BCG-Induced DNA Methylation Changes Improve Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Immunity Without Decreasing the Risk for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection.

Background: The BCG vaccine induces trained immunity, an epigenetic-mediated increase in innate immune responsiveness. Therefore, this clinical trial evaluated if BCG-induced trained immunity could decrease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related frequency or severity.

Methods: A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of healthcare workers randomized participants to vaccination with BCG TICE or placebo (saline).

Suppressing Tymovirus replication in plants using a variant of ubiquitin.

RNA viruses have evolved numerous strategies to overcome host resistance and immunity, including the use of multifunctional proteases that not only cleave viral polyproteins during virus replication but also deubiquitinate cellular proteins to suppress ubiquitin (Ub)-mediated antiviral mechanisms. Here, we report an approach to attenuate the infection of Arabidopsis thaliana by Turnip Yellow Mosaic Virus (TYMV) by suppressing the polyprotein cleavage and deubiquitination activities of the TYMV protease (PRO). Performing selections using a library of phage-displayed Ub variants (UbVs) for binding to recombinant PRO yielded several UbVs that bound the viral protease with nanomolar affinities and blocked its function.

Telomerase in cancer- ongoing quest and future discoveries.

Telomerase, constituted by the dynamic duo of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), the catalytic entity, and an integral RNA component (TERC), is predominantly suppressed in differentiated human cells due to postnatal transcriptional repression of the TERT gene. Dysregulation of telomerase significantly contributes to cancer development via telomere-dependent and independent mechanisms. Telomerase activity is often elevated in advanced cancers, with TERT reactivation and upregulation of TERC observed in early tumorigenesis.

Radiation Segmentectomy for Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma is Curative.

In this Expert Opinion, we provide the rationale for concluding that radiation segmentectomy (using RADSEG method), a technique of administrating ablative, complete necrosis-inducing trans-arterial Yttrium-90 (Y90) radiotherapy in limited-disease burden hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is curative. Currently, curative options for early stage and other carefully selected HCC patients include transplantation, resection, and ablation. Because of issues with organ availability, co-morbidities preventing resection, and tumor size and location limiting ablation, other treatments are necessary for this selected patient population.

Patient and Health Care Professional Perspectives on Barriers to and Facilitators of Healthy Eating and Exercise Among Patients With Cancer at a Safety-Net Oncology Clinic: A Qualitative Exploration.

Purpose: Previous studies have described barriers to and facilitators of healthy eating and being physically active among patients with cancer, but few have done so in a safety-net community oncology setting.

Materials And Methods: To understand multiple perspectives on the factors that influence diet and exercise in patients with cancer treated in safety-net settings, we conducted semistructured interviews between June and November 2021 with patients and oncology clinic medical professionals at a safety-net hospital in Houston, TX.

Results: Thirty-one patients with cancer were interviewed, including 11 patients on active treatment and 20 survivors, as well as 21 care health care professionals.