How fat cells in the skin help fight acne. Acne is among the most common skin diseases in the United States, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, affecting up to 50 million Americans each year. It is also among the least studied. It’s known that hair follicles assist in the development of a pimple, but new research suggests the skin cells outside of these hair follicles play a larger role. The findings published in the February 16, 2022…
Altered sensory processing of communication signals. For a long time it has been assumed that difficulties in processing communication signals in autism occur at the level of the cerebral cortex or structures in the brain associated with emotion processing. Neuroscientists at Technische Universität Dresden have now shown that adults with autism have altered processing of auditory communication signals already in the subcortical auditory pathway – a structure that connects the ears with the cerebral cortex. Their findings have been recently…
As a physician with the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, Dr. Laura E. Crotty Alexander has heard from more and more patients over recent years that they’re thinking of switching to vaping e-cigarettes as a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. Not so fast, says the pulmonologist, who is also an associate professor at University of California San Diego. She calls it a “dangerous situation,” with so many people apparently unaware that e-cigarettes come with wide-ranging dangers of their own….
Joint study by MHH and HZI: vaccine proves safe and effective against liver fibrosis and liver cancer. Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. So far, the treatment options for two types of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), have been inadequate, while the number of new cases has been rising. A study by researchers at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) now offers hope. A…
… compatible with patient biopsies to fight metastasis. METPlatform allows researchers to investigate patients’ own tumour tissue. It is simple, fast, cheap, and “infinitely superior to other screening methods”. They have discovered that HSP90 inhibitors may be useful in treating brain metastases. It is estimated that about a quarter of cancer patients are at risk of brain metastases, a rate that is increasing especially among those who suffer relapses after having undergone different cancer treatments. This, in addition to the…
The brain has neurons that fire specifically during certain mathematical operations. This is shown by a recent study conducted by the Universities of Tübingen and Bonn. The findings indicate that some of the neurons detected are active exclusively during additions, while others are active during subtractions. They do not care whether the calculation instruction is written down as a word or a symbol. The results have now been published in the journal Current Biology. Most elementary school children probably already…
Gender influences survival chances. MHH study: Vessels of girls suffer more damage than those of boys Gender plays a role: chronic kidney disease has a greater effect on the vessels of girls than on those of boys. Researchers at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have now been able to show this in a European study. Although the mortality rate in children after kidney transplantation has fallen in recent decades, it is still very high compared to the general population due…
Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Regensburg have elucidated the structure of a central cellular inflammatory switch. Their work shows which site of the giant protein called NLRP3 inhibitors can bind to. This opens the way to develop new pharmaceuticals that could target inflammatory diseases such as gout, type 2 diabetes or even Alzheimer’s disease. The results are published in the journal Nature. In their study, the researchers investigated a protein molecule with the cryptic abbreviation NLRP3. This is…
The detection and quantification of cancer-associated molecular biomarkers in body fluids, or liquid biopsies, prove minimally invasive in early cancer diagnostics. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed an approach that accelerates the detection of cancer biomarkers in samples taken at the time and place of patient care. The study, published in ACS Nano, focused on the detection of a group of molecular biomarkers called microRNAs (miRNAs), small, single-stranded and noncoding RNAs that play important roles in gene…
NIAID-sponsored study assessed dose in adults fully vaccinated with any EUA or approved COVID-19 vaccine. In adults who had previously received a full regimen of any of three COVID-19 vaccines granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an additional booster dose of any of these vaccines was safe and prompted an immune response, according to preliminary clinical trial results reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings served as the basis…
New test developed as mechanism of skin cancer growth understood. A pioneering test which reliably predicts the spread or return of the most deadly form of skin cancer has been developed by a team of Newcastle scientists and clinicians. The technological advance came as they made a scientific breakthrough in understanding the mechanism of skin cancer growth. Led by Professor Penny Lovat at Newcastle University, UK, in association with the University spin out company AMLo Biosciences, the test offers reassurance…
The biochemistry of vision is a complex process. The molecules supporting the visual pigments that allow us to see our surrounding reality have remained essentially invisible for scientists for a long time. The team led by Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski from the International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) has changed that, thanks to an innovative state-of-the art imaging device that they have developed. It is commonly said that eyes are the mirror of the soul; however, they are undoubtedly our…
Scientists have discovered an enzyme that is key to why exercise improves our health. Importantly this discovery has opened up the possibility of drugs to promote this enzyme’s activity, protecting against the consequences of aging. Monash University, Australia scientists have discovered an enzyme that is key to why exercise improves our health. Importantly this discovery has opened up the possibility of drugs to promote this enzyme’s activity, protecting against the consequences of ageing on metabolic health, including type 2 diabetes….
For the first time, scientists have identified a rare population of potentially toxic senescent cells in human brains that can serve as a target for a new Alzheimer’s disease treatment. The study, published in the Dec.10 edition of the journal Nature Aging, was led by Miranda Orr, Ph.D., assistant professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine, at Wake Forest School of Medicine and research health scientist at the W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center, and Habil Zare, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell…
A potentially game-changing Antigen Rapid Test (ART) technology to diagnose COVID-19 has been developed by scientists in Singapore. Using a proprietary on-kit amplification technique, a person’s saliva can be self-administered or tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the point-of-care with sensitivity higher than current ART tests and close to that of laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Dubbed the Parallel Amplified Saliva rapid POint-of-caRe Test (PASPORT), the technology produces results in minutes, without the need for additional equipment or specially-trained…
Scientists at Hokkaido University and Texas A&M University have identified a key mechanism used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to evade host immune systems. Researchers in Japan and the United States have found SARS-CoV-2 can knock out an important molecular pathway linked to an immune complex called MHC class I. The finding should help scientists better understand how COVID-19 infection takes hold. “Our discovery reveals how the virus can evade the human immune defense system and might help to explain why…
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