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Category: biotech/medical – Page 50

Vitamin D supplements help slow telomere shortening linked to biological aging

Results from the VITAL randomized controlled trial reveal that vitamin D supplementation helps maintain telomeres, protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten during aging and are linked to the development of certain diseases.

The new report, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is based on data from a VITAL sub-study co-led by researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia, and supports a promising role in slowing a pathway for biological aging.

“VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve ,” said co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, principal investigator of VITAL and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Porphyrin-based nanosheets capture viruses; researchers work to improve air flow for mask applications

The COVID-19 pandemic increased public awareness of the importance of mask use for personal protection. However, when the mesh size of mask fabrics is small enough to capture viruses, which are usually around one hundred nanometers in size, the fabric typically also restricts air flow, resulting in user discomfort. Researchers from Japan have now developed a new filter material that effectively captures nanoparticles, although further improvements are needed to make it suitable for comfortable mask use.

In a study published this month in Materials Advances, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo have developed a filter capable of capturing nanoparticles such as viruses. While the filter demonstrates high filtration efficiency, its airflow resistance is currently higher than the standards required for face masks, indicating that additional development is necessary before it can be used for personal protective equipment.

The filter is constructed from nanosheets consisting of an ordered mesh composed of porphyrins, which are flat, ring-shaped molecules with a central hole. The in the porphyrin molecules are suitably sized to allow the easy passage of the small gas molecules in air while blocking the movement of larger particles, such as viruses. The nanosheets are then supported on a fabric modified with nanofibers containing pores of several hundred nanometers to form the filter.

Closing the gaps—MXene-coated air filters show enhanced performance and reusability

Despite improvements to air filtration technology in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the smallest particles—those of automobile and factory emissions—can still make their way through less efficient, but common filters. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Drexel University’s College of Engineering have introduced a new way to improve textile-based filters by coating them with a type of two-dimensional nanomaterial called MXene.

Recently published in the journal C—Journal of Carbon Research, the team’s research reports that a non-woven polyester textile—a low-cost material with low filtration efficiency—coated with a thin layer of MXene nanomaterial can turn it into a potent filter capable of pulling some of the finest nanoparticles from the air.

“It can be challenging for common filters to contend with particles less than 100 nanometers, which include those emitted by industrial processes and automobiles,” said Michael Waring, Ph.D., a professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, and co-author of the research. “Being able to augment a filter, through a simple coating process, to make it effective against these emissions is a significant development.”

Targeting malaria at the source: Drug-treated nets eliminate parasites in resistant mosquitoes

Researchers have identified a type of chemical compound that, when applied to insecticide-treated bed nets, appears to kill the malaria-causing parasite in mosquitoes.

Published in the journal Nature, the multi-site collaborative study represents a breakthrough for a disease that continues to claim more than half a million lives worldwide every year. A lab at Oregon Health & Science University played a key role, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, supported the research.

Michael Riscoe, Ph.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine, designed and synthesized the anti-malarial drugs, termed ELQs, that were then screened in the lab of Flaminia Catteruccia, Ph.D., the study’s senior author and Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Skin cancer is a growing threat to older adult men as global population ages

Researchers at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in China have uncovered a sharply rising burden of skin cancer in older adults driven largely by population growth and affecting men twice as often.

Skin cancer already ranks among the costliest malignancies to treat, and an aging world means more time for ultraviolet damage to accumulate. Previous research shows older patients now make up nearly three-quarters of new cases, yet global data capturing the full scope and trend in those over 65 remains scarce.

In the study, “Burden of Skin Cancer in Older Adults From 1990 to 2021 and Modelled Projection to 2050,” published in JAMA Dermatology, researchers mined the Global Burden of Diseases 2021 registry to quantify how melanoma, , and affect adults aged 65 and older worldwide.

Daylight can boost the immune system’s ability to fight infections

A breakthrough study, led by scientists at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, has uncovered how daylight can boost the immune system’s ability to fight infections.

The team focused on the most abundant immune cells in our bodies, called neutrophils, which are a type of white blood cell. These cells move quickly to the site of an infection and kill invading bacteria.

The researchers used zebrafish, a small freshwater fish, as a , because its is similar to ours and the fish can be bred to have transparent bodies, making it easy to observe biological processes in real time.

Microscopic movies capture brain proteins in action, revealing new insight into shapes and functions

Our cells rely on microscopic highways and specialized protein vehicles to move everything—from positioning organelles to carting protein instructions to disposing of cellular garbage. These highways (called microtubules) and vehicles (called motor proteins) are indispensable to cellular function and survival.

The dysfunction of motor proteins and their associated proteins can lead to severe neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. For example, the dysfunction of Lis1, a partner protein to the motor protein , can lead to the rare fatal birth defect lissencephaly, or “smooth brain,” for which there is no cure. But therapeutics that target and restore dynein or Lis1 function could change those dismal outcomes—and developing those therapeutics depends on thoroughly understanding how dynein and Lis1 interact.

New research from the Salk Institute and UC San Diego captured short movies of Lis1 “turning on” dynein. The movies allowed the team to catalog 16 shapes that the two proteins take as they interact, some of which have never been seen before. These insights will be foundational for designing future therapeutics that restore dynein and Lis1 function, since they shine a light on precise locations where drugs could interact with the proteins.

Researchers contribute to new toolkit for battling brain disorders

New studies stemming from the Armamentarium consortium outline findings that advance tools based on Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. An announcement about the work explains how an AAV “acts like a shuttle capable of transporting specially designed DNA into the cell.”

Two of the studies on these AAV tools were conducted by collaborative teams organized by Xiangmin Xu, Ph.D., UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of anatomy and neurobiology and director of the campus’s Center for Neural Circuit Mapping.

“This Armamentarium’s collection of work enables new tools that help to deepen our understanding of the human central nervous system structure and function,” says Xu. “Our own brain-targeting technology could help treat Alzheimer’s disease and many other neurological disorders.”

Eye Surgery Technique Could Restore Vision in Macular Degeneration

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have developed a new surgical technique for implanting multiple tissue grafts in the eye’s retina.

The findings in animals may help advance treatment options for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of vision loss among older Americans.