How well connectomic models of the brain could be used to the predict performance of a specific person on cognitive tests was influenced by sociodemographic characteristics of that person, such as age and education. The findings, which were published in the Aug. 25, 2022, issue of Nature, suggest that models of cognition “are not predicting unitary cognitive constructs, such as episodic memory. Rather, they are predicting composites: measures of these constructs intertwined with sociodemographic and clinical covariates,” first author Abigail Greene told BioWorld.

Researchers from ESPCI Paris (Paris University for Industrial Physics and Chemistry), are working on a novel functional neuroimaging technique for measuring whole-brain activity dynamically at the microscopic level.

Treatment with injections of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), indicated to prevent sexual maturation deficits in Down syndrome, also reduced cognitive function impairment associated with Down syndrome, also called trisomy 21. With age, about three-quarters of people with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer's disease. They also lose their sense of smell. Both circumstances could improve with pulse doses of GnRH, according to a study led by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) published in the Sept. 1, 2022, issue of Science.

Treatment with injections of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, indicated to prevent sexual maturation deficits in Down syndrome, also reduced cognitive function impairment associated Down syndrome, also called trisomy 21.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, which would seem to make it an unlikely source for an immunotherapy target. But it is where researchers from Immatics SA and the University of Pennsylvania have found a target that was expressed on stromal cells in a number of different solid tumors, but very rare in normal tissues.

Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic called evybactin that is able to selectively target Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) lung infections. As described in Nature Chemical Biology on Aug. 22, 2022. the work is still at an early stage and requires further validation. But, if successful in clinical trials, evybactin could form part of a new group of specific antibiotics designed to target TB.

Research over the past decade has shown embryonic stem cells can undergo many disparate aspects of mammalian embryogenesis in vitro. But without the support of extra-embryonic stem cells that go on to form the placenta and yolk sac, development stalls. Now, two groups of researchers, led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and Cambridge University, U.K., have taken the in vitro development of whole mouse embryos further, by adding or inducing the differentiation of trophoblast cells and extra-embryonic endoderm stem cells.

Research over the past decade has shown embryonic stem cells can undergo many disparate aspects of mammalian embryogenesis in vitro. But without the support of extra-embryonic stem cells that go on to form the placenta and yolk sac, development stalls. Now, two groups of researchers, led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and Cambridge University, U.K., have taken the in vitro development of whole mouse embryos further, by adding or inducing the differentiation of trophoblast cells and extra-embryonic endoderm stem cells.

A phase II trial this week showed that combining the diabetes drug semaglutide (Novo Nordisk A/S) with a fixed-dose combination of Cagrisema (cagrilintide/semaglutide) led to “numerically higher” reductions in both HbA1c and body weight than either component alone. And on the preclinical side, researchers from the Novo Nordisk Research Center and the Helmholtz Diabetes Center reported that linking the dual PPAR activator tesaglitazar to GLP-1 improved glucose control in male mice. Both bits of news illustrate that GLP-1R agonists, which are also called incretin mimetics and GLP-1 analogs, are likely to continue their success across multiple areas of medical care.

Scientists have discovered that the enzyme aconitate decarboxylase 1 is not an anti-inflammatory mediator in sepsis. In the presence of bacterial toxins, it is involved in the cytokine storm and inflammatory signaling in monocytes and macrophages, becoming a potential therapeutic target against the infection.