Body

The lipid-rich membranes of cells are largely impermeable to proteins, but evolution has provided a way through – in the form of transmembrane tunnels. A new study shows in unmatched detail what happens as proteins pass through such a pore.

Zurich, 7 February 2014. Since the end of 2011 when the scientific work of Professor Don Poldermans was first scrutinized there has been controversy in the medical world about the use of beta blockers in perioperative care.

The recent publication - and retraction for proper peer reviewing and revision - in the European Heart Journal (EHJ) of a paper by Professors Cole and Francis from Imperial College, questioning whether beta blockers in perioperative care could lead to a mortality increase brought the topic back into the public eye.

Septic shock is caused by excessive and systemic reaction of the entire body against infectious agents, in most cases of bacterial origin. The number of deaths by septic shock in intensive care units is very high and is still increasing, despite numerous large scale clinical trials. Scientists of VIB and UGent, supervised by Peter Vandenabeele, demonstrated in a mouse study that a potential novel treatment for sepsis may consist of the simultaneous neutralization of two harmful cytokines in the blood circulation, namely interleukin-1 and interleukin-18.

Since its first identification in Asia, highly pathogenic avian influenza—H5N1—has caused significant alarm in the scientific community. While the virus' primary target is birds—tens of millions have already died from it—it is capable of infecting mammals, including humans, causing serious illness and a frightening rate of mortality.

An international team of researchers led by scientists at Virginia Tech and the University of California, Berkeley has discovered that a process that turns on photosynthesis in plants likely developed on Earth in ancient microbes 2.5 billion years ago, long before oxygen became available.

The research offers new perspective on evolutionary biology, microbiology, and the production of natural gas, and may shed light on climate change, agriculture, and human health.

Mexico is the fourth largest honey producer and fifth largest honey exporter in the world. A Smithsonian researcher and colleagues helped rural farmers in Mexico to quantify the genetically modified organism (GMO) soybean pollen in honey samples rejected for sale in Germany. Their results will appear Feb. 7 in the online journal, Scientific Reports.

With a stock estimated at 1,000 million tons so far, mesopelagic fish dominate the total biomass of fish in the ocean. However, a team of researchers with the participation of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has found that their abundance could be at least 10 times higher. The results, published in Nature Communications journal, are based on the acoustic observations conducted during the circumnavigation of the Malaspina Expedition.

The first top predators to walk on land were not afraid to bite off more than they could chew, a University of Toronto Mississauga study has found.

Graduate student and lead author Kirstin Brink along with Professor Robert Reisz from U of T Mississauga's Department of Biology suggest that Dimetrodon, a carnivore that walked on land between 298 million and 272 million years ago, was the first terrestrial vertebrate to develop serrated ziphodont teeth.

Philadelphia, PA, February 7, 2014 – Despite the identification of gene mutations in methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) being linked to Rett syndrome (RS), research has been hindered by the lack of commercially available reference materials.

Viruses mutate fast, which means they can quickly become resistant to anti-viral drugs. But viruses also depend on proteins and nutrients provided by their hosts, and therefore one strategy to identify new anti-viral drugs is to identify and target such host-cell components. A paper published on February 6th in PLOS Pathogens reports that proteins involved in the regulation of cholesterol are essential for hantavirus entry into human host cells.

Researchers from the University of Helsinki analyzed thoroughly the commonly occurring genetic variation in chromosome X, one of the two sex-determining chromosomes, in almost 25,000 Northern European individuals with diverse health-related information available. The aim of the study was to find genetic factors that could explain individual differences in several traits, including BMI, height, blood pressure and lipid levels.

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a link between a mutation in a gene called RAB 24 and an inherited neurodegenerative disease in Old English sheepdogs and Gordon setters. The findings may help further understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and identify new treatments for both canine and human sufferers.

Hereditary ataxias are an important group of inherited neurodegenerative diseases in people. This group of diseases is the third most common neurodegenerative movement disorder after Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

A genetic mechanism that controls the production of a large spike-like protein on the surface of Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria alters the ability of the bacteria to form clumps and to cause disease, according to a new University of Iowa study.

For the first time, guidelines have been developed for preventing stroke in women.

"If you are a woman, you share many of the same risk factors for stroke with men, but your risk is also influenced by hormones, reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and other sex-related factors," said Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., author of the new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

The guidelines outline stroke risks unique to women and provide scientifically-based recommendations on how best to treat them, including:

A team of researchers, led by scientists at Case Western Reserve University, has developed a multifunctional nanoparticle that enables magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to pinpoint blood vessel plaques caused by atherosclerosis. The technology is a step toward creating a non-invasive method of identifying plaques vulnerable to rupture–the cause of heart attack and stroke—in time for treatment.