Rifampicin, the main treatment for TB, is losing ground against drug-resistant bacteria and dormant infections, underscoring the need for smarter combination strategies. Pairing rifampicin with the compound AAP-SO₂ turns a common resistance mutation into a vulnerability, dramatically boosting the potency of both drugs in knocking out dormant infections hiding in cell clusters. The findings suggest that TB treatment could take a more precision medicine approach, pairing rifampicin with a second transcription inhibitor to exploit vulnerabilities linked to drug resistance, and potentially enable more such dual-drug therapies in the future.

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a first-of-its-kind mRNA system that switches on therapeutic genes preferentially inside targeted cells—an advance demonstrated in studies in mice that could lay the groundwork for safer, more precise treatments for cancer and other diseases. The system, called the cell-selective modRNA translation system (cSMRTS), is an engineered form of mRNA designed to activate in specific cell populations. The findings were reported in the November 15 online issue of Molecular Therapy, a Cell Press journal.

A recently published article in Nature Communications by Dr. Qiang Su and colleagues reports a novel molecular pathway that intensifies myocardial injury following coronary microembolization (CME).