Proteomimetic Polymers Trigger Potent Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses to Limit Tumor Growth.

Elicitation of effective antitumor immunity following cancer vaccination requires the selective activation of distinct effector cell populations and pathways. Here we report a therapeutic approach for generating potent T cell responses using a modular vaccination platform technology capable of inducing directed immune activation, termed the Protein-like Polymer (PLP). PLPs demonstrate increased proteolytic resistance, high uptake by antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and enhanced payload-specific T cell responses.

Analysis of Female Participant Representation in Registered Oncology Clinical Trials in the United States from 2008 to 2020.

Background: Female underrepresentation in oncology clinical trials can result in outcome disparities. We evaluated female participant representation in US oncology trials by intervention type, cancer site, and funding.

Materials And Methods: Data were extracted from the publicly available Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.

Biomolecular Densely Grafted Brush Polymers: Oligonucleotides, Oligosaccharides and Oligopeptides.

In this Minireview, we describe synthetic polymers densely functionalized with sequence-defined biomolecular sidechains. We focus on synthetic brush polymers of oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides, and oligopeptides, prepared via graft-through polymerization from biomolecule functionalized monomers. The resulting structures are brush polymers wherein a biomolecular graft is positioned at each monomer backbone unit.

Selective use of Molecular Testing Based on Sonographic Features of Cytologically Indeterminate Thyroid Nodules: A Decision Analysis.

Background: Molecular diagnostics can allow some patients with indeterminate thyroid nodule cytopathology to avoid diagnostic hemithyroidectomy; however, the testing is costly. We hypothesized that molecular testing with the intention of preventing unnecessary diagnostic hemithyroidectomy would be cost-effective if this test was applied selectively based on sonographic risk of malignancy.

Methods: A Markov model was constructed depicting a 40-year-old patient with a cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodule.

Astrocytic adenosine receptor A2A and Gs-coupled signaling regulate memory.

Astrocytes express a variety of G protein-coupled receptors and might influence cognitive functions, such as learning and memory. However, the roles of astrocytic Gs-coupled receptors in cognitive function are not known. We found that humans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) had increased levels of the Gs-coupled adenosine receptor A2A in astrocytes.

Apolipoprotein E4 causes age- and sex-dependent impairments of hilar GABAergic interneurons and learning and memory deficits in mice.

Apolipoprotein (apo) E4 is the major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). ApoE4 has sex-dependent effects, whereby the risk of developing AD is higher in apoE4-expressing females than males. However, the mechanism underlying the sex difference, in relation to apoE4, is unknown.