From CAR T to CAR macrophage: The improvement of CAR cell therapy in solid cancer treatment The Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR T) cell technology is a revolutionary therapy and has shown promising clinical response in cancer treatment. In 2017, anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy against B cell malignancies was approved by US FDA. However, […]
Electrographic seizures and other epileptiform patterns are common in patients with COVID-19 and associated with adverse outcomes By: Dr. Maria Niu There have been 137,866,311 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,965,707 deaths in the world, according to the WHO reports of April 15, 2021(https://covid19.who.int). In addition to the typical pulmonary complication, neurological manifestations were also […]
Obesity-induced gut microbiome composition is linked with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in mice and human after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) By: Dr. Maria Niu GVHD is a potentially severe immune disorder related to HSCT. In brief, the donor T cells recognize the recipient as non-self or foreign, therefore trigger a wide range of immune […]
Gene Therapy improved vision in patients with leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) By: Dr. Maria Niu Mitochondria, powerhouses of eukaryotic cells, is a certain kind of cytoplasmic organelle and plays a critical role in energy production. Mitochondria dysfunction results in a broad spectrum of multisystem disorders. LHON is a mitochondrial neurodegenerative disease typically caused by […]
Lumasiran, a siRNA Therapeutic drug for primary hyperoxaluria type1(PH1) By: Dr. Maria Niu PH1 is a rare genetic disease caused by deficiency of the liver peroxisomal enzyme alanine:glyoxylate-aminotransferase (AGT), resulting in overproduction of oxalate. The clinical manifestation includes kidney stones, widespread organ damage, and kidney failure. Liver transplantation is applied in PH1 patients to provide the […]
The Lancet: 34% COVID-19 survivors have neurological and psychiatric disorders By: Dr. Maria Niu Previous case reports had described the altered mental problems and psychiatric disorders in people diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. In the latest study (https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00084-5) reported by The Lancet Psychiatry on April 6, 2021, the authors confirmed a high incidence of neurological and […]
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) promotes the response of check point inhibitors (CPI) to melanoma patients By: Dr. Maria Niu Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a procedure that delivers fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy individual into another individual with various diseases or disorders. It has been recently tested in infection, immune conditions, and […]
Progress and limitation of therapeutic approaches targeting DMD By: Dr. Maria Niu Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X—a chromosome-linked recessive disorder caused by mutations in the gene coding muscle cytoskeletal protein dystrophin. Because of the X-linked inheritance, nearly 1 in 3,500 males are affected worldwide, while females occasionally develop symptoms. There is no curative […]
True or false: Virus variants weaken the effectiveness of COVID 19 Vaccine Coronavirus vaccines have significantly reduced the infectiousness of COVID 19 cases and showed significant protective efficacy against COVID 19. However, the recent reported COVID19 variants B.1.1.7 in the UK and B.1.351 in South Africa are of concern because of their more accessible and […]
Emerging cell and gene therapy may offer sustained long-term correction for LSD patients Dr. Maria Niu Lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) are rare inherited metabolic diseases and characterized by the accumulation of substrates in excess in various organs’ cells due to lysosomes’ defective functioning. The combined incidence of LSDs is between 1 in 5000 to 1 […]