New research has identified proteins from gut bacteria, called Sel1-like proteins, that have the potential to help the body get rid of excess oxalate, an organic substance linked to kidney stones, kidney disease, and other health problems. Sel1-like proteins help the cell in assembling large molecular complexes important for cell function. Dr Hatim Hassan from the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States, is part of a team of scientists researching whether these proteins and their derived peptides could reduce blood and urinary oxalate levels to prevent and/ or treat hyperoxalemia (high blood oxalate), hyperoxaluria (high urine oxalate) and related disorders (including kidney stones).

Dr Norio Mitsuhashi, former Professor of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, leads revolutionary clinical research into optimising stereotactic body radiation therapy for lung cancer. Dr Mitsuhashi and his colleagues examine whether routinely available patient and tumour characteristics can predict respiratory tumour motion, a critical source of uncertainty in high precision radiotherapy. Their findings suggest that respiratory motion cannot be reliably inferred, and must instead be measured directly in every patient.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy offers life-saving potential, particularly against blood cancers, but severe side effects such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) limit its safety. These toxicities are linked to uncontrolled CAR expression levels on the T-cell surface. Led by Professor Abraham P. Lee, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have developed an advanced microfluidic system, called the Acoustic-Electric Shear Orbiting Poration (AESOP) platform, to precisely control the dose of genetic material delivered into primary T cells. This innovation promises safer, more homogeneous, and highly effective cellular immunotherapies.

For people with special healthcare needs, something as basic as visiting a dentist can be nearly impossible. A ground-breaking paper by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) exposes the scale of this crisis. By outlining potential paths forward, Dr Ray Stewart and Dr Ben Meisel offer hope for significant improvements in access to essential dental care.