Nice write up.

---

A research team led by Associate Professor Mitsuharu ENDO and Professor Yasuhiro MINAMI (both from the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University) has pinpointed the mechanism underlying astrocyte-mediated restoration of brain tissue after an injury. This could lead to new treatments that encourage regeneration by limiting damage to neurons incurred by reduced blood supply or trauma. The findings were published on October 11 in the online version of GLIA ahead of print release in January 2017.

When the brain is damaged by trauma or ischemia (restriction in blood supply), immune cells such as macrophages and lymphocytes dispose of the damaged neurons with an inflammatory response. However, an excessive inflammatory response can also harm healthy neurons.

Astrocytes are a type of glial cell*, and the most numerous cell within the human cerebral cortex. In addition to their supportive role in providing nutrients to neurons, studies have shown that they have various other functions, including the direct or active regulation of neuronal activities.

Read more

Pretty wild.

---

A mesmerising new video reveals how neuronal signaling changes blood flow through the brain. Image shows patterns of brain activity occurring across the bilateral cortex of an awake mouse. Colours indicate different patterns of activity over time.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans are a common type of brain scan used in both research and medicine.

FMRI machines work by tracking blood flow through the brain.

Read more

Very promising for Giloblastoma patients.

---

Adding Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) to maintenance temozolomide significantly prolongs both median and long-term survival.

Among patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme, adding Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) to maintenance temozolomide significantly prolongs both median and long-term survival, according to a study presented 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO).

TTFields is a frequency-tuned, anti-mitotic, physical treatment modality delivered to the brain through a patient-operated, portable medical device called Optune. Results of a pre-specific successful interim analysis of the international, phase 3 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00916409) comparing TTFields and temozolomide with temozolomide alone after radiotherapy and adjuvant temozolomide led to the approval of TTFields for the treatment of adult patients with glioblastoma.

Read more

Physical plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, together with solid, liquid, and gas, and can be completely or partially ionized (thermal/hot or non-thermal/cold plasma, respectively). Non-thermal plasma has many industrial applications, but plasma medicine is a new field of therapy based on non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma that has been used in cancer treatment, wound healing, and blood coagulation. Plasma is known to react with air to produce highly reactive free radicals, and with liquid to produce long-lived reactive molecules that can be used for chemotherapy. However, the exact components responsible for the anti-tumor effects were unknown.

Now, a research team based at Nagoya University used plasma to activate Ringer’s solution, a salt solution with existing therapeutic functions, and showed that its lactate component had anti-tumor effects.

Previous work by the researchers developed plasma-activated cell culture medium as a form of chemotherapy, but selected Ringer’s solution in the present work because of its simpler composition and likelihood of forming less complex reaction products. Ringer’s lactate solution (Lactec) was irradiated with plasma for 3–5 minutes, after which it demonstrated anti-tumor effects on brain tumor cells.

Read more