November 7, 2020

The gut trains the immune system to protect the brain

Gut-trained immune cells at CNS borders guard against meningitis and other infections. The membranes surrounding our brains are in a never-ending battle against deadly infections, as germs constantly try to elude watchful immune cells and sneak past a special protective barrier called the meninges. In a study involving mice and […]
November 6, 2020

Blood cell mutations confound prostate cancer liquid biopsy

Unrelated mutations, when present in the blood, can lead to false positive results in men with advanced prostate cancer who are undergoing liquid biopsies.  Such tests, which look for variants in the cell-free DNA that tumors shed into the blood plasma, help determine suitable treatment options. “You can actually measure […]
November 6, 2020

Western diet impairs odor-related learning and olfactory memory in mice

Problems with the sense of smell appear to be an early indicator of cognitive decline in people with type 2 diabetes. However, it’s unknown whether factors such as diet and obesity play a role in who develops these symptoms. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Chemical Neuroscience found that mice fed a moderate-fat, […]
November 6, 2020

Climate Change Will Give Rise to More Cancers

Climate change will bring an acute toll worldwide, with rising temperatures, wildfires and poor air quality, accompanied by higher rates of cancer, especially lung, skin and gastrointestinal cancers, according to a new report from UC San Francisco. In an analysis of nearly five dozen published scientific papers, the researchers provided […]
November 5, 2020

Yale Scientists Identify New Genes Related to Congenital Hydrocephalus

When babies are born with congenital hydrocephalus (CH), a condition traditionally thought to be a result of a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain, neurosurgeons normally treat the condition by surgically implanting a shunt that drains fluid from the brain into the abdomen. “This neurosurgical treatment can be […]
November 5, 2020

Big babies, little mothers: tsetse flies show extreme mothering

The tsetse fly is an exception to the almost universal law of nature that babies are born smaller than their mothers. In an article published in BioEssays, Drs Sinead English and Antoine Barreaux from the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, together with colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and the Universities of Greenwich, Stellenbosch and California […]
November 4, 2020

Laser technology to offer an instant analysis of cancerous brain tissue

Accuracy is everything when you’re studying and treating the brain. This is why scientists need very precise methods and tools to deal with various conditions such as brain cancer. Now scientists at the University of Waterloo took a significant step towards development of laser imaging technology, which could precisely guide […]
November 4, 2020

Scientists identify specific brain region and circuits controlling attention

The attentional control that organisms need to succeed in their goals comes from two abilities: the focus to ignore distractions and the discipline to curb impulses. A new study by MIT neuroscientists shows that these abilities are independent, but that the activity of norepinephrine-producing neurons in a single brain region, […]
November 4, 2020

Dopamine regulates synchronicity in the activity of striatal neurons

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and the University of California have uncovered the role of a polysynaptic pathway that links cholinergic neurons together. The study was recently published in Nature Communications. Cholinergic neurons are instrumental in regulating activity in the Striatum. Their acetylcholine interacts with dopamine to create just the right […]
November 4, 2020

Spontaneous release of neurotransmitters in the brain identified as a culprit of developmental disorders in infants and children

Vanderbilt pharmacologists have reported the first evidence that aberrant spontaneous release of neurotransmitters in the brain can cause a range of severe intellectual and neurodevelopmental disorders in infants and children. Ege Kavalali, who holds the William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics and is acting chair of pharmacology, and postdoctoral scholar Baris […]
November 4, 2020

‘Fast’ MRI Detects Breast Cancers that 3-D Mammograms May Miss

Beth Reisboard, 76, was relieved in 2018 when she received the results from her annual mammogram: “Negative.” But her OB-GYN suggested she have a second screening. Reisboard has dense breasts, which means there are certain cancers that mammography may not be sensitive enough to detect. Surprised, Reisboard scheduled an appointment […]
November 4, 2020

Software for determining the 3D structure of proteins

A new software package aims to aid drug design and biomedical research by making it easy to construct 3D images of proteins and other molecules using one of the world’s most powerful microscopes. Amit Singer, professor of mathematics and the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, and his team are developing a package […]
November 4, 2020

Break it up: Polymer derived from material in shrimp’s shells could deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor sites

Drug delivery is a recurring conundrum in cancer treatment. Scientists have developed many anti-cancer therapeutics. But those drugs often harm healthy tissues, and drugs can even break down in the bloodstream before reaching the tumor site. Anti-cancer drugs can last longer if dissolved in certain chemical solutions, but many come […]
November 3, 2020

Understanding mutations at different levels of the cell

Researchers working under ETH-Professor Emeritus Ruedi Aebersold have demonstrated how mutations in a gene influence the structure, function and interaction network of a protein complex. Their work plays a key foundation for personalised medicine. In the wake of proclaiming the “Age of the Genome” in the 1990s, scientists mapped the […]
November 3, 2020

New analysis method can lead to better cancer drugs

While proteins on the surface of cells are the targets for most drugs, refined methods are needed to analyse how these membrane proteins are organised. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new DNA-based analytical method that could contribute to the development of future drugs for breast and other cancers. […]
November 3, 2020

Swipe right to help tackle brain disease

The app, dubbed NeuroSwipe, is a citizen science collaboration between students at the University’s National Software Academy and academics at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC). The app trains non-scientists to become experts at recognising brain scans that would be suitable for a scientific study, potentially saving researchers valuable […]
October 30, 2020

Tiny golden bullets could help tackle asbestos-related cancers

Gold nanotubes – tiny hollow cylinders one thousandth the width of a human hair – could be used to treat mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, according to a team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds. In a study published in journal Small, […]
October 30, 2020

In Vivo Reprogramming Improves Cognitive Function in Old Mice

Reprogramming cells in a living animal, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem cells, has the sound of a bad idea – leading to cancer, damage to structures and tissues, inappropriate signaling, and more. One of the interesting discoveries of recent years is that in vivo reprogramming can be quite beneficial, […]
October 30, 2020

Study to test ‘eye retraining’ treatment for sight loss caused by stroke

Researchers at the University of Liverpool are leading a new study to test the effectiveness of a treatment for ‘retraining’ the eyes for people who experience a loss of vision after stroke. Funded by eye research charity Fight for Sight and the Stroke Association, the study hopes to establish a […]
October 30, 2020

Priming the immune system to attack cancer

Immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitor drugs, have made worlds of difference for the treatment of cancer. Most clinicians and scientists understand these drugs to act on what’s known as the adaptive immune system, the T cells and B cells that respond to specific threats to the body. New research from […]
October 29, 2020

Targeting Aging is the Way to Treat Diseases of Aging

Near all work to date on the treatment of age-related disease has failed to consider or target underlying mechanisms of aging, the molecular damage that accumulates to cause pathology. It has instead involved one or another attempt to manipulate the complicated, disrrayed state of cellular metabolism in late stage disease, […]
October 29, 2020

Study helps explain why motivation to learn declines with age

As people age, they often lose their motivation to learn new things or engage in everyday activities. In a study of mice, MIT neuroscientists have now identified a brain circuit that is critical for maintaining this kind of motivation. This circuit is particularly important for learning to make decisions that […]
October 29, 2020

Brain and spine fluid proteomics may hold Alzheimer’s clues

A major scientific effort is underway to characterize the proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid to improve diagnostics and clinical monitoring assays and discover potential therapies, for Alzheimer’s disease. Several research labs at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Stanford University are pooling their protein science expertise in this […]
October 29, 2020

A patch that could help heal broken hearts

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide in recent years.  During a heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), a blocked artery and the resulting oxygen deprivation cause massive cardiac cell death, blood vessel impairment and inflammation. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Biomaterials Science […]