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Category: biotech/medical – Page 283

Could This Be the Cure? Targeting Protein Imbalances To Stop Alzheimer’s

Scientists have identified a key nucleolar complex that could be instrumental in combating neurodegenerative diseases. This complex plays a critical role in maintaining cellular health by regulating protein homeostasis (proteostasis)—the process by which cells ensure proper protein balance and function.

Research reveals that suppressing this nucleolar complex significantly reduces the toxic effects of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that primarily affects older adults, leading to memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioral changes. It is the most common cause of dementia. The disease is characterized by the buildup of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain, which disrupt cell function and communication. There is currently no cure, and treatments focus on managing symptoms and improving quality of life.

New Biomarker Links Brain Waste Clearance to Vascular Dementia

Summary: A new study has identified a biomarker, DTI-ALPS, which connects glymphatic system dysfunction to vascular dementia. By analyzing over 3,750 participants, researchers found that lower DTI-ALPS scores correlated with worse executive function, highlighting the glymphatic system’s role in clearing brain waste.

The study also uncovered a potential pathway linking impaired waste clearance to cognitive decline, mediated by free water accumulation in white matter. These findings provide a robust tool for clinical trials and potential interventions, including lifestyle changes and medications, to enhance glymphatic function and treat vascular dementia.

Could AI Help Predict the Next Pandemic?

This article outlines examples of where AI has been utilized to predict disease outbreaks and how AI models could help inform future strategies for controlling the spread of infectious diseases to prevent possible pandemics.

AI’s contribution to pandemic preparedness

In August 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its list of pathogens that could spark the next pandemic, which grew to include more than 30 pathogens. The microorganisms were selected based on available evidence showing them to be highly transmissible and virulent, with limited access to vaccines and treatments. While some pathogens on the list may never cause an epidemic, the growing number of pathogens of concern highlights the need for new tools to help predict and control the spread of infectious diseases.

Jellyfish Protein Shines Bright in Quantum Sensor for Biomedical Applications

While most of us are familiar with magnets from childhood games of marveling at the power of their repulsion or attraction, fewer realize the magnetic fields that surround us—and the ones inside us. Magnetic fields are not just external curiosities; they play essential roles in our bodies and beyond, influencing biological processes and technological systems alike. A recent arXiv publication from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Argonne National Laboratory highlights how magnetic fields in the body may be analyzed using quantum-enabled fluorescent proteins, with hopes of applying to cell formation or early disease detection.

Detecting subtle changes in magnetic fields may equate to beyond subtle impacts in certain fields. For instance, quantum sensors could be applied to the detection of electromagnetic anomalies in data centers, potentially revealing evidence of malicious tampering. Similarly, they might be used to study changes in the brain’s electromagnetic signals, offering insights into neurological diseases such as the onset of dementia. However, these applications demand sensors that are not only sensitive but also capable of operating reliably in real-world conditions.

Spin qubits, known for their notable sensitivity to magnetic fields, are introduced in the study as a compelling solution. Traditionally, spin qubits have been formed from nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds. While these systems have demonstrated remarkable precision, the diamonds’ bulky size in relation to molecules and complex surface chemistry limit their usability in biological environments. This creates a need for a more adaptable and biologically compatible sensor.

A brain-inspired algorithm that mitigates catastrophic forgetting of artificial and spiking neural networks with low computational cost

Neuromodulators in the brain act globally at many forms of synaptic plasticity, represented as metaplasticity, which is rarely considered by existing spiking (SNNs) and nonspiking artificial neural networks (ANNs). Here, we report an efficient brain-inspired computing algorithm for SNNs and ANNs, referred to here as neuromodulation-assisted credit assignment (NACA), which uses expectation signals to induce defined levels of neuromodulators to selective synapses, whereby the long-term synaptic potentiation and depression are modified in a nonlinear manner depending on the neuromodulator level. The NACA algorithm achieved high recognition accuracy with substantially reduced computational cost in learning spatial and temporal classification tasks. Notably, NACA was also verified as efficient for learning five different class continuous learning tasks with varying degrees of complexity, exhibiting a markedly mitigated catastrophic forgetting at low computational cost. Mapping synaptic weight changes showed that these benefits could be explained by the sparse and targeted synaptic modifications attributed to expectation-based global neuromodulation.

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Snap judgments: How first impressions of faces shape inferences of mental states

When we first meet another person, we typically form an initial impression of them based on their facial features and appearance. These first impressions of others could potentially influence our subsequent cognitive processes, such as what mental states we believe that the people we meet are experiencing at a given time.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the California Institute of Technology and Dartmouth College carried out a study investigating the potential relationship between first impressions of faces and the inference of mental states. Their findings, published in Nature Human Behavior, suggest that first impressions of faces influence the inference of other people’s mental states.

“Over the years there have been a lot of surprising findings showing how first impressions from faces can predict important outcomes, such as which candidates would win an election, which politicians would be convicted of corruption, and which offenders would be sentenced to death,” Chujun Lin, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.

Scientists identify 11 genes affected by PFAS, shedding light on neurotoxicity

Per-and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) earn their “forever chemical” moniker by persisting in water, soil and even the human brain. This unique ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in brain tissue makes PFAS particularly concerning, but the underlying mechanism of their neurotoxicity must be studied further.

To that end, a new study by University at Buffalo researchers has identified 11 genes that may hold the key to understanding the brain’s response to these pervasive chemicals commonly found in everyday items. The paper is published in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

These genes, some involved in processes vital for neuronal health, were found to be consistently affected by PFAS exposure, either expressing more or less, regardless of the type of PFAS compounds tested. For example, all compounds caused a gene key for neuronal cell survival to express less, and another gene linked to neuronal cell death to express more.

Genetic discovery offers hope for personalized epilepsy treatments

Recent research led by UTHealth Houston scientists has uncovered two genes associated with variants linked to epilepsy, which showed specific traits that make them promising diagnostic biomarkers.

The study is published in Nature Communications.

Led by Dennis Lal, Ph.D., director of the Center for Neurogenetics and associate professor of neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, the research team analyzed data from 1,386 human brain tissues for somatic variants in the of individuals undergoing . Somatic variants are DNA changes that occur after conception and can only be identified in the brain tissue.

Controlling Human Body Temperature to Mimic Hibernation

Summary: Researchers have discovered a way to control human body temperature, mimicking the hibernation process of animals like bears. By manipulating the brain’s temperature regulation system, they can induce a state of “thermoregulatory inversion” (TI) in rats, reducing heat production even in cold environments.

This breakthrough could lead to controlled hypothermia in humans, improving survival rates in life-threatening situations like heart attacks and strokes. The discovery opens the door to therapeutic hypothermia, which can protect tissues from damage by lowering metabolism and oxygen demand.

New AI tool uses routine blood tests to predict immunotherapy response for many cancers

Doctors around the world may soon have access to a new tool that could better predict whether individual cancer patients will benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors—a type of immunotherapy—using only routine blood tests and clinical data.

The artificial intelligence–based model, dubbed SCORPIO, was developed by a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai.

The model is not only cheaper and more accessible, it’s significantly better at predicting outcomes than the two current biomarkers approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to findings published in Nature Medicine.