April 14, 2021

PPARα Slows Atherosclerosis by Inhibiting Vascular Cellular Senescence

It may turn out to be the case that many mechanisms of cellular regulation that slow aspects of aging function, at least in part, by slowing the pace at which senescent cells accumulate. Senescent cells induce tissue dysfunction via inflammatory signaling. Studies in which senescent cells are selectively destroyed in […]
April 14, 2021

Cancer DNA blood tests validated by international research team

An international team today reports the findings of an independent assessment of five commercially available assays for tumour DNA sequencing – a fast, cheap and less invasive method to diagnose and monitor cancer. The researchers revealed that all assays could reliably detect so-called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) when it made […]
April 14, 2021

Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer and High Mutational Burden Benefit from Pembrolizumab

The immunotherapy agent pembrolizumab can provide clinical benefit to some patients with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors were found to have a high number of mutations, and whose cancer continued to progress with standard treatments. That’s according to newly published results from ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study. […]
April 14, 2021

Drug testing approach uncovers effective combination for treating small cell lung cancer

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified and tested a drug combination that exploits a weakness in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive, dangerous cancer. The scientists targeted a vulnerability in how the cancer cells reproduce, increasing already high levels of replication stress ­­– a hallmark of […]
April 14, 2021

U of A research could help diagnose prostate cancer severity more accurately

Scientists at the University of Alberta are part of a new research project to develop innovative precision diagnostics that could predict which men with prostate cancer are at risk of developing an aggressive form of the disease. The researchers will use germline sequencing (sequencing of the genes a person is […]
April 13, 2021

GlyNAC improves strength and cognition in older humans

A pilot human clinical trial conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that supplementation with GlyNAC – a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine as precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione – could improve many age-associated defects in older humans to improve muscle strength and cognition, and promote healthy […]
April 13, 2021

New research on good cholesterol possibly finds better marker for cardiovascular disease

Good cholesterol, which is transported in HDLs (high-density lipoproteins), plays a key part in the prevention of atherosclerosis and thus the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, according to a new paper co-authored by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the journal Circulation, the anti-inflammatory properties of HDLs could be […]
April 13, 2021

Technique allows mapping of epigenetic information in single cells at scale

Histones are tiny proteins that bind to DNA and hold information that can help turn on or off individual genes. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a technique that makes it possible to examine how different versions of histones bind to the genome in tens of thousands of individual cells […]
April 13, 2021

Living Foams

Researchers uncover how cells control the physical state of embryonic tissues. In the earliest stage of life, animals undergo some of their most spectacular physical transformations. Once merely blobs of dividing cells, they begin to rearrange themselves into their more characteristic forms, be they fish, birds or humans. Understanding how […]
April 12, 2021

COVID-19 transmission from mother to fetus confirmed by proteomics

Researchers from Skoltech were part of a research consortium studying a case of vertical COVID-19 transmission from mother to her unborn child that resulted in major complications in the pregnancy, premature birth and death of the child. The consortium used a Skoltech-developed proteomics method to verify the diagnosis. The paper […]
April 12, 2021

Case Western Reserve awarded $3 million National Cancer Institute grant to apply AI to immunotherapy in lung cancer patients

Medical researchers from Case Western Reserve University, New York University (NYU), and University Hospitals have been awarded a five-year, $3 million National Cancer Institute grant to develop and apply artificial intelligence (AI) tools for predicting which lung cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy. A unique aspect of the Case Western […]
April 12, 2021

Leaking calcium in neurons an early sign of Alzheimer’s pathology

Alzheimer’s disease is known for its slow attack on neurons crucial to memory and cognition.  But why are these particular neurons in ageing brains so susceptible to the disease’s ravages, while others remain resilient? In a new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer’s […]
April 12, 2021

How to tame a restless genome

Short pieces of DNA—jumping genes—can bounce from one place to another in our genomes. When too many DNA fragments move around, cancer, infertility, and other problems can arise. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor & HHMI Investigator Leemor Joshua-Tor and a research investigator in her lab, Jonathan Ipsaro, study how cells safeguard […]
April 11, 2021

Understanding how cancer can relapse

In the fight against cancers, activating mutations in the RAS family of genes stand in the way of finding viable treatment options. Now, scientists at the University of Missouri and Yale University have discovered that one of these mutations — oncogenic RAS or RASV12 — is also responsible for the […]
April 11, 2021

Treating Sleep Apnea May Reduce Dementia Risk

A new study finds older adults who received positive airway pressure therapy prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia. Researchers from Michigan Medicine’s Sleep Disorders Centers analyzed Medicare claims of more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older who had been […]
April 11, 2021

Clinical trials assess best first-line drugs for epilepsy

Standard drugs remain the best first-line treatments for epilepsy, according to the results of two UK clinical trials led by the University of Liverpool. The Standard and New Antiepileptic Drugs (SANAD II) studies compared a range of antiepileptic drugs for how well they control seizures, their general tolerability and their […]
April 11, 2021

Artificial intelligence can accelerate clinical diagnosis of fragile X syndrome

An analysis of electronic health records for 1.7 million Wisconsin patients revealed a variety of health problems newly associated with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism, and may help identify cases years in advance of the typical clinical diagnosis. Researchers from the Waisman […]
April 10, 2021

Researchers create a new human height inheritance model

Skoltech scientists and their colleagues have proposed a new human height inheritance model that accounts for the interaction between various factors that influence adult human height. The research was published in the European Journal of Human Genetics. Human height is a classical quantitative trait that depends on sex, genetics, and […]
April 10, 2021

New national study of long-term impacts of debilitating lung damage from COVID-19

A new national study will investigate the long-term effects of lung inflammation and scarring from COVID-19. The study, launched with £2 million of funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), aims to develop treatment strategies and prevent disability. Many people recovering from COVID-19 suffer from long-term symptoms of lung damage, including breathlessness, […]
April 10, 2021

‘Brain glue’ helps repair circuitry in severe TBI

At a cost of $38 billion a year, an estimated 5.3 million people are living with a permanent disability related to traumatic brain injury in the United States today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The physical, mental and financial toll of a TBI can be enormous, but […]
April 10, 2021

Long-Term Impact of COVID-19

People admitted to inpatient rehabilitation after hospitalization with COVID-19 showed deficits in mobility, cognition, speech, and swallowing at admission and improved significantly in all of these capabilities by the time they were discharged. However, a considerable number of patients exhibited residual deficits at discharge, highlighting the post-acute care needs of […]
April 10, 2021

An amyloid link between Parkinson’s disease and melanoma

On the surface, Parkinson’s disease — a neurodegenerative disorder — and melanoma — a type of skin cancer — do not appear to have much in common. However, for nearly 50 years, doctors have recognized that Parkinson’s disease patients are more likely to develop melanoma than the general population. Now, […]
April 9, 2021

Researchers advance genome mapping for critically-endangered sturgeon

In a genetics breakthrough that may help detect and conserve one of North America’s most endangered fish species, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Columbia Environmental Research Center and Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently produced offspring of endangered pallid sturgeon with DNA from only a single parent. These offspring are not […]
April 9, 2021

Research targets faster, safer source of islet cells for people with Type 1 diabetes

University of Alberta researchers are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to find a safer, more personalized source of islet cells to treat Type 1 diabetes. The research project, a collaboration between the departments of surgery and computing science, aims to use AI to analyze images to speed up the process and reduce […]
April 9, 2021

Chromosome 8 assembly reveals novel genes, disease risks

The full assembly of human chromosome 8 is reported this week in Nature.  While on the outside this chromosome looks typical, being neither short nor long or distinctive, its DNA content and arrangement are of interest in primate and human evolution, in several immune and developmental disorders, and in chromosome sequencing […]