Negative Association of Gulf War Illness Symptomatology with Predicted Binding Affinity of Anthrax Vaccine Antigen to Human Leukocyte (HLA) Class II Molecules.

Background: Anthrax is a serious disease caused by () with a very high mortality when the spores of are inhaled (inhalational anthrax). Aerosolized spores can be used as a deadly bioweapon. Vaccination against anthrax is the only effective preventive measure and, hence, the anthrax vaccine was administered to United States (and other) troops during the 1990-91 Gulf War.

Association between resting-state synaptic activity and overall performance in a cognitive visuoconstructive task as revealed by magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Performance of a task involves the engagement of various brain areas, as evidenced by the effects of lesions of particular brain areas and the results of functional neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies. Here we tested the hypothesis that overall task performance would depend on the level of ongoing, resting-state change in synaptic activity of participating areas, such that the degree of success of the outcome would be higher, the higher the resting-state activation. For that purpose, we used 248-sensor magnetoencephalography (MEG) in healthy people to obtain estimates of resting-state synaptic activity in various areas and then correlated those estimates to the average performance score in three visuospatial tasks assessed outside the MEG session using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), namely the Trails, Cube, and Clock Drawing (TCCD) tasks.

Preliminary Study on Lutetium-177 and Gold Nanoparticles: Apoptosis and Radiation Enhancement in Hepatic Cancer Cell Line.

This study investigates a novel approach toward enhancing the efficacy of Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) radiopharmaceutical therapy by combining it with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the HepG2 hepatic cancer cell line. Lu-177, known for its effective β radiation, also emits gamma rays at energies (113 keV and 208 keV) near the photoelectric absorption range, suggesting potential for targeted and localized radiation enhancement when used in conjunction with AuNPs. Thus, HepG2 cells were treated at two different activity levels (74 MBq and 148 MBq), with Lu-177 alone, with a combination of Lu-177 and AuNPs in two sizes (10 nm and 50 nm), while some received no treatment.

Direct administration of human leucocyte antigen (dHLA) molecules into tumour sites: proposal for a new immunotherapy for cancer.

Natural elimination of cancer cells is mediated by human leucocyte antigen (HLA) Class I and II molecules [1] that bind to tumour protein fragments, move to the tumour cell surface and engage CD8+ lymphocytes for killing the tumour cell (HLA Class I) and CD4+ lymphocytes for antibody production against the tumour cell (HLA Class II). HLA Class I molecules are present in all nucleated cells, whereas Class II molecules are present only in antigen presenting cells, such as macrophages. These defence mechanisms are suppressed by tumour cells; this tumour-induced immunosuppression is partly reversed by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), thus allowing the HLA-based tumour elimination to be active again; indeed, the success of ICI therapy partly depends on the HLA makeup of the recipient [2, 3].

Increased Resting-State BOLD Turnover (TBOLD) is Associated With Decreased Cognitive Performance During Aging.

Increasing evidence documents turnover of the resting-state blood-oxygen-level dependent signal (TBOLD) as a key measure of local cortical brain status. Here we evaluated contemporaneous and lagged associations between TBOLD and cognitive function in 711 participants in the Human Connectome Project on Aging (HCP-A; 316 males and 395 females, age range 36-90 years). We found that TBOLD was negatively associated with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Total scores and with performance on 2 subscales, Delayed Recall and Visuospatial/Executive Function, controlling for sex, age, and handedness.