November 25, 2021

A Senolytic Treatment Improves Visual Function in a Small Trial for Macular Degeneration

UNITY Biotechnology recently reported positive results for their senolytic drug candidate UBX1325, probably derived from navitoclax. Senolytic therapies selectively destroy senescent cells in aged tissues, reducing their inflammatory signaling and contribution to tissue dysfunction. In this case, macular degeneration patients showed improved visual function after treatment, though one should wait […]
November 24, 2021

Researchers Develop New Algorithm for Linking Genes and Specific Diseases

Researchers from ITMO’s Laboratory of Genomic Diversity and the World-Class Research Centre for Personalized Medicine have developed GPrior (gene prioritizer), an algorithm that uses data from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify the genes responsible for a particular disease. For this study, the group used the data on schizophrenia, […]
November 24, 2021

Looking Deeper into Age-Related Changes in the Skin Microbiome

For reasons yet to be determined, the composition of the skin microbiome changes with age. It is also unclear as to whether these changes contribute to skin aging in any meaningful way, or are instead a consequence of skin aging. Researchers here perform a proof of concept study to identify […]
November 24, 2021

Researchers discover an unexpected regulator of heart repair

A study using mice by scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA reveals that cardiac muscle cells play a pivotal role in determining how the heart heals following a heart attack. The findings challenge a longstanding paradigm about heart repair […]
November 23, 2021

Some Cell Therapies Reduce Inflammation Precisely Because the Transplanted Cells Die

First generation stem cell therapies have been demonstrated to reduce chronic inflammation, but are unreliable when it comes to producing other benefits. Since very few transplanted cells survive, it was thought that benefits are produced via signaling that changes the behavior of native cells. This has led to work on […]
November 22, 2021

Exposure to Harmless Coronaviruses Boosts SARS-CoV-2 Immunity

Infections with the novel coronavirus and vaccination lead to strong antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2. Immune responses to other human coronaviruses, which mostly only cause harmless colds, also provide some protection against SARS-CoV-2. This cross-reactive immune response is an important piece of the puzzle of how to achieve comprehensive coronavirus immunity, […]
November 22, 2021

The Age-Related Decline of Energy Metabolism in Myeloid Cells as an Important Cause of Neurodegeneration

Today's open access editorial discusses one quite specific consequence of the age-related disruption of energy metabolism in cells. Mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, falter with age throughout the body, for complex reasons still under exploration. The proximate causes involve too little production of molecular machinery needed for the […]
November 20, 2021

Exercise as an Approach to Slow Alzheimer's Disease

Exercise is beneficial at every age, but most people do not undertake enough physical activity. In a sedentary world, structured exercise programs look like a decent therapy, because that exercise corrects a harmful deficiency in the operation of metabolism. Thus the studies showing a reduction in mortality resulting from exercise […]
November 19, 2021

Glial Cells and the Propagation of Tau through the Brain in Tauopathies

Tauopathies like Alzheimer's disease are characterized by the spread of tau aggregates through the brain. Tau is one of the few molecules in the body that can become altered in a way that encourages other copies of the same molecule to also alter, causing aggregates to form. These aggregates and […]