Body

New research solves old mystery of silent cell death

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have for the first time revealed how dying cells are hidden from the immune 'police' that patrol the body.

The research answers a decades-old mystery about the death of cells, which in some situations can alert the immune system to potential danger, but in other circumstances occurs 'silently', unnoticed by immune cells.

Microexons: Small fragments of genes, essential for neurone maturation

This news release is available in Spanish.

23andMe study sketches genetic portrait of the United States

Mountain View, Calif. - December 18, 2014 - 23andMe, Inc., the leading personal genetics company, today announced the publication of a study that pinpoints fine-scale differences in genetic ancestry of individuals from across the United States.

Since immigrants first arrived more than four hundred years ago, the United States has served as a meeting place for peoples from different continents. This study illuminates how American history and the ongoing mixing of peoples with African, European, and American origins can be seen in our DNA.

Could trophoblasts be the immune cells of pregnancy?

Trophoblasts, cells that form an outer layer around a fertilized egg and develop into the major part of the placenta, have now been shown to respond to inflammatory danger signals, researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) found in a recent study published in Journal of Reproductive Immunology December 2014.

The researchers said their findings were an important step in understanding how inflammatory responses in the placenta can contribute to the development of pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia.

RUB researchers discover protein protecting against chlorine

Chlorine is a common disinfectant that is used to kill bacteria, for example in swimming pools and drinking water supplies. Our immune system also produces chlorine, which causes proteins in bacteria to lose their natural folding. These unfolded proteins then begin to clump and lose their function. RUB researchers headed by Prof Dr Lars Leichert have discovered a protein in the intestinal bacterium E. coli that protects bacteria from chlorine. In the presence of chlorine, it tightly bonds with other proteins, thus preventing them from coagulating.

Mutations prevent programmed cell death

This news release is available in German.

Preventing hepatitis C patients from being lost in the health-care system

A new study shows that many patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) are lost during different stages of health care to manage the disease. This real-life' view of the HCV patient care continuum in a major U.S. urban area is published in Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and highlights the importance of generating awareness among clinicians and at-risk groups about appropriate HCV testing, referral, support and care.

Specific oxidation regulates cellular functions

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a strong oxidizer and is used as a bleaching agent for hair and teeth, and as a wound disinfectant. In addition, H2O2 also forms in the body, for example as a metabolic product of cellular respiration. It belongs to a group of chemicals called reactive oxygen species (ROS), which scientists suspect to have a damaging effect on cells and their components. For example, they are believed to play a role in carcinogenesis, degenerative diseases, and even aging.

Researchers ferret out a flu clue

Research that provides a new understanding as to why ferrets are similar to humans is set to have major implications for the development of novel drugs and treatment strategies.

Published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, the research is a collaboration between Professor Michael Jennings and other researchers from the Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University and collaborators at the University of Queensland and the University of Adelaide.

Tailor-made cancer treatments? New cell culture technique paves the way

ANN ARBOR--In a development that could lead to a deeper understanding of cancer and better early-stage treatment of the disease, University of Michigan researchers have devised a reliable way to grow a certain type of cancer cells from patients outside the body for study.

The new technique is more than three times as effective as previous methods.

Protection of the mouse gut by mucus depends on microbes

HEIDELBERG, 18 December 2014 - The quality of the colon mucus in mice depends on the composition of gut microbiota, reports a Swedish-Norwegian team of researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Oslo. The work, published in EMBO reports, suggests that bacteria in the gut affect mucus barrier properties in ways that can have implications for health and disease.

Wild blueberries (bilberries) can help tackle the adverse effects of a high-fat diet

Eating bilberries diminishes the adverse effects of a high-fat diet, according to a recent study at the University of Eastern Finland. For the first time, bilberries were shown to have beneficial effects on both blood pressure and nutrition-derived inflammatory responses.

CNIO researchers treat heart attacks with new gene therapy based on telomerase enzyme

The enzyme telomerase repairs cell damage produced by ageing, and has been used successfully in therapies to lengthen the life of mice. Now it has been observed that it could also be used to cure illnesses related to the ageing process. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have for the first time treated myocardial infarction with telomerase by designing a very innovative strategy: a gene therapy that reactivates the telomerase gene only in the heart of adult mice, thus increasing survival rates in those animals by 17 % following a heart attack.

Expectant fathers experience prenatal hormone changes

ANN ARBOR--Impending fatherhood can lower two hormones--testosterone and estradiol--for men, even before their babies are born, a new University of Michigan study found.

Other studies indicate that men's hormones change once they become fathers, and there is some evidence that this is a function of a decline after the child's birth. The new U-M study is the first to show that the decline may begin even earlier, during the transition to fatherhood, said Robin Edelstein, the study's lead author.

How does prostate cancer form?

(PHILADELPHIA) - Prostate cancer affects more than 23,000 men this year in the USA however the individual genes that initiate prostate cancer formation are poorly understood. Finding an enzyme that regulates this process could provide excellent new prevention approaches for this common malignancy. Sirtuin enzymes have been implicated in neurodegeneration, obesity, heart disease, and cancer.