The finding could eventually lead to possible therapies for the especially dangerous melanoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma, as well as the most common type of childhood brain cancer and adult skin cancer. The study appears in the journal Life Science Alliance. The discovery concerns the GLI1 protein, which is important in cell development but has also been found...
Month: <span>August 2022</span>
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Scientists develop effective intranasal mumps-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate
New research has advanced COVID-19 vaccine work in several ways: using a modified live attenuated mumps virus for delivery, showing that a more stable coronavirus spike protein stimulates a stronger immune response, and suggesting a dose up the nose has an advantage over a shot. Researchers used a modified live attenuated mumps virus, illustrated above, to...
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Genetic clues to age-related macular degeneration revealed
Better diagnosis and treatment of the incurable eye disease age-related macular degeneration is a step closer, thanks to the discovery of new genetic signatures of the disease. Fluorescent imaging of retinal pigment epithelium. Image credit: Dr Grace Lidgerwood / Garvan Institute Scientists from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, the University of Melbourne, the Menzies Institute for...
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‘iTEARS’ could help diagnose diseases by isolating biomarkers in tears
Going to the doctor might make you want to cry, and according to a new study, doctors could someday put those tears to good use. In ACS Nano, researchers report a nanomembrane system that harvests and purifies tiny blobs called exosomes from tears, allowing researchers to analyze them for disease biomarkers quickly. Dubbed iTEARS, the platform could enable...
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A secret language of cells? New cell computations uncovered
Throughout evolution, individual cells have been making successful decisions independently, even while forming parts of vast networks, such as neurons and glia in the human brain. Scientists from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the EPFL Blue Brain Project (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland) have published a new theory describing a secret...
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Magnetic Activation of Specific Brain Circuits
JULY 29TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS NEUROLOGY, NEUROSURGERY Scientists at Rice University developed a system to wirelessly and rapidly activate specific brain circuits using magnetic fields. The technology has been developed in fruit flies, a common experimental animal, but the researchers hope that it could help in understanding the brain and to develop new treatments for neurological...
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Sound of music: Ultrasound exposure improves depressive behavior in rodents
TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE IMAGE: A NEW STUDY BY RESEARCHERS FROM TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE DEMONSTRATES THE ANTI-DEPRESSANT EFFECTS OF ULTRASOUND EXPOSURE IN RODENTS. THESE FINDINGS COULD HELP IN THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION. CREDIT: DEPRESSION BY RYAN_M651 The effect of ultrasound waves on the function of the human brain has been the key focus of...
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Diets higher in calcium and potassium may help prevent recurrent symptomatic kidney stones, Mayo Clinic study finds
MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER, Minn. — Kidney stones can cause not only excruciating pain but also are associated with chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. If you’ve experienced a kidney stone once, you have a 30% chance of having another kidney stone within five years. Changes in diet are often prescribed to prevent recurrent symptomatic kidney stones. However, little research is...
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Variant type and patient sex affect molnupiravir efficacy, study finds
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY IMAGE: DR. RICHARD PLEMPER, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR TRANSLATIONAL ANTIVIRAL RESEARCH AND DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR IN THE INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AT GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY CREDIT: GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY ATLANTA—SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and the biological sex of patients affect the efficacy of molnupiravir, the first orally available drug approved for...
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Fast-acting immune cells provide powerful protection against stroke
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH IMAGE: XIAOMING HU, M.D., PH.D. CREDIT: XIAOMING HU PITTSBURGH, Aug. 1, 2022 – A unique subset of white blood cells confers fast-acting and lasting protection against ischemic stroke in mice, University of Pittsburgh neurologists and immunologists reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation today. This study identified a novel subset of CD8+ regulatory-like T cells, or...