Working with cells that line the innermost layer of the blood vessels, Johns Hopkins investigators say they have made a leap forward in understanding the underlying biology behind pulmonary hypertension, a dangerous type of high blood pressure in lungs that ultimately leads to right heart failure and death. By conducting experiments in endothelial cells, they discovered...
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Is my child depressed? Being moody isn’t a mental health issue
It is difficult to open up a magazine or newspaper today without seeing a headline trumpeting the presence of a “mental health crisis” —particularly on our college and university campuses. Indeed, if the media coverage is to be believed, we are drowning in a sea of mental illness that threatens to overwhelm post-secondary institutions. The call...
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Cell surface protein plays an integral role in tumor growth and sustenance
Researchers at Okayama University describe in the journal Scientific Reports the role of an extracellular protein, versican, in regulating tumor growth and providing a newly formed network of blood vessels to further nourish the tumor. Angiogenesis is the creation of new blood vessels from the branching of pre-existing ones. This phenomenon is especially important in the context...
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Cell-penetrating ‘nano-drills’ show promise for intra-cellular drug delivery
PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University have created new nanomaterials able to cross cell membranes, establishing a novel platform for the intracellular delivery of molecular drugs and other cargo. The researchers explored how to tune the size, shape and morphology of materials known as cell-penetrating self-assembling peptide...
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Pre-clinical testing suggests some antioxidants may be effective in treating mitochondrial disease
A systematic study of seven antioxidants commonly taken by or suggested to benefit children and adults affected with mitochondrial disease provides intriguing clues that at least two compounds should be further evaluated in clinical trials. Mitochondrial diseases are often severe and progressive multisystem energy deficiency disorders that can result from mutations in roughly 300 different genes. Despite...
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A combination of cancer immunotherapies could save more lives
The pre-clinical study, published in Clinical Cancer Research, by Dr Sarah Buchan and colleagues, combined antibodies targeting PD-1/PD-L1, a type of immunotherapy known as checkpoint blockade that overcomes the resistance of cancer cells to the immune system, with another antibody against CD27, which kick starts the immune system to find and kill the cancer cells. Results...
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New ‘Nanotweezers’ open door to innovations in medicine, mobile tech
It’s difficult to conceptualize a world where humans could casually manipulate nanoscale objects at will or even control their own biological matter at a cellular level with light. But that is precisely what Yuebing Zheng, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, is working toward with his “nanotweezers” — a...
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Newfound ‘organ’ had been missed by standard method for visualizing anatomy
NYU LANGONE HEALTH / NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IMAGE: A NEWFOUND ORGAN, THE INTERSTITIUM, IS SEEN HERE BENEATH THE TOP LAYER OF SKIN, BUT IS ALSO IN TISSUE LAYERS LINING THE GUT, LUNGS, BLOOD VESSELS, AND MUSCLES. CREDIT: ILLUSTRATION BY JILL GREGORY. PRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM MOUNT SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM, LICENSED UNDER CC-BY-ND. Researchers have identified...
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Researchers Show How Lou Gehrig’s Disease Progression Could Be Delayed
UC Riverside-led study could lead to development of small molecule drugs to treat also spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and some cancers Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the Yankees baseball player renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability — a trait that...
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A dietary supplement makes old mice youthful. But will it work in people?
Transfusing young blood and freezing heads may get most of the anti-aging and life-extension buzz, but don’t count out the molecule hunters: After setbacks and stumbles and what critics called debacles, these scientists are figuring out which biochemicals might potentially, possibly be fountains of youth in pill form. In the latest advance, biologists reported on Thursday that...