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Researchers use new technique to improve the ability to model lung diseases

Using a combination of pluripotent stem cells (cells that can potentially produce any cell or tissue type) and machine learning (artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn automatically), researchers have improved how they generate lung cells.

30 Jan 2020

Advances in tuberculosis research yield immune responses

A new study published in January 2020 in the journal Science Translational Medicine depicts for the first time ever a beautifully detailed map of the way three different species reacts to tuberculosis, based on their genetic and immune differences.

30 Jan 2020

Increased brain growth, mutations and autism linked in new study

Salk Institute researchers have now found a pattern of DNA damage that is unique to brain cells derived from individuals with a single form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) called macrocephalic ASD. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell in January 2020, may offer an explanation about the developmental misstep that caused this disease.

30 Jan 2020

Gene-editing taken to advanced levels in human stem cells

A new study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports in January 2020 reports the use of an adaptation to a commonly used gene editing technology to achieve a more than 900% increase in efficiency.

30 Jan 2020

New genetic screen for Huntington’s disease

Huntington’s disease is a genetic disease that is debilitating and progressive leading to severe brain damage and eventual death. In patients with this autosomal dominant disease, there is presence of a protein called the Huntingtin protein that forms clumps within the brain leading to the symptoms of the disease.

30 Jan 2020

Regulating neuronal lipid metabolism helps axon regeneration after injury, study finds

Typical examples include paralysis due to a spinal cord injury and visual field atrophy or even complete blindness due to optic nerve atrophy in glaucoma patients.

30 Jan 2020

Study maps immune responses to tuberculosis across 3 species

Tuberculosis is one of the world's most vexing public health problems. About 1.5 million people died from this bacterial lung infection in 2018, and the World Health Organization estimates that one-quarter of the world's population -- some 2 billion people, mostly in developing countries -- are infected with the bacteria that causes TB.

30 Jan 2020

Death receptor pathway drives resistance to CAR T cell therapy

Some cancer cells refuse to die, even in the face of powerful cellular immunotherapies like CAR T cell therapy, and new research from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania is shedding light on why.

30 Jan 2020

Defective ATP13A2 gene can lead to Parkinson's disease, shows study

Biomedical scientists at KU Leuven have discovered that a defect in the ATP13A2 gene causes cell death by disrupting the cellular transport of polyamines.

30 Jan 2020

Study may help develop ibrutinib-based combination therapies for blood cancer

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of blood cancer (leukemia) in the Western world, affecting approximately 1.2% of all cancer patients.

30 Jan 2020

Researchers examine abnormal neuron activity in Rett syndrome

The brain undergoes dramatic change during the first years of life. Its circuits readily rewire as an infant and then child encounters new sights and sounds, taking in the world and learning to understand it. As the child matures and key developmental periods pass, the brain becomes less malleable--but certain experiences create opportunities for parts of the adult brain to rewire and learn again.

29 Jan 2020

Study: 25% of pathogenic bacteria can spread antibiotic resistance directly to peers

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated that at least 25 percent of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria found in clinical settings are capable of spreading their resistance directly to other bacteria.

29 Jan 2020

Study reveals how the gut's protective mechanisms ramp up with food intake

A new study has revealed how the gut's protective mechanisms ramp up significantly with food intake, and at times of the day when mealtimes are anticipated based on regular eating habits.

29 Jan 2020

Buck study uncovers how astrocyte senescence promotes neurodegeneration

Although a link has been established between chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, there have been many open questions regarding how cellular senescence, a process whereby cells that stop dividing under stress spew out a mix of inflammatory proteins, affects these pathologies.

29 Jan 2020

Interleukin-1-beta-induced chronic inflammation promotes lung cancer metastasis

The study reveals a detailed epigenetic mechanism for how interleukin-1-beta, a common cytokine that helps fight infections during inflammation, plays a critical role in cancer metastasis.

29 Jan 2020

Study shows protective cells reduce lung cancer risk in ex-smokers

A new study could explain how lung cancer risk is reduced by quitting smoking. Published in the journal Nature in January 2020, the study shows that ex-smokers have a greater number of lung cells that have healthy genes compared to current smokers. Healthy genes are less likely to transform into cancerous cells.

29 Jan 2020

Link between autism and poor cognition

Autistic people are often brilliant, but they may also have poor cognitive skills. The relationship between autism and either condition, inside the brain, has been far from clear. However, now a new study shows that poor cognition in autism could be due to the influence of a small gene fragment.

29 Jan 2020

Inducing totipotency into stem cells opens new doors for potential cell replacement therapies

Early mammalian development is a highly complex process involving elaborate and highly coordinated biological processes.

29 Jan 2020

New strategy using organoids to study childhood brain tumors

A new study reports the creation of in vitro models of brain tumors in children using organoids derived from stem cells, which will help to screen new drugs for efficacy and thus improve the rate of drug development. The study, titled 'Modeling medulloblastoma in vivo and with human cerebellar organoids,' is published in the journal Nature Communications.

29 Jan 2020

Nanoparticle Trojan horse approach to clearing atherosclerotic plaques

Researchers from Michigan State University and Stanford University have designed special nanoparticles which could break down an atherosclerotic plaque from within. This could prevent heart attacks say researchers. The study titled, “Pro-efferocytic nanoparticles are specifically taken up by lesional macrophages and prevent atherosclerosis,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

29 Jan 2020