Dynamic infrared tracer imaging uses affordable and widely available equipment to obtain the temporal resolution necessary to evaluate glymphatic flux within the brain. The glymphatic system facilitates fluid exchange in the central nervous system and clears dissolved wastes. This anatomically organized movement occurs primarily during sleep and is supported by astroglial neural cells via water channels called aquaporins. These channels line the perivascular pathways and facilitate cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial fluid exchange throughout the brain. Glymphatic dysfunction has been implicated…

An advanced MRI and PET study… Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. An etiology of AD would be excessive accumulation of toxic forms of β-amyloid (Aβ), assumed to result from an imbalance between its production and clearance. Individuals with early-onset AD-related gene mutations show both increased production and decreased clearance of Aβ, whereas those with late-onset AD, which accounts for > 95% of cases, exhibit only decreased Aβ clearance. The ε4 allele of APOE gene is…

PlasmidMaker has a user-friendly web interface with which researchers can intuitively visualize and assemble the perfect plasmid for their needs. Plasmids have extensive use in basic and applied biology. These small, circular DNA molecules are used by scientists to introduce new genes into a target organism. Well known for their applications in the production of therapeutic proteins like insulin, plasmids are broadly used in the large-scale production of many bioproducts. However, designing and constructing plasmids remains one of the most…

… strengthen drug discovery pipeline. Revolutionary 3D images have enabled researchers to understand how new anti-malaria compounds kill malaria parasites, paving the way for the next generation anti-malarial treatments. Malaria infections are driven by Plasmodium parasites that enter the bloodstream and destroy red blood cells. Melbourne researchers from WEHI, in collaboration with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), have now captured the first three dimensional (3D) images that reveal how compounds work to stop the parasites from spreading in the blood….

Nano-sized robots manipulated using a magnetic field can help kill bacteria deep inside dentinal tubules, and boost the success of root canal treatments, a new study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and IISc-incubated startup, Theranautilus, shows. Root canal treatments are routinely carried out to treat tooth infections in millions of patients. The procedure involves removing the infected soft tissue inside the tooth, called the pulp, and flushing the tooth with antibiotics or chemicals to kill the…

In the human embryo, the neural tube forms between the 22nd and 26th day of pregnancy. Later, the brain and spinal cord will develop from this tube. The neural tube forms when an elongated flat tissue structure, the neural plate, bends lengthwise into a U shape and closes to form a tube. What drives this development is not yet clear. Researchers in the group of Dagmar Iber, Professor of Computational Biology at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at…

A research team led by the University of Adelaide, in partnership with medical technology company Fertilis, has delivered a ground-breaking new micro-device to streamline the only fertility treatment procedure available for men with low sperm counts. The first-of-its-kind device will allow more IVF clinics to offer Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) as a treatment, while several IVF procedures, such as embryo culture, embryo cryopreservation and in vitro maturation, will also be improved by using the device. ICSI is a slow and…

… in adulthood, improving cognition and mood. Led by Juan Song, PhD, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine used optogenetic techniques to stimulate specific brain cells to increase production of neural stem cells and neurons relevant to memory and emotion processing in animal models. We humans lose mental acuity, an unfortunate side effect of aging. And for individuals with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, the loss of cognitive function often accompanied by mood disorders such as anxiety…

Life-like organ replicas – so-called 3D organoids – are a good way to research disease processes. A team from the University of Würzburg has now presented a kind of blueprint for such a model of the cervix. A few stem cells, various growth factors, four to six weeks of time – and of course a great deal of expertise are needed to create a scaled-down but nevertheless lifelike and functional replica of a cervix in the laboratory. A new publication…

A UNIGE team shows that cells that make up our tissues increase in volume when tissues bend. A key discovery for the culture of in vitro organs. How do our cells organize themselves to give their final shape to our organs? The answer lies in morphogenesis, the set of mechanisms that regulate their distribution in space during embryonic development. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has just made a surprising discovery in this field: when a tissue curves,…

Converting CO2 to formic acid using an alumina-supported, iron-based compound. Photoreduction of CO2 into transportable fuel like formic acid (HCOOH) is a great way of dealing with CO2’s rising levels in the atmosphere. To aid in this mission, a research team from Tokyo Tech chose an easily available iron-based mineral and loaded it onto an alumina support to develop a catalyst that can efficiently convert CO2 into HCOOH with ~90% selectivity! The rising CO2 levels in our atmosphere and their…

Plastic bottles, punnets, wrap – such lightweight packaging made of PET plastic becomes a problem if it is not recycled. Scientists at Leipzig University have now discovered a highly efficient enzyme that degrades PET in record time. The enzyme PHL7, which the researchers found in a compost heap in Leipzig, could make biological PET recycling possible much faster than previously thought. The findings have now been published in the scientific journal “ChemSusChem” and selected as the cover topic. One way…

Scripps Research scientists develop a sophisticated platform for building and modifying proteoglycans to dissect their normal roles and their roles in diseases, including cancers. Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a set of methods for the closer study of one of the least-accessible, least-understood players in biology: protein-sugar conjugates called proteoglycans. These molecules are often thickly present on the surfaces of cells and are known to have a broad set of functions in the body, though how they work and…

An animal model for a crucial component of our genome maintenance system. Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have created a new disease model that has contributed to a better understanding of Bloom syndrome and the sex determination processes of zebrafish. The study, linking two seemingly unrelated topics, was carried out by the research teams of Mihály Kovács (Department of Biochemistry) and Máté Varga (Department of Genetics) and published in the scientific journal Cell Death and Disease. In addition to providing important…

A fast, efficient, selective membrane for purifying saltwater. Water scarcity is a growing problem around the world. Desalination of seawater is an established method to produce drinkable water but comes with huge energy costs. For the first time, researchers use fluorine-based nanostructures to successfully filter salt from water. Compared to current desalination methods, these fluorous nanochannels work faster, require less pressure and less energy, and are a more effective filter. If you’ve ever cooked with a nonstick Teflon-coated frying pan,…

The ground beneath our feet and under the ocean floor is an electrically-charged grid, the product of bacteria “exhaling” excess electrons through tiny nanowires in an environment lacking oxygen. Yale University researchers have been studying ways to enhance this natural electrical conductivity within nanowires 1/100,000th width of a human hair by identifying the mechanism of electron flow. In a new study published in Science advances, a team led by graduate student Peter Dahl with Nikhil Malvankar, Assistant Professor of Molecular…