UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER IMAGE: BOYI GAN, PH.D. CREDIT: MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER HOUSTON – The mitochondrial enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) plays an important and previously unknown role in blocking a form of cell death called ferroptosis, according to a new study published today in Nature by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson...
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY IMAGE: The image shows the development of neurodegenerative pathology resulting from low levels of the protein Rbbp7 (on the left), compared with normal levels associated with a healthy brain (on the right). Graphic by Shireen Dooling for the Biodesign Institute. CREDIT: SHIREEN DOOLING FOR THE BIODESIGN INSTITUTE AT ASU Since the discovery...
SHINSHU UNIVERSITY IMAGE: NEURITE ELONGATION PROMOTING ACTION view more CREDIT: COPYRIGHT 2021, HISANO ET AL., SHINSHU UNIVERSITY Lysophospholipids are phospholipids that have just one fatty acid chain, and in recent years, the role of lysophospholipids in physiology and pathophysiology has attracted attention. Lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) is a type of lysophospholipid that are reportedly present in the brain that consist...
WILEY The inhibition of pathological protein-protein interactions is a promising approach for treating a large number of diseases, including many forms of cancer. A team of researchers has now developed a bicyclic peptide that binds to beta-catenin–a protein associated with certain types of tumor. The secret of their success is the cyclic nature and the...
MAX DELBRÜCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE IN THE HELMHOLTZ ASSOCIATION Multiple sclerosis, or MS for short, manifests itself slightly differently in each person – which is why some call it “the disease of a thousand faces.” Arguably the worst manifestation of MS is its chronic progressive form. Unlike the more common relapsing-remitting variant (RRMS), in...
THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis have designed a drug-like compound which effectively blocks a critical step in the malaria parasite life cycle and are working to develop this compound into a potential first of its kind malaria treatment. While drugs and mosquito control have...
by The Spanish National Cancer Research Centre Mouse motor neurons, generated from mouse embryonic stem cells exposed (right) or not (left) to ALS-associated peptides (right). As observed in patients, these peptides are toxic and cause neuronal death. Credit: CNIO In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the progressive death of neurons that control body movement leads to paralysis of muscles...
by Karolinska Institutet Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests a link between psychosis and a genetic change that affects the brain’s immune system. The study published in Molecular Psychiatry may impact the development of modern medicines for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Psychosis affects approximately 2-3% of the population and is characterized by a change...
by Jason Alvarez, University of California, San Francisco Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.031 In 2015, researchers at UC San Francisco found a structure inside of tumor cells that biologists had never seen before. Even more surprising, a closer examination of the structure revealed that it contained signaling proteins known as receptor tyrosine kinases, or RTKs, which were...
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE IMAGE: Chips shown in the tip of a hypodermic needle. Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips visible only in a microscope point the way to developing chips that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic...
