However, they won’t be getting them from the questions asked by reporters like Cara Castronuova, who works for Lindell TV, a news network created by My Pillow big cheese Mike Lindell.
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Castronuova, a former boxer, became the subject of much social media mockery on Friday when she asked a question at the White House’s press briefing that seemed like it could have been composed by press secretary Karoline Leavitt herself.
“Will you guys also consider releasing the president’s fitness plan? He actually looks healthier than ever before — healthier than he did eight years ago, and I’m sure everybody in this room could agree,” Castronuova asked. “Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and eating less McDonald’s?”
Leavitt was obviously happy to end the press gathering with a softball question like that.
“I can confirm the president is in very good shape, as you see on a near daily basis here,” she said.
REPORTER: President Trump looks healthier than ever before. I’m sure everybody in this room could agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and is he eating less McDonald’s?
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REPORTER: President Trump looks healthier than ever before. I’m sure everybody in this room could agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and is he eating less McDonald’s?
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The great leader is the most handsome man in the galaxy, is it his amazing genes or eating at McDonald’s? Brought to you by McDonald’s, you’re lovin’ it or else
— Aleksandar Djokic (Александар Джокич) (@polidemitolog) April 11, 2025
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The great leader is the most handsome man in the galaxy, is it his amazing genes or eating at McDonald’s? Brought to you by McDonald’s, you’re lovin’ it or else
— Aleksandar Djokic (Александар Джокич) (@polidemitolog) April 11, 2025
— The Nicest Boy on this Website and App (@bikivindaloo) April 11, 2025
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How much do you want to bet Americans are told by his doctor that “Trump could run a 5k today, in scorching conditions of 110 degrees, and win” if he chose to.
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How much do you want to bet Americans are told by his doctor that “Trump could run a 5k today, in scorching conditions of 110 degrees, and win” if he chose to.
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I just got home from Prague and there were two huge revelations for me: homemade raspberry lemonade should be on every drinks menu, just as it is in the Czech capital, and tartar sauce goes SO well with chips.
I know, it doesn’t sound like it would fit and to be honest, when my partner and I were offered some for our sides, I politely declined. My partner didn’t, though, and I bravely pinched some for a sample.
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I am so glad that I did.
The hot, salty chips we were served combined with the tangy tartar sauce made for a taste sensation. It is a match made in heaven and I can only apologise to the great city of Prague for my oversight.
It did get me wondering though. am I missing out? And what do people around the world prefer to have with their chips?
What people have with fries around the world
Australia
In Australia, chips are often served with chicken salt. On their website, The Chicken Salt Co says this is a mainstay in Australian takeaways and has been for 50 years: “Originally developed in the 1970s by two Europeans living in Adelaide, chicken salt was used as a seasoning for rotisserie chickens to add flavour and colour.
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“Chicken shop owners would also add chicken salt to chips (known as hot chips) and it’s popularity spread to all corners of Australia.”
It’s surprisingly not made with chicken and is instead a blend of paprika, sugar, garlic and onion. It is DELICIOUS and I am fully obsessed.
Belgium
According to Belgian Smaak, which is a website and podcast about Belgian beer, Belgian culture, and Belgian beer culture, Belgians eat more fries per capita than any other nation and it’s the world’s biggest exporter of frozen fries.
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While Belgians also enjoy tartar sauce with their chips, Belgian Smaak explains they often have Andalouse sauce, which is “essentially mayonnaise made with tomato paste and mixed with crushed, roasted red bell peppers.”
Canada
Canada is home to poutine which is a delicious dish made of fresh-cut french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.
It. Is. Incredible.
Iceland
According to Icelandic food store Topiceland: “This spice is absolutely essential on French fries. It’s also great in various potato dishes, gratins, sauces, and stews.”
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The popular seasoning includes MSG, onion, paprika, spice mix, herb protein and glucose syrup. Sounds amazing.
Netherlands
This one is a constant in our house.
Home cook Kinfolk Recipes explains: “In Holland we like to add fritessaus to our french fries. Fritessaus is a sort of mayonnaise. It is similar to mayonnaise, but with at most 25% fat, it is leaner and usually sweeter than mayonnaise.”
Ingredients include lemon, mustard, and chives.
Romania
In Romania, chips are most often enjoyed with mujdei: a creamy, very garlicky sauce.
According to Romanian food and folklore blog From Dill to Dracula, this sauce contains a whole head of garlic, sour cream, salt, pepper, and vegetable oil. Sounds delicious and utterly pungent.
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Scotland
Here in my home of Scotland, we have something called chippy sauce. Only sold on the east coast and very controversial to some people, this sauce is a mix of brown sauce and vinegar. The ratio of each part changes depending on where you are, but in Edinburgh, this tangy treat is available in every chippy and always piques the curiosity of tourists at the Fringe.
The rest of the UK
The UK takes condiments very seriously and in fact, preferences change from one region to another. A 2023 survey found that in northern England, ketchup is the preferred condiment with chips.
In Northern Ireland, people most often opt for gravy and in Wales, a good dousing of curry sauce does the trick.
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Vietnam
Food Republic reveals that in Vietnam, “it’s common to enjoy french fries, called khoai tây chiên, with an almost dessert-like dip made of a small scoop of butter with a side of sugar.
“People eat the sweet and buttery combo by dipping crisp fries into the softened butter and then granulated white sugar.”
A family member of mine, who is autistic and whose dating dramas could honestly fuel a movie franchise, is among them; they got me into it as soon as it went live, and is hooked on the new season.
Speaking to Tudum, executive producer and co-creator Cian O’Clery said he enjoys how its participants “represent the diversity of the spectrum.”
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But some autistic people feel that the show, of which the editing is sometimes seen as ‘infantilising’ the cast, is a little ‘patronising’, and actually may give a reductive view of autistic people.
So, we thought we’d ask some autistic people to give us their thoughts on the show.
Of course, these are just a few voices and far from a unified stance on the Netflix hit; people’s thoughts will naturally differ according to each individual.
“My experience as an autistic woman leads me to have conflicting emotions about Love on the Spectrum.”
Katherine Rundell, a writer at Academized.com, told us she had mixed feelings.
“I value the program’s approach to presenting autistic people’s experiences while they explore the deeply human and vulnerable aspects of dating,” she told us.
“Autistic people seldom receive portrayals with emotional depth and even less frequently demonstrate attempts at connection and intimacy therefore this show addresses a significant absence.”
Still, she says, she can’t help but find the show’s approach a little “patronising.”
“The narration seems to treat autistic individuals like children while targeting a neurotypical audience who might react with ‘oohs’ and ‘awws’ instead of focusing directly on the autistic people featured in the show,” she said.
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“The show’s tone focuses too much on portraying individuals as endearingly quirky… We seem to be under study rather than being comprehended.”
And while Rundell acknowledges other dating shows use dating coaches, she thinks “their function in this program seems to suggest that autistic individuals require training to become attractive to neurotypical standards” and that it ignores “the legitimacy of neurodivergent ways of showing affection, attraction, or communicating.”
“The series contains beautiful intimate scenes where individuals authentically connect with each other in their unique ways which transcends the editing process,” she concluded.
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“And when it’s good, it’s really good. I wish the show would dive deeper into its subjects while posing tougher questions and empowering autistic people to share their personal narratives.”
“I recommend everyone to watch it”
Jessica Whalley, author of The Autistic Mom, says she’s “obsessed” with the show.
“As an autistic person, I made it a priority to watch this from season one,” she added. Her favourite storyline is the one between Abbey and David.
“I tell everyone I know, neurotypical and neurodivergent, to watch the show – not only is it heartwarming, [but] it also shares that autistic adults want and need love and the realities, struggles and joys of that journey.”
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“I see myself in the show”
Late-diagnosed mother Erin K Arceri told us she “was a high-masking autistic person most of my life – until my health collapsed about a decade ago, and I couldn’t hide it anymore.”
“I love Love on the Spectrum,” she continued.
“I see so much of myself in many of the people on the show. It’s helped me feel less alone and more seen.”
“I don’t feel fully represented”
Another anonymous source told HuffPost UK that while they enjoy the show, they feel it leaves a portion of the autistic experience out.
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“Lots of the families [in the show] seem to have quite a lot of money. But lots of autistic adults are not well off.”
Still, they say, the “drama” of the show has been fun to watch, and they like how the show depicts autistic desire and affection.
“I have dated since I was a teenager and now people might understand that is normal,” they added.
“There’s still a long way to go”
Autistic psychotherapist and founder of The Sensitive Empowerment Community, which “supports sensitive and autistic individuals,” Julie Bjelland, says she also feels conflicted.
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“I’ve watched Love on the Spectrum with a blend of appreciation and concern,” she shared.
“While I’m grateful that the show brings conversations about autism and dating into the public eye – and appreciate the inclusion of LGBTQ+ representation – I believe there’s still a long way to go in how autistic people are portrayed.”
One of her main concerns, she says, is that the show focuses on “surface-level depictions of autism, often reinforcing the idea that autistic people are childlike or incapable of independence.”
She says she’d “love to see greater representation of those of us who may not ‘look autistic’ by traditional standards but who are navigating dating, intimacy, and deep emotional connection through an autistic lens.”
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Season one included Kaelynn Partlow, who has fewer support needs than other cast members and has since said she thinks she wasn’t included in season two because of her preference for a neurotypical boyfriend and her strong communication skills. Still, she shared on TikTok, “I get it.”
Bjelland, however, likes the inclusion of dating coach Jennifer Cook, who is herself autistic.
“I hope future seasons continue that momentum – by involving more autistic voices behind the scenes and expanding representation to include late-discovered adults, LGBTQ+ folks, and those whose communication and relational styles are more subtle or internal,” she said.
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University (SBU) have shown that particles produced in collimated sprays called jets retain information about their origins in subatomic particle smashups. The study was recently published as an Editor’s Suggestion in the journal Physical Review Letters.
“Despite extensive research, the connection between a jet’s initial conditions and its final particle distribution has remained elusive,” said Charles Joseph Naim, a research associate at the Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS) in SBU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. “This study, for the first time, establishes a direct connection between the ‘entanglement entropy’ at the earliest stage of jet formation and the particles that emerge as a jet evolves.”
The evidence comes from an analysis of jet particles emerging from proton-proton collisions captured by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-circumference circular collider located at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. In these powerful collisions, the individual building blocks of the colliding protons, known as quarks and gluons, scatter off one another and sometimes get knocked free with enormous amounts of energy. But quarks can’t stay free for long. They and the gluons that normally hold them together immediately begin to split and reconnect through a branching process called fragmentation. The result is the formation of many new composite particles made of pairs or triplicates of quarks — collectively known as hadrons — that spray out of the collision in a coordinated way, that is, as a jet.
“We wanted to see if the distribution of the hadrons in the jet was influenced by the level of entanglement among the quarks and gluons at the time the jet first formed,” said Abhay Deshpande, a distinguished professor at SBU. Deshpande holds a joint appointment as director of science for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a new nuclear physics research facility under construction at Brookhaven Lab, and he is also currently serving as Brookhaven Lab’s interim associate laboratory director for nuclear and particle physics.
The analysis was motivated in part by earlier research by study co-authors Zhoudunming Tu and Dmitri Kharzeev, both with faculty roles at SBU and appointments at Brookhaven Lab. Their study, published last year, revealed a connection between entanglement among quarks and gluons within protons and the overall distribution of particles emerging from proton-proton and electron-proton smashups. In that work, the higher the entanglement entropy among the quarks and gluons, the greater the entropy, or “messiness,” in the distribution of particles produced.
“This earlier study revealed that there is maximal entanglement among the quarks and gluons within the high-energy proton,” said Tu. “In this work, we extend this approach to the production of jets, which form from the fragmentation of those quarks and gluons. Will there also be maximal entanglement ‘inside’ these fragmenting high-energy quarks and gluons?”
Such a state of maximal entanglement among the jet-forming quarks and gluons predicts a connection between the jet fragmentation function and the entropy, or disorder, of hadrons emerging from the jet. This entropy would be observed as a large number of different types of hadrons — mainly pions, kaons, and protons — striking the detector. Conversely, such an observation of a high degree of disorder among jet particles and its correlation with the initial fragmentation predictions would be evidence of this maximal entanglement in the fragmenting quarks and gluons.
When the scientists looked at the data from the LHC’s proton-proton collisions, the distribution of jet hadrons matched this prediction based on maximal entanglement in the earliest stage of jet formation.
“This new study offers a novel quantum-level perspective on the fragmentation process,” said Kharzeev.
Study co-author Jaydeep Datta, a research scientist at SBU, added, “This study paves the way for further exploration of how quantum entanglement influences hadron formation, including at the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider.”
The EIC will have active participation from many Stony Brook University faculty and students, and it promises unprecedented precision in studying quantum entanglement effects in high-energy collisions. Among other things, the EIC will compare jets emerging from electron-proton collisions with jets emerging from electron-nucleus collisions. These experiments will explore how far the quantum effects extend within nuclei — and potentially modify the microcosm within protons.
This research was funded by the Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science at Stony Brook University; the DOE Office of Science; the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage, a Brookhaven-led National Quantum Information Science Research Center also supported by the DOE Office of Science; and by a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project at Brookhaven Lab.
Every year, thousands of tonnes of brown algae are extracted from the seabed to obtain compounds such as alginates, a polymer composed of sugars that has high density and strength, offering potential biotechnological applications. An international team led by the University of Barcelona has deciphered the mechanism by which a type of enzyme, called alginate lyase (AL), is capable of degrading these marine biomaterials, allowing them to be used as carriers of drugs, additives or thickeners, among others. These results, published in Nature Communications, will help in the development and design of new “tailored alginates” for specific applications, especially in the food and biomedical industries.
The UB team is formed by José Pablo Rivas-Fernández, first author of the article, and Carme Rovira, ICREA research professor, both from the UB’s Faculty of Chemistry and the UB Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB), in coordination with Casper Wilkens, biotechnologist at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Experts from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and North Carolina State University (United States) have also participated.
Despite the abundance of alginates in the marine environment, their range of opportunities, especially in the biomedical sector, is severely limited by the inhomogeneity of their composition in the natural state — they may contain a mixture of mannuronic acid and guluronic acid sugars in varying proportions. Knowledge of the mechanism of action of AL enzymes when they specifically break the bonds connecting the mannuronic acid-type sugars in this polymer will help to overcome these limitations. “The results lay the groundwork for manipulating these enzymes and designing variants with better catalytic properties and higher efficiency on a large scale.
By using industrial techniques and bioprocesses, it will be possible to optimize the production of ‘tailored alginates’ in sufficient quantities to meet society’s needs,” the researchers explain. “These findings will also allow for a “better use of natural resources and boost the green economy by using enzymes as key tools in the production of these alginates,” say the authors.
Computational analysis with the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer
Part of the study was based on the computational analysis of the action mechanism of these enzymes, using as a starting point the three-dimensional structures of the AL enzyme in interaction with different alginate variants, obtained by the DTU collaborators. Based on this structure and using the resources of the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center — Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), the UB team has carried out molecular dynamics simulations, using multiscale quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics techniques to model and obtain a detailed description at the atomic level of the chemical reaction that takes place during the degradation of alginates.
These simulations have reconciled previous scientific discrepancies about the number of stages in which the reaction occurs, confirming that it happens in a single stage and that the polymer breaks at the centre, not at one end. They have also cleared the nature of the transition state — the highest energy configuration during the reaction — as a highly negatively charged species. “This finding suggests that we may be able to control at what point the polymer breaks down by mutations of certain amino acids in the enzyme’s active centre,” the researchers explain.
Another important element of the study is that the enzymes analysed belong to family 7 of lyases, the most abundant known to date, which allows extrapolating the mechanism described to other enzymes with high biotechnological potential.
These findings also facilitate the identification of key residues or amino acids that can be targeted to improve the efficiency of these enzymes, a very promising line of research on which the UB team is already working.
Moreover, the results improve the understanding of the chemical evolution of alginate during its degradation, a fundamental element for the design of probes capable of identifying and isolating alginate lyases, which have not yet been described. In this sense, UB researchers are currently working on the design of probes that allow the efficient identification of new enzymes active in carbohydrates.
This study is part of Carbocentre, a project funded by a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Hantavirus recently made news headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, but little is commonly known about it other than its connection to rodents.
Virginia Tech researchers have gained a better understanding of this insidious virus by studying its rodent hosts in North America. Using National Science Foundation data, they found three hotspots of hantavirus circulation in wildlife — Virginia, Colorado, and Texas — and identified 15 rodent species as carriers, including six species that had not previously been identified as hosts of the virus.
The details of their study was published in Ecosphere.
“This project is timely because hantavirus is considered an emerging disease of pandemic potential with symptoms that resemble severe COVID-19 infections,” said Paanwaris Paansri, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and co-author of the study.
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that have been identified in regions all over the globe and can reach mortality rates similar to other diseases of high concern, such as nipah and Ebola. In Asia, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is caused by the Hantaan virus, in Europe that syndrome is caused by the Dobrava-Belgrade virus, and in North and South America, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is caused by Sin Nombre virus and Andes virus — all hantaviruses. Sin Nombre virus was first discovered in New Mexico in 1993.
Little is known about the ecology of hantaviruses in wildlife except that the pathogen is spread to humans by inhalation of aerosolized excreta, urine, or saliva from asymptomatic rodent hosts, and it can be fatal in humans.
The Virginia Tech team used data from the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network program to gain a better understanding of hantavirus circulation in its sylvatic cycle — the pathogen’s life cycle in wildlife — by examining the environmental influences and geographical distribution of the rodent hosts. The program collected and tested 14,004 blood samples from 49 species at 45 field sites across the United States from 2014-19.
“In North America, Peromyscus maniculatus, the deer mouse, is the most common carrier but our study also revealed that other rodent species have a higher prevalence of hantavirus, which changes the current paradigm in hantavirus circulation in wildlife,” said Paansri, whose mentor Associate Professor Luis E. Escobar, led the study and is an affiliate with the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. “This new information is expected to help us understand where and when hantavirus is most likely to occur, which is crucial for predicting outbreaks and informing public health officials.”
The discovery of six new rodent species of hantavirus hosts is significant. Some of these newly discovered hosts inhabit regions where traditional hosts, such as the deer mouse or the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), are absent, meaning they could be potential reservoirs of the virus in new or overlooked areas.
“This expands our understanding of the basic biology of the virus and shows that the virus is more adaptable than previously believed,” Paansri said. “This has direct implications for surveillance strategies and risk assessments and can help explain some cases of hantavirus in humans where the main reservoir is absent or rare.”
In addition to expanding the known host species, the researchers were able to gain a better understanding of seasonal trends and effects of seasonal weather shifts. For example, warmer winters and increased precipitation can increase rodent populations and drier conditions can facilitate the generation of contaminated dust containing particulates from rodent excrement and saliva, increasing the risk of transmission to humans.
“Climate change can cause population increases or distributional shifts of rodents, altering the epidemiology of hantavirus,” Paansri said. “These fluctuations can lead to more frequent rodent-human interactions and increase the chance of spillover. We found some evidence that rodent demography and hantavirus prevalence can be predicted months in advance.”
The actual number of human cases of hantavirus infections is largely unknown, according to Paansri, because many infections remain silent, meaning the infected individual may not develop any symptoms or the symptoms could mirror other diseases, such as the common cold or influenza.
The researchers plan to further explore the extent to which climatic variations influence hantavirus transmission in wildlife and in humans..
“We believe that many lessons learned from this study can be generalized to other wildlife diseases, considering that their distribution is global,” Paansri said.
Abdelghafar Alkishe, a Virginia Tech 2022-23 presidential postdoctoral fellow, also worked on this study.
MPs will return to Westminster on Saturday to vote on emergency government plans to save British Steel which could see it brought into public ownership.
In a highly unusual move, parliament has been recalled from its Easter recess as Keir Starmer warned the company’s future was “in the balance” unless the government acts.
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Ministers fear that the UK’s ability to produce its own steel will end forever if the loss-making plant at Scunthorpe is allowed to close down.
Negotiations between the government and British Steel’s Chinese owners Jingye on a rescue package broke down, forcing ministers to consider nationalisation.
The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill is expected to be passed by both the Commons and the Lords on Saturday.
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It will give business secretary Jonathan Reynolds the power to direct the company’s board and workforce, while ensuring it is able to order the raw materials needed to keep the plant’s vital blast furnaces running.
Ministers also want to ensure the plant’s 3,500 employees are not made redundant.
In a Downing Street statement on Friday evening, Starmer said: “As prime minister, I will always act in the national interest to protect British jobs and British workers.
“This afternoon, the future of British steel hangs in the balance. Jobs, investment, growth – our economic and national security are all on the line.”
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The PM added: “As I have said, we will keep all options on the table.
“Our future is in our hands. This government will not sit back and just hope. We will act to secure Britain’s future with British steel: made in Britain, in the national interest.”
Starmer also insisted that the plant’s cashflow problems are longstanding and not directly related to Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on all steel imports into the US.
A No.10 source said: “We’re in a new era and the quicker people stop clinging to the old ways the better.
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“It’s not feasible to have critical infrastructure in the hands of companies that are willing to run them down.”
One steel industry insider told HuffPost UK it was “squeaky bum time” for the future of the plant, meaning the government had little option but to act.
But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour had “landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making”
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She said: “The union-led Labour government have bungled the negotiations, insisting on a Scunthorpe-only deal that the company has deemed unviable.
“Keir Starmer should have seen this coming. But instead of addressing it earlier in the week when parliament was sitting, their incompetence has led to a last-minute recall of parliament.”
One main goal of anti-cancer therapies is to kill tumor cells without affecting the surrounding normal cells. Therefore, many drugs are designed to target tumor-specific antigens, which are molecules only expressed by cancer cells. However, it has proven difficult to identify such specific antigens in certain cancer types, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
AML patients are often treated using allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT), where they receive stem cells from a donor. Unfortunately, despite advancements with allo-HCT, many AML patients relapse.
In a recent article published in Nature Cancer, a multi-institutional research team led by The University of Osaka describes how a molecule called HLA-DRB1 can be used as a target for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-based therapy for AML. In CAR-based therapy, T cells are engineered to target and kill cells that express a specific molecule. CAR T cells have been highly successful in individuals with B cell leukemia/lymphoma and multiple myeloma (MM). However, most of the CAR T cell targets currently in clinical trials for AML are also expressed in normal cell types, leading to potential toxicity.
“In our previous work in MM, we screened monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to identify any that could react with human MM samples but not with normal blood cells,” says Shunya Ikeda, lead author of the study. “We aimed to use that same strategy to find AML-specific antigens.”
The team began screening thousands of mAbs raised against AML cells, narrowing this list down to 32 that bind specifically to AML cells. One mAb, named KG2032, clearly bound to AML cells in over 50% of patient samples tested. Using a sequencing strategy, the researchers determined that KG2032 bound to HLA-DRB1.
“Interestingly, we found that KG2032 reacted with a specific HLA-DRB1 subset in which the protein has an amino acid other than aspartic acid in the 86th position,” explains Naoki Hosen, senior author of the article. “KG2032 would therefore only be reactive to AML cells in individuals with mismatched HLA-DRB1, meaning the patient carries this amino acid residue but the allo-HCT donor does not.”
This finding indicates that HLA-DRB1 can be a potential target in treating certain patients with AML who have relapsed after allo-HCT.
The team then engineered KG2032 CAR T cells without the reactive HLA-DRB1 allele to test this finding. The KG2032 CAR T cells displayed strong and specific anti-AML effects in vitro with cell culture experiments, as well as in vivo with a mouse model. The treated mice did not display any overt signs of toxicity. Engineered cord blood-derived CAR natural killer (NK) cells showed similar results.
Overall, these very promising findings indicate that KG2032-derived CAR T or NK cells may be a lifesaving intervention for AML patients who have relapsed following allo-HCT. Clinical trials are currently being planned for both cell types.
