microbiome affects the response to medical implants

  The gut microbiome and antibiotic use can affect the outcomes of surgery where biomaterials are implanted, according to a new study published by Taiwanese researchers. Every year, millions of biomaterials are implanted into patients, including cosmetic and reconstructive implants, hip and knee replacements, artificial blood vessel grafts, polymer meshes. Prof. Patrick CH Hsieh, the corresponding author said: “Our gut microbiome is formed from trillions of bacteria living inside our digestive system. ...more

• Fibroblasts Drive Metabolic Reprogramming in Pacemaker Cardiomyocytes

  The sinoatrial node (SAN) initiates all heartbeats within the heart. The diseases of SAN result in catastrophic consequences from bradycardia to cardiac arrest. The sinoatrial node (SAN) is characterized by the microenvironment of pacemaker cardiomyocytes (PCs) encased with fibroblasts. A complex interaction between PCs and their microenvironment (especially fibroblasts) critically determines SAN function.
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• A novel targeted therapy against acute myeloid leukemia

  Although chemotherapy has been improved for leukemia, patients with MLL-rearranged (MLL-r) leukemia exhibit poor treatment response and prognosis. SCUBE1 plays a critical pathogenic function in MLL-r leukemia by acting as a FLT3 coreceptor in facilitating the interaction between FLT3 ligand and FLT3, augmenting downstream LYN-AKT activation for leukemic cell survival and proliferation. ...(Read More)