Deciphering the secrets of spinal cord regeneration. Scientists have long sought to understand how certain animals, such as zebrafish, are able to regrow nerve fibers and regain lost motor function after spinal cord injury. In humans, these injuries are irreparable and result in permanent loss of function, such as paralysis. An international team led by Daniel Wehner of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin in Erlangen, Germany, has been able…
… may be underestimated. The fight against dengue fever has a new weapon: a mosquito infected with the bacteria Wolbachia, which prevents the spread of the virus. These mosquitoes have now been deployed in several trials demonstrating their potential in preventing disease transmission. Now, researchers at the University of Notre Dame have conducted an analysis of the World Mosquito Program’s randomized control trial of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in Indonesia, looking at how excluding transmission dynamics impacted the original interpretation of the…
A team of scientists led by Dr. Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, professor of Theoretical Physics at Constructor University in Bremen, has now discovered how B12 is absorbed by certain intestinal bacteria. Published in the journal “Nature Communications” at the beginning of August, the findings will serve as a basis for research on how to better fight diseases and develop better antibiotics. Kleinekathöfer and his team’s breakthrough finding, what they call “pedal-bin mechanisms”, offers critical understanding for how bacteria in the intestine known…
Fraunhofer at MEDICA and COMPAMED 2023… With long waiting lists, significant journey times, an ever-shrinking number of doctor’s practices, medical care services in sparsely populated regions are under mounting pressure. As part of its Neighborhood Diagnostics project, the Fraunhofer ZDD® is working to develop a digital ecosystem for delivering patient treatment close to where they live in order to ensure that people in rural areas can access high-quality medical care despite the shortage of doctors. One of the digital ecosystem’s…
Mature spermatozoa are characterized by an head, midpiece and a long tail for locomotion. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit “Life & Health” at the University of Bonn have found that a loss of the structural protein ACTL7B blocks spermatogenesis in male mice. The cells can no longer develop their characteristic shape and remain in a rather round form. The animals are infertile. The results of the study have now been published in…
Chemotherapy is essential for many cancer patients, but some suffer from cognitive impairment throughout treatment. “Chemobrain” can consist of deficits in memory, attention, and executive function. A new study now reveals that “chemobrain” may be caused by an excess of calcium floating around inside cells. The research, from investigators at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, could lead to new treatments to restore cognition in patients experiencing symptoms. Calcium serves as…
The congenital multisystem disease PCD is associated with a severe respiratory and lung disease in which the cilia in the bronchial tubes are no longer able to clean the lungs, thus favouring chronic infections. An international study with the participation of the MHH now shows how the lung function of those affected could be improved. In our lungs, the body’s own cleansing system works tirelessly to remove mucus and with it cellular waste and pathogens. Fine cilia in the inner…
A study carried out in Tübingen and Bonn finds evidence of two separate processing mechanisms. When two, three or four apples are placed in front of us, we are able to recognize the number of apples very quickly. However, we need significantly more time if there are five or more apples and we often also guess the wrong number. In fact, the brain does actually register smaller numbers of things differently than larger ones. This has been demonstrated in a…
Scientists have created a new zebrafish xenograft platform to screen for novel treatments for an aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma, according to a new study by the Gerhardt and De Smet labs published in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Joint press release – Max Delbrück Center, VIB, and KU Leuven Glioblastoma is an aggressive and difficult-to-treat brain tumor in adults. On average, patients survive for only 1.5 years. The standard of care treatment for this disease, which includes surgery followed by radiation…
Hydrogels used to cultivate vascular sprouting from mouse lung tissue provide new insight. Using a new recipe for growing blood vessels from living lung tissue in the lab, a University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science research team has developed an analytical tool that could lead to a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, a lung-destroying disease. Fibrosis is chronic scarring of tissue and it can strike nearly every system in the body. According to the National…
Hyperdiploidy is a genetic condition observed in cancer cells, where the cells contain more chromosomes than usual. The condition is particularly prevalent in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common form of pediatric cancer. To bring clarity to the field, researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital worked to better define this type of ALL in the context of modern therapy to more accurately predict patient outcomes and guide treatment decisions. The findings were published today in the…
Depression is a common but serious mental disorder that requires early diagnosis and treatment; however, it is currently difficult to do so. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that easily measures electrical activity, and the equipment is relatively inexpensive, such that it may be used to promote the early detection and treatment of depression. However, such a method has not been developed. The participants of this study were instructed to measure their EEG for 1 min every day at home across…
… lays foundation for future glioblastoma therapy. The discovery of a previously unknown molecular target has inspired what may become a therapeutic breakthrough for people with glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain cancer. When people hear the word “cancer” they often picture a single mass, but glioblastoma cells are also highly invasive and spread quickly from the central mass, making it very difficult to fully eradicate. Even with current treatments such as temozolomide, the standard chemotherapy approved to treat…
After a heart attack it might be worth it to already treat constrictions in blood vessels not involved in the heart attack right away during the first intervention to treat the heart attack. In a large international study, USZ cardiologists were able to show that this treatment strategy has advantages over a delayed procedure. The result is highly relevant to clinical practice. A heart attack is caused by the acute blockage of a coronary artery. The affected blood vessels are…
Neuroblastomas are tumors of the nervous system. They can form in many places in the body and are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in young children. A team of researchers at University Medicine Halle has discovered the processes involved in the development of neuroblastomas. The protein IGF2BP1 is considered the spark that can ignite a whole wildfire of cancer-causing processes. In preclinical trials, the team used a molecule that was able to inhibit IGF2BP1 and extinguish this spark….
Tübingen T-cell activator offers protection against coronaviruses in immunocompromised patients. Good news for patients with acquired or congenital immunodeficiency: The results of a clinical phase II study at the University Hospital Tübingen led by Prof. Dr. Juliane Walz and Prof. Dr. Helmut Salih show an effective activation of T cells against the coronavirus. After positive results in healthy volunteers in the previous phase I, the T-cell activator “CoVac-1” was now able to reproduce these effects in cancer patients for the…
Feedback
