Adding cooked black beans to a high-fat diet improved sensitivity to insulin and other measures often related to diabetes and restored gut bacteria balance in obese mice, according to a USDA Agricultural Research Service study. As little as the mouse-size equivalent of a single serving a day of black beans—about a half cup for a...
Month: <span>December 2021</span>
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A Close Look into the Regulation of CCL17―A Gene Involved in Hyperimmune Diseases
The CCL17/TARC chemokine is involved in many immune-mediated diseases, and is a well-known biomarker of atopic dermatitis. However, the proteins that regulate CCL17 expression are not clear. Recently, scientists from Japan conducted experiments on cultures of dendritic cells focusing on PU.1, a key protein regulating gene expression in immune cells. Further experiments on mice showed...
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Flu Virus-Inspired Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery
CONN HASTINGS Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed a new delivery technique for mRNA. The method involves flu virus-inspired nanoparticles that can escape endosomes, the acidic vesicles that engulf and destroy materials that attempt to enter cells. The nanoparticles contain a protein receptor that allows them to unlock the endosomes and release...
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“Supermeres” may carry clues to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19
IMAGE: CUTLINE: MEMBERS OF THE SUPERMERE DISCOVERY TEAM INCLUDE (FRONT ROW FROM LEFT) QI LIU, PHD, ROBERT COFFEY, MD, QIN ZHANG, PHD, AND (BACK ROW FROM LEFT) JAMES HIGGINBOTHAM, PHD; DENNIS JEPPESEN, PHD; AND JEFFREY FRANKLIN, PHD. (PHOTO BY ERIN O. SMITH) CREDIT: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered...
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Do viruses such as the coronavirus become less deadly?
by Eva Botkin-Kowacki, Northeastern University Jared Auclair, associate teaching professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, head of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Lab, and the university’s COVID-19 testing facility, the Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. Credit: Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University Variants of the coronavirus have come to represent the ultimate danger: A curveball in...
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Pfizer confirms COVID pill’s results, potency versus omicron
by Matthew Perrone This undated image provided by Pfizer in November 2021 shows the company’s COVID-19 pills. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, Pfizer said that its experimental COVID-19 pill is effective against the omicron variant and maintained its promising early performance against the virus in final testing. Credit: Pfizer via AP, File Pfizer said Tuesday...
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A new medication uses protein against SARS-CoV-2
by Technical University Munich Prof. Dr. med. Ulrike Protzer (r), head of the Institute for Virology at the Technical University of Munich and Director at the Helmholtz Munich, with an employee at the PCR analyzer in the Institute for Virology at the TUM university hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar. Credit: Astrid Eckert / TUM Vaccines against...
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Early-stage lung cancer may soon be detectable from a drop of blood
by Massachusetts General Hospital Lung CA seen on CXR. Credit: James Heilman, MD/Wikipedia Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, is usually diagnosed at a late stage when the survival rate is extremely low. Early-stage lung cancer is mostly asymptomatic, and low-dose spiral CT imaging, the current method for detecting early lung cancer lesions, isn’t...
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Scientists develop an RNA-based breath test to detect COVID-19
by Elsevier Bubbler kits were processed in a negative pressure bench top box to prevent contamination of amplicon particles in the laboratory. Credit: William G. Fairbrother In a new study in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, investigators report on the design and testing of a breathalyzer, known as the Bubbler, that relies on viral RNA detection to...
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Flavor your food with “flavanols (flavan 3-ols)” to burn excess fat, new study suggests
SHIBAURA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IMAGE: SCIENTISTS SHOW THAT FLAVAN 3-OLS (FLS), A GROUP OF FOOD CONSTITUENTS PRESENT IN COCOA, APPLE, AND GRAPESEED, ARE EFFECTIVE IN COMBATING OBESITY AND PREVENTING LIFESTYLE-RELATED DISEASES, BY INDUCING FAT BROWNING. THE IMAGE SHOWS HISTOCHEMICAL OBSERVATIONS OF FL-UNTREATED (LEFT) AND FL-TREATED (RIGHT) MICE INGUINAL ADIPOSE. REPEATED ADMINISTRATION OF FLS LED TO...