Putting the brakes on an enzyme might rescue neurons that are dying due to a type of Parkinson’s disease that’s caused by a single genetic mutation, according to a new Stanford Medicine-led study conducted in mice.
The genetic mutation causes an enzyme called leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, or LRRK2, to be overactive. Too much LRRK2 enzyme activity changes the structure of brain cells in a way that disrupts crucial communication between neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine and cells in the striatum, a region deep in the brain that is part of the dopamine system and is involved in movement, motivation and decision making.
“Findings from this study suggest that inhibiting the LRRK2 enzyme could stabilize the progression of symptoms if patients can be identified early enough,” said Suzanne Pfeffer, PhD, the Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor in Medical Sciences and a professor of biochemistry. Researchers can mitigate overactive LRRK2 using MLi-2 LRRK2 kinase inhibitor, a molecule that attaches to the enzyme and decreases its activity.
Pfeffer added that because the genetic mutation is not the only way to end up with overactive LRRK2 enzyme, the inhibitor treatment might help with other types of Parkinson’s disease or even other neurodegenerative diseases.
Pfeffer is the senior author of the study published in Science Signaling on July 1. Ebsy Jaimon, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in biochemistry, is the lead author. The work is part of a longstanding collaboration with Dario Alessi, PhD, at the University of Dundee in Scotland.
Cellular antennae
About 25% of Parkinson’s disease cases are caused by genetic mutations, and the single genetic mutation that makes the LRRK2 enzyme too active is one of the most common. An overactive LRRK2 enzyme causes cells to lose their primary cilia, a cellular appendage that acts like an antenna, sending and receiving chemical messages. A cell that has lost its primary cilia is like your mobile phone when the network is down — no messages come through or are sent.

In a healthy brain, many messages are sent back and forth between dopamine neurons in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra and the striatum. These cellular “conversations” are possible because dopamine neuron axons, which are tubular extensions coming off the cell body, reach all the way to the striatum to communicate with neurons and glia, cells that support neuronal function.
An important communication that is disrupted by too much LRRK2 enzyme activity occurs when dopamine neurons are stressed and release a signal in the striatum called sonic hedgehog (named after the cartoon character). In a healthy brain, it causes certain neurons and astrocytes, a type of glial support cell, in the striatum to produce proteins called neuroprotective factors. As their name suggests, these proteins help shield other cells from dying. When there is too much LRRK2 enzyme activity, many of the striatal cells lose their primary cilia — and their ability to receive the signal from dopamine neurons. This disruption in sonic hedgehog signaling means that needed neuroprotective factors are not produced.
“Many kinds of processes necessary for cells to survive are regulated through cilia sending and receiving signals. The cells in the striatum that secrete neuroprotective factors in response to hedgehog signals also need hedgehog to survive. We think that when cells have lost their cilia, they are also on the pathway to death because they need cilia to receive signals that keep them alive,” Pfeffer explained.
Restored cilia were unexpected
The goal of the study was to test if the MLi-2 LRRK2 kinase inhibitor reversed the effects of too much LRRK2 enzyme activity. Because the neurons and glia that were examined in this study were fully mature and no longer reproducing through cell division, the researchers were initially unsure whether cilia could regrow. Working with mice with the genetic mutation that causes overactive LRRK2 and symptoms consistent with early Parkinson’s disease, the scientists first tried feeding the mice the inhibitor for two weeks. There were no changes detected in brain structure, signaling or the viability of the dopamine neurons.
Recent findings on neurons involved in regulating circadian rhythms, or sleep-wake cycles, inspired the researchers to try again. The primary cilia on those cells — which were also no longer dividing — grew and shrank every 12 hours.

“The findings that other non-dividing cells grow cilia made us realize that it was theoretically possible for the inhibitor to work,” Pfeffer said.
The team decided to see what happened after mice with overactive LRRK2 enzyme consumed the inhibitor for a longer period of time; Pfeffer described the results as “astounding.”
After three months of eating the inhibitor, the percentage of striatal neurons and glia typically affected by the overactive LRRK2 enzyme that had primary cilia in mice with the genetic mutation was indistinguishable from that in mice without the genetic mutation. In the same way moving from an area with spotty cell service to one with good service restores our ability to send and receive text messages, the increase in primary cilia restored communication between dopamine neurons and the striatum.
The striatal neurons and glia were again secreting neuroprotective factors in response to hedgehog signaling from dopamine neurons in the same amounts as the brains of mice without the genetic mutation. The hedgehog signaling from dopamine neurons decreased, suggesting they were under less stress. And, indicators of the density of dopamine nerve endings within the striatum doubled, suggesting an initial recovery for neurons that had been in the process of dying.
“These findings suggest that it might be possible to improve, not just stabilize, the condition of patients with Parkinson’s disease,” Pfeffer said.
The earliest symptoms of Parkinson’s disease begin about 15 years before someone notices a tremor. Typically, these symptoms are a loss of smell, constipation and a sleep disorder in which people act out their dreams while still sleeping, according to Pfeffer. She said the hope is that people who have the LRRK2 genetic mutation can start a treatment that inhibits the enzyme as early as possible.
The next step for the research team is to test whether other forms of Parkinson’s disease that are not associated with the LRRK2 genetic mutation could benefit from this type of treatment.
“We are so excited about these findings. They suggest this approach has great promise to help patients in terms of restoring neuronal activity in this brain circuit,” Pfeffer said. “There are multiple LRRK2 inhibitor clinical trials underway, and our hope is that these findings in mice will hold true for patients in the future.”
The study was funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s initiative and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council.

3 hours agoShareSavePatrick Clahane and Rebecca WearnBBC NewsShareSaveBBCIt’s pitch black and we’re crawling along a secret underground tunnel beneath a high street in Hull. We pass rotting beams propped up precariously by stacked breeze blocks. A rusty car jack is helping prevent the shop floor above from falling in.Through the rubble, we follow a Trading Standards Officer, his torch swinging back and forth in the darkness until it rests on a hidden stash of thousands of illegal cigarettes.This is just one such surreal experience while investigating the sale of illegal cigarettes in Hull. In one week we repeatedly witnessed counterfeit and smuggled tobacco being sold in high street mini marts – and were threatened by shop workers who grabbed our cameras when we tried to film them.This is now a familiar story being repeated across Britain. In April, the National Crime Agency (NCA) raided hundreds of high street businesses, many suspected of being supplied by international crime gangs. Trading Standards teams have also found a thriving trade in illicit tobacco.BBC/Phillip EdwardsOne leading criminology expert called the networks behind the supply of illegal cigarettes the “golden thread for understanding serious organised crime”, because of its links to people trafficking and, in some cases, illegal immigration.So, in some ways, these high street shop fronts connect the various domestic problems facing Britain today.Political researchers claim it’s also damaging trust in police and the government – and turning our high streets into symbols of national decline.’We’re losing the war’Alan, a former detective and now a Trading Standards officer, searches for counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes sold under the counter in mini marts, barber shops and takeaways around Hull, which he says have spread across the city at an alarming rate.Under the floorboards of a mini mart called Ezee Shop, a network of these secret tunnels hide contraband stock. As battered suitcases and black sacks stuffed full of cigarettes are heaved up through the makeshift trap door, a man who we’re told helps out in the shop watches on laughing.”It’s not something dangerous, it’s only cigarettes,” he says. “Everywhere has it; barber shops, takeaways.” Some shops, he adds, are selling drugs including crack cocaine.Alan estimates that there are about £20,000 worth of illegal cigarettes in this haul, a tiny proportion of a crime that HMRC says costs the country at least £2.2 billion in lost revenue.Today’s raid won’t change what’s happening on Hull’s high streets, he says. He has been to some shops at least 20 times and he estimates that there are some 80 shops selling illegal cigarettes in the city.”We’re losing the war,” he says.He has been with Trading Standards for many years but didn’t want to be fully identified because he’s worried about the organised crime gangs often supplying these shops.It’s not long before someone claiming to be Ezee Shop’s owner turns up. Alan says he is a Kurd from Iran. He is furious with us filming his illicit stock being taken away.Dead flies and asbestos in cigarettesSome of the illegal cigarettes sold across Britain are made in this country. Others are produced cheaply in countries like Poland or Belgium. Some are designed to imitate established brands. Illegal cigarettes are sold without the necessary taxes and duties, and many do not conform to safety standards.Previously the Local Government Association warned that some black market cigarettes contained “human excrement, dead flies and asbestos”.We went undercover, visiting 12 shops in Hull, some multiple times, to try and buy these cheap cigarettes, and secretly filmed the responses. The windows of many of these shops are covered with large pictures of fizzy drinks, sweets and vapes, obscuring what’s going on inside.Nine sold us illegal cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco. Two told us where we could buy cheap packs. We were openly offered a selection of brands with packets costing between £3 and £7 – instead of the average UK price of about £16.BBC/Phillip EdwardsNone of the businesses we bought illegal cigarettes from in Hull responded to our request for a comment. But this is not only a Hull problem. Data shared with the BBC from investigators working for an international tobacco company say that last year they identified more than 600 shops selling illegal packets, with several cities including Bradford, Coventry and Nottingham flagged as hotspots. The BBC is unable to verify these figures.In Bradford alone, they say they found 49 stores selling fake products in just two days. In the end, they had to stop the test purchases because they didn’t have enough test bags to put the items in.Are fines and penalties too low?All of this is a growing problem – but it is also one with specific causes: profits, a lack of resources to enforce the law, a complex criminal supply network and in some cases organised immigration crime.Professor Georgios Antonopoulos, criminologist at Northumbria University Newcastle, believes money is at the heart of it. “Legal tobacco products in the UK are subject to some of the highest excise taxes in the world,” he says.Illegal cigarettes are sometimes sold for as little as £3 to £5 per pack – compelling for some customers during a cost of living crisis.BBC/Phillip EdwardsIn some cases, the financial penalties issued to criminals may be much lower than the profits they can make.In the case of Ezee Shop in Hull, the shop owner had been convicted for selling illegal cigarettes in the past and was fined £80, plus costs and a £34 victim surcharge.Tougher rules introduced in 2023 mean those convicted now can face higher fines of up to £10,000 – but this may still be lower than the value of the stash.After the raid, we went back to the shop, covertly. Within a few hours it had reopened, restocked – and was selling illegal cigarettes once again.Struggles with law enforcementLeading criminologists tell the BBC that UK authorities are struggling to deal with the problem.Prof Antonopoulos says teams are “chronically underfunded”. He claims that police prioritise violent crimes and drug trafficking – “which is understandable,” he adds.Some Trading Standards officers are frustrated with the powers available to them. “The general public don’t understand why they can’t be closed down,” Alan says.They can use anti-social behaviour legislation to close shops for up to three months – but it can require statements from other businesses and members of the public.We were told that after some shops shut down, the criminals simply reopen nearby. Alan wants a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy to permanently close law-breaking businesses.EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockLast year, the previous government provided £100 million across five years to support HMRC and Border Force to tackle the illicit tobacco trade. But since then, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned that some broader forms of organised crime – including scammers and rogue traders – could effectively become decriminalised, due to a lack of funding.As for the suppliers, HMRC says there are so many organised crime groups operating across borders that it is hard to limit the flow of goods into the UK. In May, Hungarian authorities raided a factory where they found warehouses full of fake cigarettes. And there’s even production in Ukraine, according to legitimate tobacco firms, with authorities there stretched because of the war.Chinese triads have a ‘vast business’There is also a “significant production” of illicit tobacco here in the UK, says Prof Antonopoulos.A Trading Standards team in south Wales told us that counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco is often sold cheaply. They claimed that some of it was made using forced labour, controlled by Chinese gangs.Dave McKelvey, managing director of TM Eye private investigators, which works with tobacco firms to gather evidence on the illicit trade, claims that Fujian-based Chinese triads operate a “vast business” here in the UK.And trying to track down the people in charge of these criminal enterprises is a challenge.Trading Standards told the BBC that those named as the company director often have no real involvement in the company. Instead, they may be paid a small sum each month to be listed as the director on official documents.Later this year, Companies House will receive new powers to better identify business owners.Employing illegal workersAuthorities are trying to clean up British high streets. Just this year, we joined dozens of raids led by the NCA in barber shops and mini marts, in a month-long operation.But the former senior detectives who worked with the BBC’s undercover team said they need more time to fully expose the organised crime supplying some of the shop fronts.Throughout our time with Trading Standards in Hull and in the dozens of raids we’ve been on with police in Shrewsbury and across Greater Manchester, officers claimed that tobacco operations are often staffed by Kurds from Iran and Iraq. Some may not have had the right to work.PA MediaIn Hull, Alan believes that some people working in the shops he visits may be recruited from asylum seeker hotels. “They’re expendable, if they get caught they just replace them with another.Rochdale Trading Standards has made similar observations.Criminology professor Emmeline Taylor argues that these criminal supply chains behind the supply of illegal tobacco are linked to other forms of crime – and the damage can’t be underestimated.”They’re not just dealing in tobacco,” she says. “It’s firearms, it’s drugs, it’s people trafficking, it’s illegal immigration.”The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, told us it is a “total disgrace” that “criminal gangs are trying to abuse our high streets by using shops as a front for organised crime”.She also accused gangs of “undermining our border and immigration systems by employing illegal workers”.Pockets of criminality on high streetsOf course, there have long been pockets of criminality on the UK high street. But now experts tell us that this illicit trade is harming people’s trust in authority – and, at a basic level, their sense of fairness.”If you’re a law abiding business following the rules, you’re jeopardising your own livelihood and the viability of your own business,” argues Prof Taylor. “And to me that’s not fair that someone can succeed by not playing by the rules.”Josh Nicholson, a researcher at the Centre for Social Justice, believes that perceptions of crime are worse than ever. “From research we have done there is a feeling of powerlessness, a lack of respect for authority like the police,” he says.”Are the police… seen to be tackling low level offences? When they don’t see it tackled, people’s perception is that things are getting a lot worse.”And people tend to trust the government less when they think access to good shops has declined in their area, says Will Jennings, a political science professor at the University of Southampton, based on studies he has done.More from InDepthNick Plumb, a director at the Power to Change charity, says his research shows that declining high streets boosts support for parties that were once considered outside of the political mainstream.”Reform UK, for example, is doing better in places with declining high streets when compared to the rest of England,” he says. “There’s a sense that … mainstream politics, local authorities have all tried to tackle this issue, and [residents] haven’t seen any change. It’s that sense of ‘the status quo hasn’t solved these things, and therefore we want to try something new’.”Ultimately, what people see in the places they call home matters.”People find a sense of local identity in the quality of the streets where they’ve grown up,” adds Mr Nicholson.”When the quality … dramatically declines, and they feel they can’t even go there – what that does to a sense of community is unquantifiable.”Additional reporting by Phillip Edwards.Top Image credit: Javier Zayas Photography/ Getty ImagesBBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

More medicines will be spared from Medicare price negotiations, a change that is projected to wipe out billions in savings for the federal government.The sweeping Republican policy bill that awaits President Trump’s signature on Friday includes a little-noticed victory for the drug industry.The legislation allows more medications to be exempt from Medicare’s price negotiation program, which was created to lower the government’s drug spending. Now, manufacturers will be able to keep those prices higher.The change will cut into the government’s savings from the negotiation program by nearly $5 billion over a decade, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.“This is essentially giving $5 billion back to the pharmaceutical industry,” said Dr. Benjamin Rome, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “It’s done in a way that is designed, on its face, to solve the problem of some misaligned incentives, but I don’t think it solves those problems.”Under existing law, costly drugs are exempt from price negotiations if they are approved to treat a single rare disease — one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. Drugmakers have complained that this policy discourages them from running studies and seeking approval to treat a second rare disease, and that it ultimately deprives patients of new treatments.In response, the new bill spares drugs that are approved to treat multiple rare diseases. They can still be subject to price negotiations later if they are approved for larger groups of patients, though the change delays those lower prices.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

21 minutes agoShareSaveJim ReedHealth ReporterShareSavePA MediaSir Kier Starmer has set out his 10-year-plan to reform the NHS in England, based on a shift from hospitals to neighbourhood health hubs, a new focus on prevention and better use of technology.He said the government’s 162-page blueprint might be the last chance to put the health service “back on its feet”.Here is what the plan could mean in practice.Care on the doorstepThe government is promising to set up around 50 new neighbourhood health centres by the end of this parliament and up to 300 by 2035.The idea is to shift work out of overcrowded hospitals and into local hubs staffed by a mix of GPs, nurses, pharmacists, mental health specialists and other medics.After an operation, for example, you might be sent to a local health centre for a check-up rather than back to hospital for an outpatient’s appointment.The new centres should eventually be open 12 hours a day, six days a week, the government has said.This is not a new idea. It’s been talked about for years as a way of relieving pressure on the NHS and cutting waiting lists.There are still questions about the funding of the new network, where the staff will come from, and how long it will take to roll out.Obesity ‘moonshot’ Getty ImagesThe plans include what the government is calling an “ambitious moonshot”, aiming to “end the obesity epidemic”.There will be “digital NHS points” for people who improve their diet or meet exercise goals.It’s modelled on a Singapore scheme where citizens who walk more, buy healthier foods or go to health screenings can earn points to exchange for e-vouchers to use in supermarkets and restaurants.Athletics elder statesman, Sir Brendan Foster, will spearhead a campaign to get millions walking or running regularly. Access to NHS weight loss services and treatments, including medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, will be expanded.But planned legislation to ban some supermarket promotions of unhealthy food, including buy-one-get-one-free offers, might be dropped in favour of “smarter regulation, focused on outcomes”. New alcohol warningsExpect to see new mandatory warning labels on cans and bottles of alcohol before the next election.The government says this has worked in countries like South Korea to “help consumers make more informed, healthier choices”.There will also be a consultation on rule changes to allow very low alcohol drinks, up to 0.5% ABV, to be sold as “alcohol free”.At the same time it will “explore options” to ban the sale of zero alcohol products to children.This hasn’t impressed the Institute of Alcohol Studies which describes the plan as “frankly embarrassing”.It is calling for a minimum price for alcohol to be imposed in England, as is already the case in Scotland and Wales.Getty ImagesDental desertsThere’s a fresh push to increase access to dental care, a subject always near the top of public concern about the NHS.Dental therapists, who tend to carry out some of the more straightforward work of dentists, will be asked to perform more check-ups, treatments and referrals.And newly-qualified dentists may soon have to work in the health service for three years before they can move into private practice.That has angered the British Dental Association which said the “overwhelming majority” of young dentists do this anyway, and the policy “won’t stop a single experienced dentist walking out from the NHS in despair”.Longer term, the government promises the NHS dentists’ contract, blamed for an acute shortage of staff in many areas, will be reformed. Getty ImagesMental health A&EAn extra £120m over five years is promised to develop dedicated mental health A&E departments.In total, 85 will be set up across England providing walk-in access or help for people bought in by ambulance or the police.People with mild or moderate needs may be able to access online virtual therapists.There will also be more money for mental health support in schools and a drive to recruit another 8,500 mental health staff over the next decade to reduce long waits for care.The plan was described as “bold” by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health although it warned success will depend on sustained investment in the workforce.A ‘doctor in your pocket’More use will be made of the NHS app to book appointments, order prescriptions and refer patients to local charities and businesses that can offer health support.Starmer said it would be like having a “doctor in your pocket providing advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”.Your full health record should be available on the app, along with the “red book”, which contains a child’s health data, including any vaccines they have been given.It will mean doctors can quickly look up a patient’s history online rather than having to start from scratch with a new consultation, or ask for records to be emailed to them.There are concerns people who might not have access to the app or a smartphone, such as the elderly, could be excluded.Getty ImagesWhat about social care? The 10-year plan is squarely focused on the NHS and public health and does not directly address the future of the social care sector.The Care Workers’ Charity called that “deeply concerning” and opposition MPs warned: “You can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care”.The government has asked Baroness Louise Casey to chair an independent commission on adult social care reform, but that will not start to report back until 2026.Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government had committed to an extra £4bn on social care funding in the spending review, and would shortly be setting out how it would deliver a fair pay agreement for the care workforce.

A new AI model is much better than doctors at identifying patients likely to experience cardiac arrest.
The linchpin is the system’s ability to analyze long-underused heart imaging, alongside a full spectrum of medical records, to reveal previously hidden information about a patient’s heart health.
The federally-funded work, led by Johns Hopkins University researchers, could save many lives and also spare many people unnecessary medical interventions, including the implantation of unneeded defibrillators.
“Currently we have patients dying in the prime of their life because they aren’t protected and others who are putting up with defibrillators for the rest of their lives with no benefit,” said senior author Natalia Trayanova, a researcher focused on using artificial intelligence in cardiology. “We have the ability to predict with very high accuracy whether a patient is at very high risk for sudden cardiac death or not.”
The findings are published today in Nature Cardiovascular Research.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the most common inherited heart diseases, affecting one in every 200 to 500 individuals worldwide, and is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people and athletes.
Many patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy will live normal lives, but a percentage are at significant increased risk for sudden cardiac death. It’s been nearly impossible for doctors to determine who those patients are.

Current clinical guidelines used by doctors across the United States and Europe to identify the patients most at risk for fatal heart attacks have about a 50% chance of identifying the right patients, “not much better than throwing dice,” Trayanova says.
The team’s model significantly outperformed clinical guidelines across all demographics.
Multimodal AI for ventricular Arrhythmia Risk Stratification (MAARS), predicts individual patients’ risk for sudden cardiac death by analyzing a variety of medical data and records, and, for the first time, exploring all the information contained in the contrast-enhanced MRI images of the patient’s heart.
People with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy develop fibrosis, or scarring, across their heart and it’s the scarring that elevates their risk of sudden cardiac death. While doctors haven’t been able to make sense of the raw MRI images, the AI model zeroed right in on the critical scarring patterns.
“People have not used deep learning on those images,” Trayanova said. “We are able to extract this hidden information in the images that is not usually accounted for.”
The team tested the model against real patients treated with the traditional clinical guidelines at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in North Carolina.

Compared to the clinical guidelines that were accurate about half the time, the AI model was 89% accurate across all patients and, critically, 93% accurate for people 40 to 60 years old, the population among hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients most at-risk for sudden cardiac death.
The AI model also can describe why patients are high risk so that doctors can tailor a medical plan to fit their specific needs.
“Our study demonstrates that the AI model significantly enhances our ability to predict those at highest risk compared to our current algorithms and thus has the power to transform clinical care,” says co-author Jonathan Crispin, a Johns Hopkins cardiologist.
In 2022, Trayanova’s team created a different multi-modal AI model that offered personalized survival assessment for patients with infarcts, predicting if and when someone would die of cardiac arrest.
The team plans to further test the new model on more patients and expand the new algorithm to use with other types of heart diseases, including cardiac sarcoidosis and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
Authors include Changxin Lai, Minglang Yin, Eugene G. Kholmovski, Dan M. Popescu, Edem Binka, Stefan L. Zimmerman, Allison G. Hays, all of Johns Hopkins; Dai-Yin Luand M. Roselle Abrahamof the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center of Excellence at University of California San Francisco; and Erica Schererand Dermot M. Phelanof Atrium Health.

Researchers using cardiac MRI have found that long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with early signs of heart damage, according to a study that was published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The research indicates that fine particulate matter in the air may contribute to diffuse myocardial fibrosis, a form of scarring in the heart muscle that can precede heart failure.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. There is a large body of evidence linking poor air quality with cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying changes in the heart resulting from air pollution exposure are unclear.
“We know that if you’re exposed to air pollution, you’re at higher risk of cardiac disease, including higher risk of having a heart attack,” said the study’s senior author Kate Hanneman, M.D., M.P.H., from the Department of Medical Imaging at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and University Health Network in Toronto. “We wanted to understand what drives this increased risk at the tissue level.”
Dr. Hanneman and colleagues used cardiac MRI, a noninvasive imaging technique, to quantify myocardial fibrosis and assess its association with long-term exposure to particles known as PM2.5. At 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less, PM2.5 particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs. Common sources include vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and wildfire smoke.
The researchers wanted to evaluate the effects of air pollution on both healthy people and those with heart disease, so the study group included 201 healthy controls and 493 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood.
Higher long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution was linked with higher levels of myocardial fibrosis in both the patients with cardiomyopathy and the controls, suggesting that myocardial fibrosis may be an underlying mechanism by which air pollution leads to cardiovascular complications. The largest effects were seen in women, smokers and patients with hypertension.
The study adds to growing evidence that air pollution is a cardiovascular risk factor, contributing to residual risk not accounted for by conventional clinical predictors such as smoking or hypertension.

“Even modest increases in air pollution levels appear to have measurable effects on the heart,” Dr. Hanneman said. “Our study suggests that air quality may play a significant role in changes to heart structure, potentially setting the stage for future cardiovascular disease.”
Knowing a patient’s long-term air pollution exposure history could help refine heart disease risk assessment and address the health inequities that air pollution contributes to both in level of exposure and effect. For instance, Dr. Hanneman said, if an individual works outside in an area with poor air quality, healthcare providers could incorporate that exposure history into heart disease risk assessment.
The air pollution exposure levels of the patients in the study were below many of the global air quality guidelines, reinforcing that there are no safe exposure limits.
“Public health measures are needed to further reduce long-term air pollution exposure,” Dr. Hanneman said. “There have been improvements in air quality over the past decade, both in Canada and the United States, but we still have a long way to go.”
In addition to illuminating the links between air pollution and myocardial fibrosis, the study highlights the important role that radiologists will play in research and clinical developments going forward.
“Medical imaging can be used as a tool to understand environmental effects on a patient’s health,” Dr. Hanneman said. “As radiologists, we have a tremendous opportunity to use imaging to identify and quantify some of the health effects of environmental exposures in various organ systems.”

Cancer cells have the capacity to multiply rapidly. The aggressive cancer cells undergo conversion from their tightly connected epithelial state into a mesenchymal state, which lacks contact restrictions and spreads easily to other parts of the body. Such epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity also makes the cancer cells resistant to elimination by anticancer therapies.
The search is ongoing for newer anticancer agents that can overcome this acquired resistance to therapy and destroy the ‘rogue’ cancer cells. A group of researchers led by Dr. Hideyuki Saya, Director of the Oncology Innovation Center, Fujita Health University, Japan, has uncovered the mechanism of the anticancer activity of benzaldehyde, a compound responsible for the aroma of almonds, apricots, and figs.
Giving insights into their motivation for this study, Dr. Saya explains, “In the 1980s, researchers demonstrated the anticancer activity of benzaldehyde and its derivatives. The first author of our study, Dr. Jun Saito, is the daughter of one of the researchers involved in those early studies, and she was driven by a strong desire to uncover the mechanism behind benzaldehyde’s anticancer effects.” This study, published online in the British Journal of Cancer on May 02, 2025, shows the impact of benzaldehyde on key signaling protein interactions within the cancer cells and the resulting cytotoxicity.
Early studies reported the ability of benzaldehyde to inhibit the progressive development of mouse embryonic cells, indicating its potential in preventing rapid cell proliferation. Here, the anticancer effects of benzaldehyde were studied by using a mouse model grafted to have a growing pancreatic cancer.
In cell culture studies, benzaldehyde inhibited the growth of cancer cells resistant to radiation therapy and also those resistant to treatment with osimertinib, an agent blocking tyrosine kinases in growth factor signaling. Benzaldehyde synergized with radiation to eliminate previously radiation-resistant cancer cells.
The study findings revealed that benzaldehyde exerted its anticancer effects by preventing interactions of the signaling protein 14-3-3ζ with the Ser28-phosphorylated form of histone H3 (H3S28ph). This interaction, key to cancer cell survival, was also responsible for treatment resistance and the expression of genes related to epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity.
Here, benzaldehyde prevented 14-3-3ζ-dependent phosphorylation of the serine28 amino acid of histone H3. Consequently, benzaldehyde treatment reduced the expression of genes responsible for treatment resistance. Treatment of mice with a benzaldehyde derivative inhibited the growth of pancreatic tumors and suppressed the epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity, thus preventing the spread of cancer to distant organs like the lungs.

By blocking an interaction key to cancer cell survival, benzaldehyde overcomes therapy resistance and prevents metastasis. Sharing the implications of their findings, Dr. Saya concludes, “The 14-3-3ζ protein has long been considered a target for cancer therapy, but its direct inhibition is not feasible due to its important functions in normal cells. Our results suggest that inhibition of the interaction between 14-3-3ζ and its client proteins by benzaldehyde has the potential to overcome the problem.”
The present study shows benzaldehyde is effective against cancer cells that have acquired resistance to radiation and tyrosine kinase inhibitors commonly used in cancer treatment. In the long term, this study suggests its potential as a combinatorial anticancer agent, alongside molecular-targeted therapies.
Dr. Jun Saito is a researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Hideyuki Saya, Oncology Innovation Center, Fujita Health University. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Nihon University Graduate School of Medicine. Continuing the legacy of one of her parents, who pioneered the breakthrough research on the anticancer activity of benzaldehyde in the 1980s, Dr. Saito has uncovered the underlying mechanism of benzaldehyde’s anticancer effects. Her expertise includes oncology, pathophysiology, immunology, applied physics, and chemistry.
This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (KAKENHI 19K22568).

In an ideal world, Watson would have approached the treats cautiously, with a careful sniff and tentative lick. But, being a dog — with a voracious appetite and no discernible appreciation for narrative tension — he devoured them immediately. He didn’t know, or care, that they were chock-full of dried crickets and ground-up grubs.And so what I had envisioned as a climactic taste test was over in seconds, with what was, in retrospect, an utterly predictable result: my dog would happily eat insects.For years, some enterprising food entrepreneurs have been trying to convince people to do the same. As the global demand for protein grows, insects, they say, provide a more sustainable, ethical alternative to traditional meat. But the idea has been a tough sell. Although insects are a dietary staple in some cultures, for many people, they trigger a visceral disgust response.But dogs? If they have a disgust reflex, I haven’t seen it. Insect entrepreneurs looking for open-minded eaters could hardly do better than good old Canis lupus familiaris.“The dogs are not going to overthink it,” said Anne Carlson, the chief executive of Jiminy’s, which makes insect-based pet food and treats.Hers is one of many pet food companies trying to remake meat. Earlier this year, the British company Meatly sold a limited run of dog treats made with lab-grown chicken. BioCraft Pet Nutrition, in Austria, is working to turn stem cells from mice into food for cats and dogs. And Bond Pet Foods, in the United States, is using yeast to produce animal protein through the process of fermentation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Most of Earth’s water is in the oceans and too salty to drink. Desalination plants can make seawater drinkable, but they require large amounts of energy. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Energy Letters have developed a sponge-like material with long, microscopic air pockets that uses sunlight and a simple plastic cover to turn saltwater into freshwater. A proof-of-concept test outdoors successfully produced potable water in natural sunlight in a step toward low-energy, sustainable desalination.
This isn’t the first time scientists have created spongy materials that use sunlight as a sustainable energy source for cleaning or desalinating water. For example, a loofah-inspired hydrogel with polymers inside its pores was tested on chromium-contaminated water and, when heated by the sun, the hydrogel quickly released a collectible, clean water vapor through evaporation. But while hydrogels are squishy and liquid-filled, aerogels are more rigid, containing solid pores that can transport liquid water or water vapor. Aerogels have been tested as a means of desalination, but they are limited by their evaporation performance, which declines as the size of the material increases. So, Xi Shen and colleagues wanted to design a porous desalination aerogel that maintained its efficiency at different sizes.
The researchers made a paste containing carbon nanotubes and cellulose nanofibers and then 3D-printed it onto a frozen surface, allowing each layer to solidify before the next was added. This process formed a sponge-like material with evenly distributed tiny vertical holes, each around 20 micrometers wide. They tested square pieces of the material, ranging in size from 0.4 inches wide (1 centimeter) to about 3 inches wide (8 centimeters), and found that the larger pieces released water through evaporation at rates as efficient as the smaller ones.
In an outdoor test, the researchers placed the material in a cup containing seawater, and it was covered by a curved, transparent plastic cover. Sunlight heated the top of the spongy material, evaporating just the water, not the salt, into water vapor. The vapor collected on the plastic cover as liquid, moving the now clean water to the edges, where it dripped into a funnel and container below the cup. After 6 hours in natural sunlight, the system generated about 3 tablespoons of potable water.
“Our aerogel allows full-capacity desalination at any size,” Shen says, “which provides a simple, scalable solution for energy-free desalination to produce clean water.”
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong SAR, the Environment and Conservation Fund of Hong Kong SAR, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

12 hours agoShareSaveRob SissonsHealth correspondent, BBC East MidlandsShareSaveBBCDigital imaging of suspected skin cancers has dramatically cut waiting times for diagnosis and treatment in Nottinghamshire.Clinical photographers in parts of the county now see patients referred by GPs typically within a couple of days, rather than them having to wait what used to be sometimes weeks to see a consultant for just an initial appointment. The imaging includes using artificial intelligence (AI) smartphone software, which then sees pictures sent to a consultant dermatologist to assess, without needing to meet the patient.Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the approach was freeing up specialists’ time to focus on surgery. Fiona Hayward-Lyon, from Farndon in Nottinghamshire, is one of nearly 2,000 patients seen by the trust with suspected skin cancer who have benefitted from faster access to diagnosis. The service was fully introduced in June 2024 and one year on, has been described as a “big success” by the trust. Mrs Hayward-Lyon had become concerned about a lesion on her forehead.The 63-year-old’s appointment for photographs was arranged within three days of seeing her GP, and it took just over four weeks to get the surgery, which took place in October.”I’d had a red blemish on my forehead for a while and I suddenly noticed it was getting raised,” she said.A dermatologist then examined her images remotely.Only three per cent of patients under the trust’s care require a face-to-face follow-up appointment after the initial photography, and some like Mrs Hayward-Lyon go on to require surgery. In her case, a basal cell carcinoma – a type of skin cancer – was diagnosed needing removal. She said: “I didn’t expect to be seen so quickly. I can now move on and be a little more careful in the Sun.” Consultant dermatologist Dr Ritu Singla, who treated Mrs Hayward-Lyon, said the photography service allowed medics to reassure patients sooner if they did not have cancer.”We can rule out lots of benign [non-cancerous] lesions, which are the bulk of cases,” she said.”It also enables us to start treatment sooner for those patients where cancer has been diagnosed.” Dr Singla said: “Patients are more aware of skin cancer these days, [but] at the same time in the aftermath of the pandemic we had long waiting lists. “We prioritised but some patients were waiting months for treatment.” There is a national NHS target for 96% of skin cancer cases to treated with 31 days of a decision to treat. Prior to the introduction of the photography service, the trust achieved 72% in the first quarter of 2023-24. Latest figures show 100% of patients in February 2025 were treated within the target time.Clinical photographer Jason Randall says he uses a special polarised light, a device called a dermatoscope, to help produce high-resolution images. He said: “It enables the camera to see into the first layer of the skin not clearly visible to the naked eye and crucially the edges of the lesion.” Greater use of technology is one of the themes of the government’s new NHS 10-year plan, which looks to improve efficiency, productivity and outcomes for patients.More on this storyRelated internet links