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Category: biotech/medical – Page 273

Behavior-based dependency networks can shape the resilience of cities following economic shocks

Unexpected crises or events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or natural disasters, can cause disruptions to a city’s economy. For instance, forcing businesses to temporarily close or hindering their daily operations. As businesses often rely on each other, changes in the operation of one company can cause ripple effects, like influencing its suppliers, distributors or other businesses it depends on.

To explore the widespread economic impact of shocks and adverse events, past studies primarily examined the proximity between businesses, assuming that businesses are primarily connected to nearby companies or establishments. However, some findings suggest that people’s movements between businesses (i.e., behavior-based dependencies) also contribute to the resilience of cities following economic disruptions.

These dependencies are essentially relationships between businesses shaped by the behavior and habits of shared customers. For example, if a tech company is forced to close its offices, this might impact not only other nearby restaurants, but also gyms or other establishments located in different parts of a , which some employees typically visit before or after work.

Scientists uncover how cancer cells hijack T-cells, making it harder for the body to fight back

Research led by the Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute in Japan has discovered a surprising way cancer evades the immune system. It essentially hacks the immune cells, transferring its own faulty mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into the T-cells meant to attack it.

This sneaky move weakens the immune cells, making them less effective at stopping the tumor. The findings could help explain why some cancer treatments, like immunotherapy, are effective for some patients but not others.

In the study, “Immune evasion through mitochondrial transfer in the ,” published in Nature, the multi-group collaboration looked at how cancer cells interact with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, a type of T-cell that typically fights tumors. The research is also featured in a News and Views piece.

Blood vessel growth factor alleviates anxious behaviors in mouse study

Anxiety disorders, characterized by an excessive apprehension about real or perceived threats and dysfunctional behaviors aimed at avoiding these threats, are among the most common mental health conditions. Estimates suggest that around 4% of the world’s population, so a few hundred million people, experiences these disorders, which can have debilitating effects, significantly lowering their quality of life.

While there are currently various treatment options for , many existing medications do not prove effective for all individuals. Some neuroscientists worldwide have thus been trying to identify new promising neuro-biological targets for relieving anxiety and anxious behaviors.

Recent studies uncovered an association between anxiety disorders and the impaired functioning of the (BBB), a protective layer comprised of that regulates the flow of substances between the bloodstream and the brain. However, the precise neural mechanisms underpinning the link between BBB dysfunction and anxiety remain elusive.

Soap’s maze-solving skills could unlock secrets of the human body

An international team of scientists have discovered that soap could be important to helping our understanding of complex systems in the human body, such as lungs, and improving therapies for conditions such as respiratory distress syndrome.

In the last few years, researchers have found that surfactants—the molecules found in soap—can naturally find its way through a maze using the shortest path, with little penetration into dead ends.

The discovery may sound a little peculiar, but the finding mimics transport processes in complex branching networks found in the human body, such as the lungs. It may hold the key to understanding how liquids, such as certain drugs, travel through these networks, which could help medical scientists find new and more effective therapies.

Winning Rewires the Brain: New Research Unlocks Secrets of Aggression and Dopamine

Mice, like humans, compete for territory and mates, becoming more confident in their fighting abilities with each victory. Early on, a brain chemical called dopamine.

Dopamine is a crucial neurotransmitter involved in many important functions in the brain, particularly those related to pleasure, reward, motivation, and motor control. It plays a central role in the brain’s reward system, where it helps reinforce rewarding behaviors by increasing pleasure and satisfaction, making it critical for habit formation and addictive behaviors. Dopamine is also vital for regulating movement, and deficiencies in dopamine production are linked to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, dopamine influences various other functions, including mood regulation, learning, and attention, making it a key focus in studies of both mental health and neurodegenerative diseases.

December 2024 Longevity Review

A review of the most interesting and impactful longevity related studies from December, including how gene therapy can increase telomere length and how the immune system can be used to clear senescent cells.

Contents:

1. Intro 0:00
2. Gene Therapy To Increase Telomere Length 0:48
3. Freeing The Immune System To Remove Senescent Cells 15:20
4. Using Probiotics To Help With Sarcopenia 27:39.

Canadian Content Study.
5. Extracellular Vesicles To Combat Neuroinflammation 35:59.

Link to the newsletter being discussed (both online and PDF versions):
/ december-2024–120640668

Links to studies reviewed in this newsletter:

Continue reading “December 2024 Longevity Review” | >

New method enables protein labeling of tens of millions of densely packed cells in organ-scale tissues

A new technology developed at MIT enables scientists to label proteins across millions of individual cells in fully intact 3D tissues with unprecedented speed, uniformity, and versatility. Using the technology, the team was able to richly label whole rodent brains and other large tissue samples in a single day.

In their new study in Nature Biotechnology, they also demonstrate that the ability to label proteins with antibodies at the single-cell level across whole brains can reveal insights left hidden by other widely used labeling methods.

Profiling the proteins that cells are making is a staple of studies in biology, neuroscience and related fields because the proteins a cell is expressing at a given moment can reflect the functions the cell is trying to perform or its response to its circumstances, such as disease or treatment.

New Research Uncovers Long-Lived DNA Damage Linked to Cancer

In a groundbreaking shift in our understanding of mutations, researchers have discovered types of DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).