… in metabolic stress. Salk scientists find protein FNIP1 links cellular powerhouse damage to repair during metabolic stress, with broad disease implications spanning from diabetes to cancer to neurodegeneration. Scientists often act as detectives, piecing together clues that alone may seem meaningless but together crack the case. Professor Reuben Shaw has spent nearly two decades piecing together such clues to understand the cellular response to metabolic stress, which occurs when cellular energy levels dip. Whether energy levels fall because the…

Pre-clinical study suggests that blocking a molecule while boosting a cell may reduce tumor growth in patients. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have demonstrated in a preclinical study a potential new therapeutic approach to treating the most common form of lung cancer. The strategy involves inhibiting the immune-system molecule TREM2 while enhancing natural killer cells (the so-called protectors of the immune system). It was described in the April 20 online issue of Nature Immunology [DOI:…

… could lead to new medical interventions. What if amyloid beta plaques aren’t the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease? There is a growing body of evidence that iron in the brain may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Lending weight to that idea, a new imaging probe has for the first time shown that in the same regions of the brain where the amyloid beta plaques associated with Alzheimer’s occur, there is also an increase in iron redox, meaning the…

Single-celled algae and marine bacteria live in a complex but largely unexplored relationship. Now, a new study shows that the surface of diatoms is a surprisingly diverse habitat for bacteria. A team from the University of Oldenburg was able to demonstrate for the first time that the surface displays distinct microscale biochemical variations. The colonisation by different bacterial species is finely tuned to this structure. Since diatoms bind large amounts of carbon and form the basis of marine food webs,…

Brain releases hormone after short fasting that boosts autophagy. Fasting triggers autophagy in our body. The body switches on the waste disposal system in the cells and gains new energy. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have now shown in mice that the brain plays a decisive role in this process. Even after a short period of fasting, the brain triggers the release of the hormone corticosterone and thus initiates autophagy in the liver. Until…

The findings may provide new insights into circuit abnormalities in autism. Using a new approach for studying live embryonic mouse brains at single-cell resolution, researchers have identified an active multi-layer circuit that forms in the cortex during an unexpectedly early stage of development. Perturbing the circuit genetically led to changes similar to those seen in the brains of people with autism. The findings are reported today in Cell by a team based at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology…

Researchers have developed a drug that undercuts antibiotic resistance. A new type of drug could provide a way to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Instead of targeting the bacteria directly, the drug blocks key toxins involved in the infection process. This both reduces inflammation and makes the bacteria more vulnerable to antibiotics. Antibiotics have been invaluable in the fight against bacterial infections, but bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to them. In the…

… tech adaptable for other emerging diseases. The first rapid test for mpox, more commonly known as monkeypox, has been developed by a team of researchers led by Penn State. The selective molecular sensor can detect the virus within minutes, without the use of any high-end instrumental techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Current tests require health care providers to swab lesions and send the samples to labs to be tested, which can take several days. The technique, which was…

Electron microscopy: Nano-reporter proteins make invisible processes visible. How do the nerve cells in our brain communicate with each other? What processes take place when T cells render cancer cells harmless? Details of the mechanisms at the cellular level remain hidden from view. Now, special reporter proteins developed by a research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) may help unveil these mechanisms. Peering through an electron microscope provides scientists the deepest view into cellular structures – the…

First graphene-based cardiac implant senses irregularities, then stimulates the heart. Researchers led by Northwestern University and the University of Texas at Austin (UT) have developed the first cardiac implant made from graphene, a two-dimensional super material with ultra-strong, lightweight and conductive properties. Similar in appearance to a child’s temporary tattoo, the new graphene “tattoo” implant is thinner than a single strand of hair yet still functions like a classical pacemaker. But unlike current pacemakers and implanted defibrillators, which require hard,…

MRI technology from Duke-led effort reveals the entire mouse brain in the highest resolution. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is how we visualize soft, watery tissue that is hard to image with X-rays. But while an MRI provides good enough resolution to spot a brain tumor, it needs to be a lot sharper to visualize microscopic details within the brain that reveal its organization. In a decades-long technical tour de force lead by Duke’s Center for In Vivo Microscopy with colleagues…

It’s a well-documented medical mystery: Patients with gum disease are less likely to respond to rheumatoid arthritis treatments. But new research may help explain this link between gum disease and an otherwise disparate condition. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that breaches in damaged gums allow bacteria in the mouth to seep into the bloodstream, activating an immune response that ultimately pivots to target the body’s own proteins and causes arthritis flare-ups. “If oral bacteria are getting in and repeatedly…

New study opens treatment possibilities for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. Researchers at UC Davis are the first to report how a specific type of brain cells, known as oligodendrocyte-lineage cells, transfer cell material to neurons in the mouse brain. Their work provides evidence of a coordinated nuclear interaction between these cells and neurons. The study was published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. “This novel concept of material transfer to neurons opens new possibilities for understanding brain maturation…

Insights from mouse model could lead to better vaccines. Salmonella infections cause about a million deaths a year worldwide, and there is an urgent need for better vaccines for both typhoid fever and non-typhoidal Salmonella disease. New work from researchers at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine shows how memory T cells, crucial for a vaccine that induces a powerful immune response, can be recruited into the liver in a mouse model of Salmonella. The work was published April…

– visualizing reactive astrocyte-neuron interaction. PET imaging of reactive astrocyte-neuron interaction reveals new insights into Alzheimer’s disease pathology, offering a potential breakthrough in diagnosis and treatment. Recently, a team of South Korean scientists led by Director C. Justin LEE of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science made a new discovery that can revolutionize both the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. The group demonstrated a mechanism where the astrocytes in the brain uptake elevated…

Actinic keratosis is considered the most common precursor of skin cancer and is triggered by excessive UV radiation. Without treatment, it can often develop into malignant forms of skin cancer. Under the leadership of the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), the international doctoral candidates network PlasmACT is investigating the use of medical gas plasma technology as a treatment method. The project is funded by the European Union. Eight young international researchers will work on a plasma-based treatment…