Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein normally expressed in cells that develop into connective tissue, blood vessels, and lymphatic tissue (mesenchymal cells). Despite being widely studied, its role in tumour growth and progression remains unexplored.

A team of researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered how a small change in the vimentin protein can make breast cancer more aggressive. By modifying a specific amino acid cysteine to serine residue at position 328 in vimentin, they discovered that this mutation disrupted the protein’s interaction with the cell’s structural network. Remarkably, the mutated vimentin induced aggressive cancer-like behaviour in breast cancer cells, including faster cell growth, migration, and invasion accompanied by reduced cell adhesion. RNA-sequencing further revealed that the presence of mutant vimentin was associated with upregulation of a non-coding RNA called XIST, suggesting a potential link between this mutation and gene expression changes that drive cancer progression.

Researchers also found that mutant vimentin made breast cancer cells grow without depending on the hormone oestrogen when injected into immuno-compromised mice. The tumours in these mice showed high expression of cancer stem cell markers CD56 and CD20, suggesting a role for mutant vimentin in driving cancer stem cell-like behaviour that is often associated with tumour progression, therapeutic resistance and recurrence.

Senior author Ahmad Waseem, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Oral Biology at the Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: “Our study has discovered a molecular interaction that, when disrupted, causes breast cancer cells to behave like cancer stem cells. Additionally, we identified a potential biomarker that could help detect these stem-like cells in breast cancer tissues. This discovery represents an important step towards understanding how breast cancer develops and spreads, with potential implications for early diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted treatment strategies.” The lead author, Dr Saima Usman (HEC Fellow), did her PhD with Professor Waseem on this project.

Co-author Andrew Yeudall, Professor of Oral Biology in the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University, said: “The study will open new avenues for our understanding of cancer stem cell behaviour. For several years, Professor Waseem and I have been interested in studying the cancer-related roles of vimentin, which is induced in almost all later-stage tumours that have spread to other sites in the body and can be difficult to treat. We used MCF-7, a model breast epithelial cell line, partly because it is devoid of vimentin which therefore makes it easier to define functions related to specific vimentin mutations. Our observation that the cells became more aggressive, and that stem cell markers were induced, may unlock the door to new therapeutic approaches for breast and other cancers.”

“We want to help the prepared food industry produce appetizing, healthy meals for older adults,” said Carolyn Ross, professor in WSU’s School of Food Science. “Malnutrition is quite prevalent in people over 60 because food may be available, but they won’t eat it if they don’t like it. We want to walk a line where food is tasty, convenient, and full of nutrients.”

In a paper recently published in the Journal of Food Science, Ross and her team developed desirable and nutritious dairy-rich breakfasts and desserts for older adults, defined as anyone over age 60. They asked 81 people, with an average age of 71, to taste two breakfast meals and two desserts. Scientists then asked a series of questions about the meals and individual eating habits.

Food-related nostalgia may be difficult to measure, but it showed up in many responses, Ross said.

“We asked what people thought about when it came to food and nostalgia,” she said. “Many responses were tied to a person, like their grandmother’s cookies. If a product evoked more nostalgia, then we found that they liked it more.”

Many responses to the nostalgia question revolved around barbeque, which stood out to Ross because nostalgia is so personal.

“I was surprised by the importance of comfort and nostalgia,” she said. “Those terms are tricky to describe, but it’s one of those ‘you know it when you see it’ things. We’re working now to hone down how people define those terms so we can help make more foods that appeal to this age range.”

Ross said she’s hoping to work with prepared food manufacturers to design foods specifically for older adults who want convenient but nutritious meals that they will enjoy.

“This is a huge and growing population,” she said. “We want to help keep them healthy and happy for a long time.”

Studying food nostalgia is a newer avenue of food science work, Ross said, but examining comfort food is a bit more established. Preference can vary widely due to cultural differences. In this study, whenever people labeled something as a comfort food, they liked it more. One ingredient was commonly placed in the comfort category: cheese.

“Participants’ perceived comfort level decreased if we decreased the flavor level,” Ross said. “That really stood out with cheese; when the participants said there wasn’t enough cheese flavor in the meal, then the comfort associated with the meal decreased. Cheese seems to mean comfort.”

The research team also found that food texture is important, which is not a new conclusion. Texture can have a significant impact on whether people will eat something.

“It’s not one specific texture or textures that matter, it’s a variety of textures,” Ross said. “Having a diet with a lot of texture variety, including textures like crispy and firm, along with soft and creamy foods, really stood out. And for older adults, who may not be able to eat the same firm and crispy foods they once could, keeping as much texture variety as possible is still important.”

In future studies, Ross hopes to look more at flavor and other specific meal attributes that increase comfort.

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg, together with colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh in the US, published their findings in the journal Nature Medicine.

The study provides insights into what happens during the earliest phase when the protein tau is transformed into thread-like strands (fibrils) in the nerve cells. This is one of the processes in Alzheimer’s disease and occurs alongside the formation of amyloid plaques. In healthy individuals, the protein tau stabilizes the tubular building blocks (microtubules) that make up the long projections of the nerve cells.

During the development of Alzheimer’s disease, tau undergoes pathological changes. First, tau forms small, soluble aggregates that are secreted from the nerve cells and are thought to be able to spread these changes to other nerve cells. The protein is then converted into larger, harmful, thread-like strands in the nerve cells.

Tohidul Islam, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy, is one of the study’s lead authors.

“In our study, we look at how tau is modified, which leads it to form its soluble clumps. We found that changes in two specific amino acids, serine-262 and serine-356, happen before these thread-like fibrils start to form in the nerve cells,” says Tohidul Islam

Complementary drugs

Alzheimer’s research has made significant advances around the world in recent years. Many countries — although not yet in the EU — have approved the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab. An American drug donanemab is also being developed. Both drugs target the process that is deemed to be the most important in the progression of the disease: the accumulation of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain.

“Our hypothesis is that tau in its soluble form helps the disease process to spread in the brain,” says Kaj Blennow, a University of Gothenburg professor and one of the senior researchers behind the study. “If researchers want to develop drugs in the future to combat the tau pathology as a complement to drugs that target the amyloid plaque, we now know which regions are of interest to focus on.”

Measuring the effect of treatment

The drug lecanemab was first introduced almost two years ago and has demonstrated good results in terms of reducing the amyloid plaque in the brain among patients at an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is impossible to know with any degree of certainty what the long-term results will be. The findings regarding the soluble phosphorylated small aggregates of the protein tau also offer a new opportunity to demonstrate the protein changes before the larger fibrils form in the nerve cells. The study therefore provides a biomarker that can be directly linked to the amount of tau pathology in patients’ brains.

Humans have been keeping pigs as livestock for several centuries. During this time, the animals have changed considerably. For example, they have become larger and have lost their black and brown bristles and darker skin tone. “The demand for pork in Germany increased significantly at the beginning of the 20th century and breeders were encouraged to optimise their animals. They needed them to grow quickly, provide good meat, and be fertile,” explains Dr Renate Schafberg, Head of the Domestic Animal Collection at MLU. For the current study, she and Dr Ashleigh Haruda from Oxford University analysed 135 skulls from three different breeds: Deutsches Edelschwein, Deutsches Landschwein — and wild boars, who acted as a control group. The skulls were either from the early 20th century or were only a few years old.

The two domestic pig breeds exhibited significant changes: the animals’ snouts became significantly shorter and flatter, while the skulls of the more contemporary animals no longer had a slightly outwardly curved forehead. “We didn’t expect such pronounced differences to appear within a span of only 100 years,” says Schafberg. Remarkably, both breeds of domestic pig underwent the same changes, despite being kept separately. “These changes occurred even though breeders did not select the animals specifically for their skull shape, as this trait was not important for breeding. Instead, the changes appear to be an unintended by-product of selecting the desired traits,” says Schafberg.

Another reason for the alterations could be related to changes in the animals’ diet. Nutrition is known to influence the growth and development of animals. Today, pigs are mainly fed pellets that are high in protein. In contrast, the skulls of wild boars, who remain omnivores, have not undergone such changes.

The findings demonstrate how strongly humans can influence the evolution of animals. “Charles Darwin assumed that long periods of time — millions of years — are required for major changes to take place. Our work is further proof that humans can greatly accelerate this process through selective breeding,” says co-author Dr Frank Steinheimer, Head of the Central Repository of Natural Science Collections at MLU.

The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Research Council (ERC).

“I look at the data from Euclid as it comes in,” explains Bruno. “Even from that first observation, I could see it, but after Euclid made more observations of the area, we could see a perfect Einstein ring. For me, with a lifelong interest in gravitational lensing, that was amazing.”

The Einstein Ring, an extremely rare phenomenon, turned out to be hiding in plain sight in a galaxy not far away. The galaxy, called NGC 6505, is around 590 million light-years from Earth, a stone’s throw away in cosmic terms. But this is the first time that the ring of light surrounding its centre is detected, thanks to Euclid’s high-resolution instruments.

The ring around the foreground galaxy is made up of light from a farther out bright galaxy. This background galaxy is 4.42 billion light-years away, and its light has been distorted by gravity on its way to us. The far-away galaxy hasn’t been observed before and doesn’t yet have a name.

“An Einstein ring is an example of strong gravitational lensing,” explains Conor O’Riordan, of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany, and lead author of the first scientific paper analysing the ring. “All strong lenses are special, because they’re so rare, and they’re incredibly useful scientifically. This one is particularly special, because it’s so close to Earth and the alignment makes it very beautiful.”

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts that light will bend around objects in space, so that they focus the light like a giant lens. This gravitational lensing effect is bigger for more massive objects — galaxies and clusters of galaxies. It means we can sometimes see the light from distant galaxies that would otherwise be hidden.

If the alignment is just right, the light from the distant source galaxy bends to form a spectacular ring around the foreground object. These Einstein rings are a rich laboratory for scientists. Studying their gravitational effects can help us learn about the expansion of the Universe, detect the effects of invisible dark matter and dark energy, and investigate the background source whose light is bent by dark matter in between us and the source.

“I find it very intriguing that this ring was observed within a well-known galaxy, which was first discovered in 1884,” says Valeria Pettorino, ESA Euclid Project Scientist. “The galaxy has been known to astronomers for a very long time. And yet this ring was never observed before. This demonstrates how powerful Euclid is, finding new things even in places we thought we knew well. This discovery is very encouraging for the future of the Euclid mission and demonstrates its fantastic capabilities.”

By exploring how the Universe has expanded and formed over its cosmic history, Euclid will reveal more about the role of gravity and the nature of dark energy and dark matter. The space telescope will map more than a third of the sky, observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years. It is expected to find around 100 000 strong lenses, but to find one that’s so spectacular — and so close to home — is astonishing. Until now, less than 1000 strong lenses were known, and even fewer were imaged at high resolution.

“Euclid is going to revolutionise the field, with all this data we’ve never had before,” adds Conor.

Although this Einstein ring is stunning, Euclid’s main job is searching for the more subtle effects of weak gravitational lensing, where background galaxies appear only mildly stretched or displaced. To detect this effect, scientists will need to analyse billions of galaxies. Euclid began its detailed survey of the sky on 14 February 2024 and is gradually creating the most extensive 3D map of the Universe yet. Such an amazing find, so early in its mission, means Euclid is on course to uncover many more hidden secrets.