Our brains can distinguish highly similar patterns, thanks to a process called pattern separation. How exactly our brains separate patterns is, however, not fully understood yet. Using a full-scale computer model of the dentate gyrus, a brain region involved in pattern separation, Peter Jonas, Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria, found that inhibitory neurons activated by one pattern suppress all their neighboring neurons, thereby switching off “competing” similar patterns. This is the result of a study…
Model replicates features of complex disease, provides platform for screening existing drugs. Using a stem-cell-derived model, researchers have identified two drug candidates that may slow dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness for which no treatment exists. The scientists, from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, published their findings today in Nature Communications. “This stem-cell-derived model of dry AMD is a game-changer. Scientists have struggled to unravel this incredibly complex disease,…
New strategy promises protection also against future SARS-CoV-2 variants. Fusion protein successfully blocks replication of SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses. Vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been made possible by an unprecedented worldwide partnership. But medications against Covid-19 have as yet seen only partial success. With the support of the Bavarian Research Foundation, a Munich research team has developed a protein which has reliably prevented infection by the virus and its variants in cell culture tests. The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses a…
Space-bound research ‘large step’ toward feeding Earth’s rapidly growing population. Clemson researcher Chris Saski admits sending the University’s iconic Tiger Paw to space aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is, quite literally, “an out-of-this-world experience.” But it’s the potential for the experiments in the flight hardware to which the Paw is attached that truly excites him. Saski’s cotton regeneration research, adorned with Clemson stickers, intends to take off Dec. 21 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida bound for the International…
Detecting the activity of CRISPR gene editing tools in organisms with the naked eye and an ultraviolet flashlight is now possible using technology developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Scientists demonstrated these real-time detection tools in plants and anticipate their use in animals, bacteria and fungi with diverse applications for biotechnology, biosecurity, bioenergy and agriculture. The team described the successful development of the UV system in Horticulture Research and their proof-of-principle demonstration in ACS Synthetic Biology….
Biophysicists in Japan have found ways to make and manipulate capsule-like DNA structures that could be used in the development of artificial molecular systems. Such systems could function, for example, inside the human body. The study was a collaboration between Yusuke Sato of Tohoku University and Masahiro Takinoue of the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), and the findings were published in the JACS Au. To make the capsules, the researchers first created two different types of DNA nanostructures. Each…
The Bubbler, a breathalyzer that reverse-transcribes RNA from airborne SARS-CoV-2 in breath, predicts lower respiratory tract involvement and is less invasive than alternative testing approaches, report researchers in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. In a new study in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, investigators report on the design and testing of a breathalyzer, known as the Bubbler, that relies on viral RNA detection to diagnose SARS-CoV-2. Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when…
Fluorescence light microscopy has the unique ability to observe cellular processes over a scale that bridges four orders of magnitude. Yet, its application to living cells is fundamentally limited by the very rapid and unceasing movement of molecules and the light-induced destruction of fluorescent probes. Ultrarapid cryo-arrest of cells during live observation on a microscope, as developed by the group of Prof. Philippe Bastiaens the at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, now circumvents these fundamental problems…
Organ-on-a-chip technology has provided a push to discover new drugs for a variety of rare and ignored diseases for which current models either don’t exist or lack precision. In particular, these platforms can include the cells of a patient, thus resulting in patient-specific discovery. As an example, even though sickle cell disease was first described in the early 1900s, the range of severity in the disease causes challenges when trying to treat patients. Since this disease is most prevalent among…
Study on genetic changes in neuroblastoma. Tumors are heterogeneous, which means that different parts of the same tumor can be genetically distinct. This phenomenon, known as intratumor heterogeneity, is steadily gaining in significance within the field of cancer research. Cellular and molecular differences within the same tumor play an important role in many different cancers due to their implications for diagnosis and the use of targeted therapies. According to a recently published study by Charité, the MDC and the German…
A characteristic of depression is a lack of motivation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Bo Li, in collaboration with CSHL Adjunct Professor Z. Josh Huang, discovered a group of neurons in the mouse brain that influences the animal’s motivation to perform tasks for rewards. Dialing up the activity of these neurons makes a mouse work faster or more vigorously—up to a point. These neurons have a feature that prevents the mouse from becoming addicted to the reward. The findings may point to new therapeutic…
NIAID scientists developed vaccine platform. An experimental HIV vaccine based on mRNA—the same platform technology used in two highly effective COVID-19 vaccines—shows promise in mice and non-human primates, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their results, published in Nature Medicine, show that the novel vaccine was safe and prompted desired antibody and cellular immune responses against an HIV-like virus. Rhesus macaques receiving a priming vaccine followed…
Researchers have found where and how mRNA arrives in a cell to modify or deliver genetic information, a crucial process for the development of novel therapies. In recent years, ribonucleic acid (RNA) has emerged as a powerful tool for the development of novel therapies. RNA is used to copy genetic information contained in our hereditary material, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and then serves as a template for building proteins, the building blocks of life. Delivery of RNA into cells remains…
Protein ZAP inhibits multiplication of SARS-CoV-2 by 20-fold. HZI and HIRI study investigates antiviral protein of the immune defence system. Scientists at the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig demonstrate for the first time how ZAP, a protein of the human immune defence system, inhibits the replication mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and can reduce the viral load by 20-fold. The findings were published today in the journal…
For the first time, scientists show a causal link between tissue repair, mitochondrial metabolism, and the activation and function of macrophages (scavenger cells) / Publication in ’Cell Metabolism’. A Cologne-based research team has discovered that the metabolism of mitochondria, the energy suppliers of cells, in macrophages coordinate wound healing to a significant degree. Macrophages belong to the white blood cells and are also known as scavenger cells. Professor Dr. Sabine Eming and her collaborators and colleagues at the CECAD Cluster…
Research team with new development pipeline for RNA-based drugs successful in Europe-wide competition. Viruses are a major problem for human health worldwide – and not just since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Despite successful vaccine development, there are still no effective drugs for most viral diseases. This should change as quickly as possible. With the project “iGUARD (integrated Guided Ultrafast Antiviral RNAi Drug development)”, a research team led by Professor Dr. Dr. Axel Schambach, head of the Institute for…
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