This unit on nanoparticles engages students with a hypothetical Grand Challenge Question that asks about the skin cancer risk for someone living in Australia, given the local UV index and the condition of the region's ozone layer. The question asks how nanoparticles might be used to help detect, treat and protect people from skin cancer. Through three lessons, students learn about the science of electromagnetic radiation and energy waves, human skin and its response to ultraviolet radiation, and the state of medical nanotechnology related to skin cancer. Through three hands-on activities, students perform flame tests to become familiar with the transfer of energy in quantum form, design and conduct their own quality-control experiments to test sun protection factors (SPFs), and write nanotechnology grant proposals.

Students are presented with a biomedical engineering challenge: Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death among women and the American Cancer Society says mammography is the best early-detection tool available. Despite this, many women choose not to have them; of all American women at or over age 40, only 54.9% have had a mammogram within the past year. One reason women skip annual mammograms is pain, with 90% reporting discomfort. Is there a way to detect the presence of tumors that is not as painful as mammography but more reliable and quantifiable than breast self-exams or clinical breast exams? This three lesson/three activity unit is designed for first-year accelerated or AP physics classes. It provide hands-on activities to teach the concepts of stress, strain and Hooke's law, which students apply to solve the challenge problem.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and its mortality continues to rise. Its aggressiveness, presentation at an advanced stage, and resistance to most treatments have made this cancer very difficult to treat. Therefore, identifying novel PDAC biomarkers for predicting survival and monitoring therapy response is critical. Most studies have searched for gene signature biomarkers for PDAC. But the complexity of this cancer has made finding these types of biomarkers difficult. A recent study analyzed the usefulness of using functional signatures as biomarkers for this disease. Using an analytical method called Functional Analysis of Individual Microarray Expression (FAIME), the researchers converted transcriptional information into molecular functional profiles. They identified a functional signature belonging to the drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 pathway that better predicted prognosis, drug response, and chemotherapeutic efficacy for PDAC..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Prostate cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancers among men. Reducing the levels of male hormones is the first-line treatment, but many cases become resistant to this “chemical castration”. Immunotherapies that leverage or improve the tumor-killing abilities of immune cells called macrophages might be viable alternatives but so far, there is limited preclinical or clinical evidence as to whether these therapies are effective. Researchers recently used a mouse model to explore whether a macrophage-activating drug called VSSP can successfully treat castration-resistant prostate cancer. VSSP inhibited tumor growth in surgically castrated mice with less-aggressive prostate cancer, but not in those with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The scientists next treated macrophages with VSSP in the laboratory and administered them to mice with castration-resistant cancer. They found that the VSSP-treated macrophages reduced tumor growth in the mice..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Cancers are complex diseases largely characterized by rapid cellular proliferation. This can be slowed by regulated cell death mechanisms like ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is triggered by extensive peroxidation of cell membrane phospholipids by reactive oxygen species (ROS), but ferroptosis can be inhibited by enzymes that undo peroxidation like GPX4. Another enzyme, DHODH, supports GPX4 and is vital to the production of pyrimidine nucleotides, critical building blocks for rapidly proliferating cells. In theory, this would make inhibiting DHODH a valuable therapeutic target for cancer by freeing up ferroptosis and hampering proliferation. However, this is complicated by the “Warburg effect,” which is common in some cancer cells. The Warburg effect is a shift away from using mitochondria for energy to other metabolic processes, which has knock-on effects..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In the next few months, college students across the country will be offered the chance to save a life by swabbing cells from the insides of their cheeks and registering as a potential marrow donor with Be The Match The Give A Spit About Cancer campaign, which launched in October, helps college students organize marrow donor registry drives. The cells collected in these drives are used to figure out who might be able to donate marrow or blood stem cells to a patient with a life-threatening disease like leukemia. While ethnicity is irrelevant to most medical procedures, marrow and blood stem cell transplants are an exception to this rule.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"When diagnosed early, people with breast cancer often have a very good prognosis. But when cancer cells begin to metastasize, treatment becomes more difficult. Metastasis begins with the formation of a pre-metastatic niche (PMN), which has favorable conditions to direct the growth and migration of tumor cells. Inhibiting this process can prevent cancer metastasis and improve prognosis in cancer patients. In a recent study, researchers examined whether a traditional Chinese medicine treatment, XIAOPI formula, can prevent PMN formation. Using molecular and cell biology techniques, they found that through regulation of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell progenitor mobilization, XIAOPI formula could inhibit PMN formation in breast cancer. It exerted its effects by preventing the secretion of a growth factor, CXCL1, by tumor-associated macrophages. In a mouse model of advanced-stage breast cancer, treatment with XIAOPI formula inhibited metastasis to the lungs by acting through this pathway..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In addition to the associated lesson, this activity functions as a summative assessment for the Using Stress and Strain to Detect Cancer unit. In this activity, students will create a 1-D strain plot in Microsoft Excel depicting the location of a breast tumor amidst healthy tissue. The results of this activity will function as proof of the accuracy and reliability of the students' breast cancer detection design.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Lung cancer remains a major cause of cancer-related death worldwide, indicating that better treatments are needed. One way to develop new treatments while saving time and money (and reducing the risk of unexpected side effects) is by repurposing drugs that are currently used for other diseases. For example, ciclopirox olamine (CPX) is an iron-binding antifungal agent that has been found to be effective against a variety of cancers. Researchers recently investigated the efficacy of CPX against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In vitro, CPX inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in two NSCLC cell lines. Specifically, it blocked the epithelial–mesenchymal transition, a shift that allows cells to become mobile. CPX also disrupted cellular energy processes and promoted toxic reactive oxygen species production, leading to buildup of improperly folded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and ultimately causing cell death via apoptosis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The circadian clock tunes cells in the body to the rhythm of the solar day on earth. Over the past few years, studies have shown that disruption of this rhythm contributes to various cancers. For example, women who work nights instead of days have been shown to carry an approximately 10% increased risk of breast cancer. That’s because, much like other bodily functions, the immune system is subject to natural fluctuations, with certain immune cells peaking during the day and others at night. This regular oscillation means that the circadian clock controls many aspects of immune functions, including those related to cancer. These functions include the release and presentation of cancer cell antigens and the activation of immune cells, the trafficking and infiltration of immune cells into tumors and the elimination of cancer cells. These discoveries have paved the way toward anti-cancer treatments that target components of the biological clock..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Colorectal cancer is among the top three most lethal types of cancer worldwide, and its incidence is increasing. If colorectal cancer spreads to bone, the balance between the natural breakdown of old bone tissue and the production of new bone can be severely disrupted, leading to fractures, excess calcium in the blood, and other issues. Understanding the processes driving colorectal cancer bone metastasis can therefore guide the development of new treatments to combat these disorders. To meet this need, researchers recently evaluated the effects of CCL7, a small protein involved in immunity, which is also thought to have an important role in cancer progression and metastasis. They found increased production of CCL7 in the bone marrow of mice with colorectal cancer bone metastasis, but the injection of a CCL7-neutralizing antibody prevented a reduction in bone volume. The team also showed that CCL7 stimulated the movement of osteoclast precursors, cells that are involved in breaking down bone tissue..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"New genes involved in tumorigenesis are constantly being discovered. Potassium Channel Tetramerization Domain (KCTD)-containing proteins have historically been involved in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, obesity, or signal transduction pathway modulation. Recently, this diverse group of proteins has been shown to be linked to cancer. KCTD proteins share a conserved BTB domain that allows for protein-protein interactions. Ever-growing evidence suggests that these proteins are involved in protein degradation as well as a multitude of other biological functions in different cancers. Through their BTB domain, most KCTD proteins act as adapters to selectively recruit proteins for ubiquitination and degradation. But non-protein-degradation roles in DNA replication and repair, transcription, cell cycle control, tumor suppression, and tumorigenesis have also been found..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide. More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positive, indicating that they might be treatable with endocrine therapy. However, half of patients with ERα-positive breast cancer develop endocrine resistance, a major roadblock to successful therapy. In a new study, researchers sought to learn more about ERα-positive breast cancer to support the development of better treatments. The enzyme TRIM3, a regulator of protein stability vs. breakdown, was upregulated in ERα-positive breast cancer tissues, and high TRIM3 expression was associated with poor survival in patients receiving endocrine therapy. In experiments on mice and cell lines, TRIM3 promoted ERα signaling and was required for cancer growth and migration. Specifically, the filamin/NHL domain of TRIM3 bound to the DNA-binding domain of ERα in the nucleus..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"In 2020, approximately 191,930 people were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and an estimated 33,330 people died from the disease. The most common therapies for prostate cancer involve androgen depletion via castration and/or drug treatment. However, the relapse and mortality rates of prostate cancer remain high, prompting a need for less invasive treatments. Now, a growing number of studies suggest that prostate cancer can be inhibited by the hormone melatonin. Melatonin, which is normally associated with the regulation of sleep, can inhibit prostate cancer partly by keeping androgen receptors out of cell nuclei, thus preventing excess androgen signaling and by activating MT1 signaling, ultimately reducing levels of the prostate cancer marker prostate-specific antigen. Melatonin also reduces tumor blood vessel growth and it regulates metabolism, affects differentiation, and induces death in prostate cancer cells..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. To better understand factors involved in carcinogenesis, a recent study examined the contribution of one class of proteins. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of target genes. The study focused on one miRNA family member: miR-1250, which is embedded in the second intron of its host gene, apoptosis-associated tyrosine kinase (AATK). Researchers studied the methylation status of AATK/miR-1250 in healthy controls compared to that in lymphoma cell lines and 120 primary lymphoma samples. They found that while AATK/miR -1250 was not methylated in healthy peripheral blood and tonsils. in NHL cell lines and patient samples, methylation was detected, correlating with repression of miR-1250-5p and AATK expression. Restoring miR-1250-5p resulted in decreased cell proliferation as well as enhanced apoptosis and cell death..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that can modulate gene expression to affect numerous biological processes. One such molecule, miRNA-93, is dysregulated in various diseases and might be a valuable marker of prognosis. For example, it’s generally upregulated in lung cancer, prostate cancer, glioma, osteosarcoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma, where it promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion to drive cancer progression. It can also induce the development of chemotherapy resistance. Furthermore, miRNA-93 contributes to coronary artery blockage, Parkinson’s disease, postmenopausal osteoporosis, and acute kidney injury. However, it’s not always upregulated in disease. In fact, it’s downregulated in gastric, bladder, cervical, and renal cancer, sometimes exerting anti-tumor effects. These differences emphasize the need to truly understand miRNA-93’s role in a specific disease before using miRNA-93 as a prognostic marker or treatment target..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The body’s response to cancer is complex, and boosting it requires strategy. White blood cells known as effector T cells are programmed to infiltrate tumors and control or kill tumor cells. But the microenvironment around a tumor can inhibit T cells, preventing an effective anti-tumor response. Although immune checkpoint blockade therapies can restore anti-tumor immunity, these treatments aren’t effective for everyone, and innovative approaches combining multiple pathways are needed. Now, researchers have identified a new potential target for anti-tumor therapy. Orphan nuclear receptor NR2F6 inhibits T cell activation. A recent study combined deletion of NR2F6 in T cells with conventional immune checkpoint therapy in mice. Researchers deleted NR2F6 in T cells using CRISPR/ Cas9 technology and reintroduced them into mice. NR2F6-deleted T cells in combination with checkpoint therapy allowed mice to survive injection of tumor cells, while checkpoint therapy alone did not..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Advancements in next-generation sequencing have opened the door to detailed analyses of the human microbiome. This technique has many applications, and pancreatic cancer research is one of them. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with an estimated 5-year survival rate of only 11%. Most cases, over 80%, are not found until the cancer is too advanced to successfully treat, but pancreatic cancer patients show shifts in their oral microbiome, which could be detected years earlier than current methods allow. Pathogenic oral bacteria have also been found within pancreatic tumors, which is another potential link between them. However, these findings barely scratch the surface of how the oral microbiome relates to pancreatic cancer. The oral microbiome is influenced by a combination of host-related and environmental factors, which include genetics, race, ethnicity, smoking, socioeconomics, and age..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Lung cancer, one of the most common cancers, is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Therefore, better understanding of this disease is needed. GSK3 proteins have been reported to play roles in tumor development, but the specific mechanisms are unclear. To learn more, a new study investigated the function of the GSK3 isoform GSK3α in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). GSK3α expression was significantly upregulated in patients with NSCLC, and patients with high GSK3α expression had shorter overall survival (OS) times than patients with low expression. In vitro, overexpressing GSK3α in NSCLC cells promoted protumor processes such as proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation, while silencing GSK3α exerted the opposite effects. To achieve its effects, GSK3α activated the HIF1α/VEGFA signaling pathway and regulated the stability of HIF1α, a protein induced by hypoxic environments like those around tumors, via the PHD-pVHL pathway..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Gastric cancer, one of the most common cancers worldwide, is highly fatal, largely because of metastasis, a migratory process that requires rearrangement of the cellular skeleton. The protein MICAL2 is known to regulate cytoskeletal rearrangement and is highly expressed in some aggressive cancers, but whether it participates in gastric cancer metastasis is unclear. To find out, researchers recently examined MICAL2 in human gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. MICAL2 was upregulated in gastric cancer tissues compared to healthy tissues, and high MICAL2 expression was associated with reduced survival. In vitro silencing experiments on human gastric cancer cells suggested that MICAL2 encourages cell migration through the β-catenin signaling pathway. Specifically, it promotes degradation of the protein E-cadherin in a manner dependent on the cell division regulator Cdc42..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.