M. Teresa Villanueva

2 days ago | nature.com | M. Teresa Villanueva

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells have revolutionized the treatment of haematological malignancies. However, challenges — such as relapse owing to insufficient persistence of CAR-T cells — remain. Now, writing in Science Translational Medicine, Bailey et al. have demonstrated that knocking out the interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) receptor (IFN-γR) in CAR-T cells enhances their efficacy and persistence in models of haematological and solid tumours.

3 weeks ago | nature.com | M. Teresa Villanueva

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe motor neuron disease caused by mutations in the SMN1 gene, leading to reduced SMN protein levels. Although postnatal treatments like the antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) nusinersen improve outcomes, they do not prevent irreversible damage that has already occurred in utero. Writing in Science Translational Medicine, Borges et al.

1 month ago | nature.com | M. Teresa Villanueva

Allergic asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide, yet most treatments manage symptoms without addressing the root cause: an overactive immune response to benign allergens. Conventional allergen immunotherapy, which aims to establish allergen-specific tolerance through repeated introduction of native allergens, can achieve durable responses, but treatment is long, patient adherence is low, and there is a risk of anaphylaxis. Gómez Medellín and Ung et al.

Mar 28, 2025 | nature.com | M. Teresa Villanueva

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 28 March 2025 The rising prevalence of obesity has prompted the development of effective weight loss treatments. Several peptide hormones have a key role in appetite regulation and metabolism, but the discovery and characterization of peptides is challenging owing to their low abundance and the difficulty in identifying bioactive fragments. Using a computational approach, Coassolo et al.

Mar 11, 2025 | nature.com | M. Teresa Villanueva

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 11 March 2025 The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is often an obstacle for the effective delivery of therapeutics to the brain. Intranasal delivery through the olfactory epithelium (OE) can bypass the BBB but some limitations still exist when it comes to the high dose needed and the limited area of the nose. Now, Shen et al. have developed a system to improve intranasal delivery by harnessing the commensal bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp).