Contractions News and Research

RSS

Researchers solve 3D structure of primary optogenetic tool

An international team of researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Institut de Biologie Structurale, and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics has determined the 3-D structure of channelrhodopsin 2, a membrane protein widely used in optogenetics to control nerve cells with light.

28 Nov 2017

Bacterial colonization can function as a pacemaker for the intestine, study reveals

A new study, conducted at Kiel University (CAU) by a research team from the Cell and Developmental Biology (Bosch AG), reveals that bacterial colonization of the intestine plays a significant role in controlling peristaltic functions.

23 Nov 2017

Bacteria in the intestine can play important pacemaker role in peristalsis

Spontaneous contractions of the digestive tract play an important role in almost all animals, and ensure healthy bowel functions. From simple invertebrates to humans, there are consistently similar patterns of movement, through which rhythmic contractions of the muscles facilitate the transport and mixing of the bowel contents.

23 Nov 2017

Sunovion announces results from Phase 3 clinical study of new drug in children, adolescents with bipolar depression

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced post-hoc analysis results of a positive Phase 3 placebo-controlled clinical study, as well as interim data from a long-term open-label extension study evaluating Latuda (lurasidone HCI) in children and adolescents (10 to 17 years of age) with major depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder (bipolar depression).

28 Oct 2017

Study shows that endocrine disrupting chemicals alter sex ratio in Blanchard's cricket frogs

A study published recently in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry found that Blanchard's cricket frogs are highly sensitive to atrazine.

13 Oct 2017

Giving birth is hard enough. Try it in the middle of a wildfire.

Days before there was any sign of fire, Nicole and Ben Veum of Santa Rosa, Calif., had been waiting and waiting for their baby to arrive. Nicole's due date came and went. Her doctor called her into the hospital — Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital — to induce labor. That was Friday.

11 Oct 2017

Study provides early glimpse of gut's microbial landscape

A collaborative effort by a team of researchers from three institutions including the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge and Washington University in St. Louis provided an early glimpse of how microbial communities in the gut - known collectively as the gut microbiome - are spatially organized, uncovering a surprising degree of mixing among different bacterial members.

11 Oct 2017

Flexible sensors can measure rhythmic contractions of the digestive tract

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have built a flexible sensor that can be rolled up and swallowed. Upon ingestion, the sensor adheres to the stomach wall or intestinal lining, where it can measure the rhythmic contractions of the digestive tract.

10 Oct 2017

NsXeR protein: A new optogenetic tool to control muscle and neuronal cells

Scientists have examined a protein that will find application in optogenetics and could be used to control muscle and neuronal cells. The paper on the light-sensitive NsXeR protein of the xenorhodopsin class was published in Science Advances by the international team of researchers from MIPT, Research center Jülich, and Institut de Biologie Structurale.

30 Sep 2017

Study may provide insights into treating autism and other neuropsychiatric disorders

Alterations in a naturally occurring chemical in the brain called serotonin have been linked to a number of neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

20 Sep 2017

Pharmaceutical compound from leaves of coralberry may help combat asthma

The coralberry could offer new hope for asthmatics: researchers at the University of Bonn have extracted a new kind of active pharmaceutical ingredient from its leaves to combat this widespread respiratory disease. In mice, it almost completely inhibits the characteristic contraction of the airways.

14 Sep 2017

Researchers create first realistic model of the heart to simulate arrhythmia

A group of researchers from MIPT and Ghent University(Belgium) has developed the first realistic model able to reproduce the complexity of the cardiac microstructure.

11 Sep 2017

Scientists directly convert skin cells from healthy adults into motor neurons

Scientists working to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases have been stymied by the inability to grow human motor neurons in the lab. Motor neurons drive muscle contractions, and their damage underlies devastating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, both of which ultimately lead to paralysis and early death.

7 Sep 2017

First realistic heart model may help better understand onset of cardiac arrhythmias

A group of researchers from MIPT and Ghent University (Belgium) has developed the first realistic model able to reproduce the complexity of the cardiac microstructure.

6 Sep 2017

Study reveals benefits of defibrillators in heart disease patients treated with CRT

Some heart disease patients who are treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) would live longer and have fewer hospital admissions if they also received a defibrillator, concludes a team of researchers led by Aston Medical School at Aston University.

5 Sep 2017

Less REM sleep connected to greater risk for dementia

According to new research, persons getting less amounts of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may be at greater risks of developing dementia. The study entitled “Sleep architecture and the risk of incident dementia in the community” was published yesterday in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

23 Aug 2017

Researchers examine affected canines to help develop effective treatment for children with rare epilepsy

The research, published in PLOS ONE, has identified the progression of Lafora disease, a devastating form of epilepsy which affects up to 50 young children worldwide.

2 Aug 2017

Boise State professors win $37,000 grant from NASA to study impact of bone loss in space

Our slim body of knowledge of the universe is vastly overshadowed by what we do not know – whether there is sentient life on other planets, whether there are other planets that can sustain human life, even how long-term space travel physically affects human beings.

31 Jul 2017

Medicaid restrictions impact breast cancer diagnosis, treatment among women in Tennessee

Women in Tennessee who were diagnosed with breast cancer were more likely to be diagnosed with late stage disease after a substantial rollback of Medicaid coverage for adults in the state, according to a new analysis.

27 Jun 2017

New study receives £1.8m NIHR funding to find effective treatment for bleeding after childbirth

The University of Liverpool has been awarded £1.8m funding from the UK National Institute of Health Research to run a large study into the drug treatment of bleeding after childbirth (also called postpartum hemorrhage or PPH).

20 Jun 2017