Iowa State University researchers found a way to gain new insight into the human immune system by studying material left over after blood donations. The results, published recently in a peer-reviewed journal, illuminate the process of how the human body fights off harmful bacteria.
A UNLV biologist compared the DNA of fat fruit flies to a control group and found nearly 400 candidate genes potentially associated with obesity and other health problems.
•The ability of the “cold sore” herpes simplex virus to establish quiet infections and reawaken periodically has long mystified scientists. •A new study in mice reveals that a key host protein acts as a critical regulator of the virus’s sleep-wake cycle. •Disabling two viral binding sites for the protein weakened the virus’s ability to come out of hiding.
In the journal Clinical Cancer Research, researchers reported that by forcing cancer cells to slow down and developing stronger molecular traps for them, they could identify large numbers of the cells in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.
New research by University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of Pharmacy Seungpyo Hong and his collaborators builds on several years of work in isolating circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, by demonstrating improved methods for their capture on clinical samples for the first time.
UCLA scientists have developed a new method that utilizes microscopic splinter-like structures called “nanospears” for the targeted delivery of biomolecules such as genes straight to patient cells. These magnetically guided nanostructures could enable gene therapies that are safer, faster and more cost-effective.
Chemical compounds carry distinctive absorption “fingerprints,” within the mid-infrared spectral region; this offers an opportunity to measure and study chemicals at extremely sensitive levels, but researchers currently lack the tools required. In a breakthrough, NIST researchers developed an on-silicon-chip laser source with outputs that consist of precisely defined and equally spaced optical lines within the mid-infrared spectral region. They report their findings in APL Photonics.
Spin caloritronics explores how heat currents transport electron spin, and researchers are particularly interested in how waste heat could be used to power next-generation spintronic devices. The thermally driven transport application of spin caloritronics is based on the Seebeck effect; researchers in China have theoretically exposed the fundamental aspects of this thermal transport along double-stranded DNA molecules. They reported their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.
A Ludwig Cancer Research study shows that ovarian cancer, which has proved resistant to currently available immunotherapies, could be susceptible to personalized immunotherapy. Led by Ludwig Lausanne investigator Alexandre Harari and George Coukos, director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne, the study shows that ovarian tumors harbor highly reactive killer T cells—which kill infected and cancerous cells—and demonstrates how they can be identified and selectively grown for use in personalized, cell-based immunotherapies.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry has appointed Phyllis Hanson, Karin Musier-Forsyth, and Michael Shipston as associate editors. The three new editors bring expertise in intracellular cell membranes, RNA biology, and ion channel signaling to the journal.
TSRI scientists investigate a phenomenon that may guard against disease as we age.
African Americans with a common genetic variation are at increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, while European Americans with the same variation are not, according to a study led by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. They published the study results in the February 22 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
New research from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) indicates steroid and hormone receptors are simultaneously active in many endometrial cancer tissues. The findings, published today in the journal Cell Reports, yield insights about factors that contribute to more aggressive endometrial tumors.
Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the molecular brakeman that holds kinesins in check until their cargo is needed.
Drug therapies that target a specific molecule have changed the way patients are treated for cancer and greatly improved survival rates. However, some patients do not respond to these therapies because the drug is not reaching the tumor cells effectively. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers combined single-cell imaging of cancer cells in mice with mathematical modeling to determine which drug characteristics are the most important for efficient drug uptake.
Nearly half of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who should be recommended for genetic testing did not get it. A quarter of these patients were not counseled about their potential risk, a new study finds.
Research Highlights: a proteomics study to understand a rare skin disease; understanding T cell activation through "click chemistry."
Berkeley Lab and Joint Genome Institute researchers took one of the most popular clustering approaches in modern biology—Markov Clustering algorithm—and modified it to run efficiently and at scale on supercomputers. Their algorithm achieved a previously impossible feat: clustering a 70 million node and 68 billion edge biological network in hours.
Pitt and UPMC researchers showed how a common virus hijacks a host cell’s protein to assemble new viruses.
Tufts biologists have demonstrated for the first time that electrical patterns in developing embryos can be predicted, mapped and manipulated to prevent defects caused by harmful substances such as nicotine. The study suggests that targeting bioelectric states may be a new treatment modality for regenerative repair in brain development and disease.
Researchers at Iowa State University, partnering with the LifeServe Blood Center, have used leftover blood donor cells to gain crucial insights into how natural killer cells circulating in the human body differ from those typically studied in the lab. The results of this research are published in the March 9 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
A team led by engineers at Tufts University has opened a window into the cell by developing an optical tool that can read metabolism at subcellular resolution. The researchers were able to use the method to identify specific metabolic signatures that could arise in diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
Children with mitochondrial diseases who suffered acute metabolic strokes benefited from rapid intravenous treatment with the amino acid arginine, experiencing no side effects from the treatment. In half of the stroke episodes, patients showed clinical improvements in symptoms such as seizures and partial paralysis.
According to a new study by The Wistar Institute, EZH2 inhibitors that are currently in clinical development for hematological malignancies and solid tumors may be effectively targeted to epithelial ovarian cancers overexpressing the CARM1 protein.
Exposure to psychological stress in the form of social conflict alters gut bacteria in Syrian hamsters, according to a new study by Georgia State University.
Deleting a single gene from mosquitoes can make them highly resistant to the malaria parasite and thus much less likely to transmit the parasite to humans, according to a new paper from scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Malaria Research Institute.
A lotion inspired by babies’ skin, membrane binding by an inflammation-linked kinase, and a colorectal cancer-fighting microRNA.
The protein FUS, whose mutation or disruption causes many cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), works as a central component of one of the most important regulatory systems in cells, according to a new study in Molecular Cell from scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In a clinical trial at Washington University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and two medical centers in France, researchers found that a drug that revs up the immune system holds promise in treating sepsis.
HHMI researchers have built mosquitobrains.org, the first map of the female mosquito brain. The new resource may ultimately uncover the circuitry behind biting and other behaviors.
UCLA researchers engineered mice to produce more TREM2, a gene tied to Alzheimer’s disease
A major advancement has been made on how epigenomics are studied that permits mapping a genome-scale profile of epigenetic changes using less than a couple hundred of cells, a factor of 100-300 reduction in the sample amount compared to existing alternatives. Led by Virginia Tech's Chang Lu, the innovative method has implications for deciphering disease processes such as schizophrenia, cancer and inflammation that involve epigenetic mechanisms.
Working with cells grown in the lab, Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a biochemical pathway that allows a structure within cells, called the Golgi apparatus, to combat stress caused by free radicals and oxidants. The research team showed that this pathway can be activated by a drug called monensin, which is commonly used as an antibiotic in animal feed.
CSU Bakersfield microbiology professor Antje Lauer says the state is tracking toward an epidemic of the infectious lung disease.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists at University of Utah Health are using animals' unique traits to pinpoint regions of the human genome that might affect health. The results of this project are available in the March 6 issue of the journal Cell Reports.
SBP researchers have discovered that accumulation of ceramides—a type of lipid (fat)— plays a crucial role in lipotoxic cardiomyopathy (LCM)—a heart condition that often occurs in patients with diabetes and obesity. The study, published today in Cell Reports, also identified several potential therapeutic targets that could prevent or reverse the effects of LCM.
A new study conducted by researchers at The Wistar Institute revealed how a key protein residing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) helps cells respond to stress. This process is especially important for B cells to respond to severe stress conditions and their ability to produce antibodies. The research was published online in the Journal of Cell Biology.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have used the gene-editing technology CRISPR to engineer human T cells that can attack human T cell cancers. The new approach also eliminates a dangerous side-effect called graft-versus-host disease.
New research from The University of Texas at Dallas supports the growing consensus that pain begins differently for men and women at the cellular level.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have created a new platform with the potential to extract tiny circulating biomarkers of disease from patient blood. This simple, fast and convenient technique could help realize liquid biopsy diagnostics -- a less invasive procedure than the current gold standard: tumor biopsies. Details of the new technique, which utilizes standard laboratory equipment, are reported in this week's Biomicrofluidics.
Bacteria could be programmed to efficiently produce drugs, thanks to breakthrough research into synthetic biology using engineering principles, from the University of Warwick and the University of Surrey. Led by the Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre at Warwick’s School of Engineering and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, new research has discovered how to dynamically manage the allocation of essential resources inside engineered cells - advancing the potential of synthetically programming cells to combat disease and produce new drugs.
Anthelmintic drug already approved to treat infections of pinworm parasite was shown to effectively impair both mesothelioma cell growth and migration.
Increasing the body’s ability to produce lipids in the lungs after damage prevents the progression of pulmonary fibrosis in preliminary studies.
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have identified genetic clues that explain how breast cancer spreads, or metastasizes – findings that may lead to better treatments or approaches to prevent its spread at the onset.
Social amoebae evolve to fight with others but also to die for their kin.
Neurons that carry nerve signals to and from the lungs suppress immune response during fatal lung infections with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Animal experiments show that disabling these neurons can boost immune response and promote bacterial clearance to aid recovery. Targeting neuro-immune signaling in the lungs can pave the way to nonantibiotic therapies for bacterial pneumonia.
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers developed a visible neural network and used it to build DCell, a virtual model of a functioning brewer’s yeast cell. To do this, they amassed all knowledge of cell biology in one place and created a hierarchy of these cellular components. Then they mapped standard machine learning algorithms to this knowledgebase. DCell can be viewed at d-cell.ucsd.edu. The technical details are published March 5 in Nature Methods.
A genetics research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine has solved a dilemma facing researchers who use genomewide association studies (GWAS) by developing a new approach that strategically “filters” which genes are worth further study. The researchers hope this strategy will accelerate the study of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and even addiction by helping researchers avoid “dead-end paths.” They are optimistic that this strategy will gain widespread use and will save researchers time and money.
The Castleman Disease Research Program is collaborating with Pulse Infoframe Inc., a medical informatics company, to power its global ACCELERATE Natural History Registry platform, which is designed to help improve understanding of the rare disease, facilitate research and clinical studies, and identify effective therapies.
These science news tips on everything from intercepting asteroids to learning from past extinctions come from the winter issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine
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