Obesity and chronic inflammation in the liver trigger the most severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), steatohepatitis. Scientists at the University of Texas (UT) have shown how damaged hepatocytes accumulated in the liver after a vicious cycle of cytokine expression induced shedding of a critical liver receptor.
Ice, juice, the exact measure of liquor, a few drops of Angostura... What goes into a good New Year’s Eve cocktail? According to researchers working on vaccines for the most elusive viruses, it will be time soon to toast next-generation vaccines. If 2020 was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021 the year of mRNA vaccinations, 2022 brought polyvalent designs of antigens, evaluated highly neutralizing antibodies, and fine-tuned mRNA technology against SARS-CoV-2, HIV and the flu.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
The first in vivo cell atlas of senescent tissue in skeletal muscle has identified the damaging properties of these cells and explained why they block muscle regeneration. According to a study at Pompeu Fabra University led by scientists from Altos Labs Inc., cell damage caused the senescence of the cells, which secreted toxic substances into the surrounding microenvironment, causing fibrosis and preventing tissue regeneration.
Alzheimer’s disease has a higher incidence in women. This sex difference was associated with a modification of certain proteins of the immune system. According to a recent study, the drop in estrogen with menopause increased the expression in the brain of a neurotransmitter, nitric oxide (NO), generating the S-nitrosylation of complement factor C3 (abbreviated SNO-C3), which activated the microglia.
Liver damage arrests growth mediated by the somatotroph axis, which prevents liver cell death and inflammation, but increases fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The explanation for this effect could lie in the relationship between the activating transcription factor 3 (ATF-3) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), according to a study from the University of California at Berkeley.
A combination of bioengineering techniques on normal cell binding proteins could be the method of the future for selective cell binding. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have created a synthetic glue based on the expression of membrane receptors to establish the desired connection between cells. The results may be applied in different fields of cell biology or biomedicine, such as regeneration and wound repair, including the nervous system, or cancer.
When a drug prevents bacteria from synthesizing their own folate, an essential compound for their survival, they take it directly from the host. This antibiotic resistance mechanism had not been detected until now because bacteria behave differently in the laboratory than they do in vivo during an infection.
When a drug prevents bacteria from synthesizing their own folate, an essential compound for their survival, they take it directly from the host. This antibiotic resistance mechanism had not been detected until now because bacteria behave differently in the laboratory than they do in vivo during an infection.
