Novel immune cell population may offer alternative target for tuberculosis vaccines

There is no highly effective vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), which remains an infection of global concern. Charles Kyriakos Vorkas, MD, an infectious diseases physician-scientist at the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University, and colleagues identified a novel population of immune cells that could serve as an alternative target for TB vaccines and immune-directed therapy. Their findings are detailed in a paper published in Scientific Reports.

Mitochondrial DNA mutation accumulation may not be a determining factor in aging

The human genome is broadly classified into the genome residing in the cell nucleus (nuclear DNA) and the genome residing in the mitochondria (mitochondrial DNA: mtDNA). Mitochondria are cell organelles that produce energy essential for life activities through oxidative phosphorylation (mitochondrial respiration), and mtDNA encodes a set of genes required for mitochondrial respiration.