A novel antibody therapy makes the immune system of old mice appear younger, allowing the animals to better fend off infections and reduce inflammation.
By Grace Wade
Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,200
New “spiral” contact lenses let you see up close and far away
Would you wear this? Researchers just revealed a “spiral diopter” contact lens that has multiple focus points, allowing the user to to see clearly at multiple distances. Here’s what volunteers said when they tried it:
New spiral-shaped multifocal lenses bend light in a way that corrects problems seeing up close and far away, even in poor lighting.
Making Long-Term Memories Requires Nerve-Cell Damage
March 27, 2024—(BRONX, NY)— Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that you can’t make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation. Their surprising findings were published online today in the journal Nature.
“Inflammation of brain neurons is usually considered to be a bad thing, since it can lead to neurological problems such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said study leader Jelena Radulovic, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the Sylvia and Robert S. Olnick Chair in Neuroscience at Einstein. “But our findings suggest that inflammation in certain neurons in the brain’s hippocampal region is essential for making long-lasting memories.”
The hippocampus has long been known as the brain’s memory center. Dr. Radulovic and her colleagues found that a stimulus sets off a cycle of DNA damage and repair within certain hippocampal neurons that leads to stable memory assemblies—clusters of brain cells that represent our past experiences. Elizabeth Wood, a Ph.D. student, and Ana Cicvaric, a postdoc in the Radulovic lab, were the study’s first authors at Einstein.
Senolytic CAR T cells reverse aging-associated defects in intestinal regeneration and fitness
Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) drive the rapid regeneration of the gut epithelium to maintain organismal homeostasis. Aging, however, significantly reduces intestinal regenerative capacity. While cellular senescence is a key feature of the aging process, little is known about the in vivo effects of senescent cells on intestinal fitness. Here, we identify the accumulation of senescent cells in the aging gut and, by harnessing senolytic CAR T cells to eliminate them, we uncover their detrimental impact on epithelial integrity and overall intestinal homeostasis in natural aging, injury and colitis. Ablation of intestinal senescent cells with senolytic CAR T cells in vivo or in vitro is sufficient to promote the regenerative potential of aged ISCs. This intervention improves epithelial integrity and mucosal immune function. Overall, these results highlight the ability of senolytic CAR T cells to rejuvenate the intestinal niche and demonstrate the potential of targeted cell therapies to promote tissue regeneration in aging organisms.
Isaac Asimov’s Vision Of The Future | Letterman
The legendary science fiction writer shares his thoughts on the future of medicine, communications and more.
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This AI can find billions of new antibiotics, even for superbugs that don’t respond to treatments
Artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing a new era to healthcare. A large part of its value is the ability to collect and analyze data sets to streamline administrative processes, improve diagnosis accuracy, and optimize treatment regimens.
Now researchers have added antibiotic discovery to that list.
A recent study published in Nature Machine Intelligence by McMaster University and Stanford University researchers introduces SyntheMol, a generative AI model capable of designing new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant bacteria.
Tryptophan in Diet and Gut Bacteria Protect against E. Coli Infection, study shows
Gut bacteria and a diet rich in the amino acid tryptophan can play a protective role against pathogenic E. coli, which can cause severe stomach upset, cramps, fever, intestinal bleeding and renal failure, according to a study published March 13 in Nature.
The research reveals how dietary tryptophan—an amino acid found mostly in animal products, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes—can be broken down by gut bacteria into small molecules called metabolites. It turns out a few of these metabolites can bind to a receptor on gut epithelial (surface) cells, triggering a pathway that ultimately reduces the production of proteins that E. coli use to attach to the gut lining where they cause infection. When E. coli fail to attach and colonize the gut, the pathogen benignly moves through and passes out of the body.
The research describes a previously unknown role in the gut for a receptor, DRD2 has otherwise been known as a dopamine (neurotransmitter) receptor in the central and peripheral nervous systems.