BhushanLab

Antigen specificity of clonally enriched CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis Nature Immunology - Sabatino and colleagues examine expanded CD8+ T cell clonotypes from a small cohort of multiple sclerosis patients. They identified several cognate peptide epitopes that derive...

rdcu.be/e3me8
Virus and autoimmunity-another nail in the coffin...

rdcu.be/e3mdR

Osteoprotegerin-Enabled Immune Evasion of Pathological Adipose Stromal Cells Drives Metabolic Dysfunction in Obesity Diet-induced obesity (DIO) promotes the accumulation of stromal cells with senescent characteristics in the adipose tissue (AT). Selectively clearing these cells—either through chemical senolytics or ...

New work on the mechanism by which certain deleterious (senescent-like) stromal cells evade immune clearance.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Regeneron’s chief scientist on Trump’s drug pricing policy, gene therapy, and the problem with AI Regeneron's chief scientist, George Yancopoulos, has some thoughts about the use of AI in medicine.

You don’t need AI. Why? Because you have the greatest natural learning system on the planet that evolved over billions of years, which is the immune system.
www.statnews.com/2026/01/15/r...

Gene editing's search for a 'holy grail' has led to an explosion of tools, but few cures Former Intellia scientist John Finn reflects on gene editing's evolution and the closure of Tome Biosciences, highlighting the industry's focus on tools over medicines.

endpoints.news/as-gene-edit...

Arena BioWorks, an ambitious biomedical institute backed by billionaires, abruptly shuts down Exclusive: Arena Bioworks, the buzzy research institute that launched with $500 million to support a decade of scientific R&D, is abruptly shutting down, STAT has learned.

Arena BioWorks, an ambitious biomedical institute backed by billionaires, abruptly shuts down www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/a... via @statnews.com

In @elife.bsky.social: Blocking Osteoprotegerin Reprograms Cancer Associated Fibroblast to Promotes Immune Infiltration into the Tumor Microenvironment doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

The “valley of death” is getting increasingly treacherous with NIH in shambles and VCs increasingly training their money at clinical stage companies.

Novo shutters cell therapy unit, ending work on potential Type 1 diabetes 'cure' Novo Nordisk is ending all work in cell therapy, including a Type 1 diabetes program, amid CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar's reorganization. | Novo Nordisk is ending all work in cell therapy, including a Typ...

Another one bites the dust. www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/novo...

www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Takeda stops all work in cell therapy Takeda's decision is another blow to a cell therapy industry that has fallen out of favor.

It’s another blow to a cell therapy industry that has fallen out of favor as companies struggled to develop next-generation cell therapies that were both effective and could make the complex and expensive treatments more widely accessible. endpoints.news/takeda-stops...

Eli Lilly halts trial testing experimental muscle-preserving drug with Zepbound Eli Lilly has halted a study of an experimental drug, designed to prevent obesity patients from losing too much muscle, due to strategic business reasons, according to a U.S. registry of clinical trials.

Doesnt bode well for muscle preservation combo approach. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

www.statnews.com/wp-content/u...

What a phenomenal retrospective at SFMOMA

iPSCs are generated by reprogramming adult cells into a pluripotent state, similar to embryonic stem cells, but with the advantage of being derived from the patient's own cells, reducing the risk of immune rejection.
What is the evidence this is true?

The U.S. is losing its biotech edge over China — and that’s bad news for the Bay Area OPINION: From gene therapies to cancer breakthroughs, California has been the driving force behind America’s biotechnology industry. But today, that edge is slipping.

www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

Congrats to Anil Bhushan @bhushanlab.bsky.social and Gregory Ku for receiving a 2025 Beatson Foundation Award for their projects "Targeting Pancreatic Stromal Cells to Halt T1D," and "Using Massively Parallel Monitoring of Insulin Secretion to Make a Better Stem cell-Derived β Cell," respectively.

More detailed reading www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Given that T cell infiltration in stromagenic tumors correlates strongly with clinical outcomes, an anti-OPG (aOPG) therapeutic approach that transforms “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors holds promise for improving treatment efficacy and survival, especially in combination with other immunotherapies.

Antibody-mediated blockade of OPG or genetic deletion of OPG in host animals leads to a profound increase in T cell infiltration, accompanied by enhanced cytokine secretion and effector function.

Our recent work shows iCAF secrete osteoprotegerin (OPG), which functions as a critical negative regulator of T cell infiltration and effector activity.

It is increasingly recognized that immunosuppressive barriers within the tumor microenvironment present a major obstacle to the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive T cell therapies in patients with solid tumors.

Biomea joins the GLP1 bandwagon-what happened to the Menin inhibitor-a pivot or just changing subject?
investors.biomeafusion.com/news-release...

The bag would be easy to remove cells if some goes wrong. Now you have to think of kill switch and immune cloaking.

Vertex lays off 125 staffers, slims Rhode Island campus after ditching failed diabetes cell-device combo Vertex is trimming its Rhode Island footprint on the back of a scrapped “cells plus device” program in diabetes, leaving 125 staffers out of a job. | The company is merging its three buildings at its ...

Cells in a bag don’t work. The focus is now on immune suppression ftp.fiercehealthpayersummit.com/biotech/vert...

California state film tax credit doubled while money for scientific research SB 829, an investment that creates new jobs is rejected by senate appropriations. Where is the California that invents the future.

Taurine, a darling of longevity seekers, is found to be unreliable biomarker for aging A study shows levels of the amino acid taurine rise rather than fall over time, confounding the goal of dietary supplements popular in anti-aging circles.

Taurine, a darling of longevity seekers, is found to be unreliable biomarker for aging www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/t... via @statnews.com

Sebastião Salgado, Acclaimed Brazilian Photographer, Is Dead at 81

Sebastião Salgado, Acclaimed Brazilian Photographer, Is Dead at 81 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/a...

The reprogramming arms race-is it good for biotech?