An innovative breast imaging technique provides high sensitivity for detecting cancer while significantly reducing the likelihood of false positive results, according to a study published today in Radiology: Imaging Cancer, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Researchers said the technique has the potential to offer more reliable breast cancer screening for a broader range of patients. Mammography is an effective screening tool for early detection of breast cancer, but its sensitivity is reduced in dense breast…

Scientists developed a new molecular system made from the abundant element manganese for photooxidations. Highly reducing or oxidizing photocatalysts are a fundamental challenge in photochemistry. Only a few transition metal complexes with Earth-abundant metal ions have so far advanced to excited state oxidants, including chromium, iron, and cobalt. All these photocatalysts require high energy light for excitation and their oxidizing power has not yet been fully exploited. Furthermore, precious and hence expensive metals are the decisive ingredients in most cases….

A study by Brazilian researchers shows that the pigment is present not only in the seeds but also in other organs of Bixa orellana, the Annatto tree. They investigated the genetic pathways involved in synthesis of the substance. Researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have shown for the first time that bixin or annatto powder, a carotenoid pigment extracted from the seeds of…

Ubiquitin is a small protein with a big impact. From yeast fungi to humans, it serves as a molecular tag that regulates many cellular processes. Ubiquitin ligases are indispensable labeling machines in this tagging process: They attach ubiquitin to target proteins. If this tagging fails, processes in the cell can be pathologically altered. A team led by Sonja Lorenz at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences has now visualized the ubiquitin ligase HACE1 bound to an important target…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that usually leads to permanent disabilities. It affects around 2.9 million people worldwide, and around 15,000 in Switzerland alone. One key feature of the disease is that it causes the patient’s own immune system to attack and destroy the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system. These protective sheaths insulate the nerve fibres, much like the plastic coating around a copper wire. Myelin sheaths ensure that electrical impulses travel quickly and efficiently from…

A novel PET imaging technique can noninvasively detect active inflammation in the body before clinical symptoms arise, according to research published in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Using a PET tracer that binds to proteins present on activated immune cells, the technique produces images of ongoing inflammation throughout the body, such as rheumatoid arthritis. This makes it easier for physicians to correctly diagnose and treat patients. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis and…

Bringing the smallest protein clusters into focus. Penn Engineers have pioneered a new way to visualize the smallest protein clusters, skirting the physical limitations of light-powered microscopes and opening new avenues for detecting the proteins implicated in diseases like Alzheimer’s and testing new treatments. In a paper in Cell Systems, Lukasz Bugaj, Assistant Professor in Bioengineering, describes the creation of CluMPS, or Clusters Magnified by Phase Separation, a molecular tool that activates by forming conspicuous blobs in the presence of…

Lung tumors called adenocarcinomas sometimes respond to initially effective treatments by transforming into a much more aggressive small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that spreads rapidly and has few options for treatment. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a mouse model that illuminates this problematic process, known as histological transformation. The findings advance the understanding of how mutated genes can trigger cancer evolution and suggest targets for more effective treatments. The researchers, whose results were published Feb. 8 in Science, discovered that…

Unchanged over millions of years. They have a striking shape, are diurnal, predatory insects and occur only in the Northern Hemisphere. Snakeflies (Raphidioptera), also known as camel-neck flies, have gained further notoriety with the selection of the Black-necked Snakefly as “Insect of the Year 2022” in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Nevertheless, these dainty representatives of the Neuropterida are often overlooked. Scientists from Frankfurt, Müncheberg and Vienna have now sequenced the entire genome of a snakefly for the first time. The…

Efficient process holds promise for greener chemical production. Engineers at the University of Cincinnati created a more efficient way of converting carbon dioxide into valuable products while simultaneously addressing climate change. In his chemical engineering lab in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, Associate Professor Jingjie Wu and his team found that a modified copper catalyst improves the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into ethylene, the key ingredient in plastic and a myriad of other uses. Ethylene has been…

As plants are sessile organisms, they must be highly flexible in their ability to adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions in order to survive. Researchers from the Department of Plant Physiology at the RPTU Kaiserslautern are investigating plant adaptation mechanisms, particularly to abiotic stress factors such as light intensity or temperature. They have now reached a new milestone: PhD student Annalisa John has used the model plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) in her research work to decode which…

A research team from the Department of Chemistry at the Universität Hamburg has succeeded for the first time in identifying at the molecular level the dynamic mechanism used by the enzyme RNase R to degrade the ribosomal 30S subunit. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal “Nature”. Protein synthesis is a vital and energy-intensive process in the cell in which ribosomes play a crucial role. These comparatively large molecules are found in all living organisms and…

Working with an international consortium, scientists at Leipzig University have identified new genes that may play a role in chronic kidney disease. They analysed data from more than 900,000 people and found effects that in some cases differed between men and women. These new findings may help scientists better understand sex-specific differences in the risk and progression of chronic kidney disease, and provide a starting point for appropriate treatments. The findings have recently been published in the prestigious journal “Nature…

For decades it has been an open question in the ubiquitin research field how proteins are labeled as being defective or unneeded. In their recent study Brenda Schulman, Director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry, and Gary Kleiger, Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at University of Las Vegas Nevada, together with their teams were able to visualize this precise mechanism, catalyzed by the Cullin-RING Ligase E3s, for the first time. In an interview Brenda Schulman told us…

Bonn researchers test a new imaging method. An estimated five to ten percent of blindness worldwide is due to the rare inflammatory eye disease uveitis. Intermediate uveitis is often associated with a chronic course of the disease and the need for immunosuppressive therapy. Intermediate uveitis primarily causes inflammation of the vitreous body, but blood flow to the retina can also be restricted. Researchers at the Eye Clinic of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have tested…

Researchers unveil how the self-killing activity of bacteria can be harnessed in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new approach to controlling bacterial infections. The findings were described in the February 6 online issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology [DOI # 10.1038/s41594-024-01220-x]. The team found a way to turn on a vital bacterial defense mechanism to fight and manage bacterial infections. The defense system, called cyclic oligonucleotide-based…