Combining gemcitabine and MSC delivering soluble TRAIL to target pancreatic adenocarcinoma and its stroma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still has a poor response to therapies, partly due to their cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Here, we investigate the synergistic impact of a combinatory approach between a known chemotherapy agent, such as gemcitabine (GEM), and gene-modified human mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) secreting the pro-apoptotic soluble (s)TRAIL (sTRAIL MSCs) on both PDAC cells and CAFs. The combo significantly impacts on PDAC survival in 2D and 3D models.

Fast boulder fracturing by thermal fatigue detected on stony asteroids.

Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders' fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission.

The geology and evolution of the Near-Earth binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos.

Images collected during NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission provide the first resolved views of the Didymos binary asteroid system. These images reveal that the primary asteroid, Didymos, is flattened and has plausible undulations along its equatorial perimeter. At high elevations, its surface is rough and contains large boulders and craters; at low elevations its surface is smooth and possesses fewer large boulders and craters.