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Category: biotech/medical – Page 660

DNA study reveals the origins of the medieval Picts

My people.

The Picts, a people who inhabited Scotland during the Middle Ages, have always had a sense of mystery to them. A new study using DNA has revealed new details about their origins.

Historical sources first mention the Picts in the late 3rd century AD. They resisted the Romans and ruled over a large territory in northern Britain. However, around the 9th and 10th centuries the Pictish culture would decline and those lands would form into what would be the medieval kingdom of Scotland. There are different theories to the origins – were the Picts native to Britain or did they migrate from other parts of Europe?

To make science more approachable, ‘Curiosity’ series takes viewers behind the scenes of scientists’ lives

Stepping inside Erin Adams’ lab at the University of Chicago is a bit overstimulating.

Adams’ work centers on molecular immunology. As the Joseph Regenstein Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and vice provost for research, she researches the molecular signals that the immune system uses to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy tissue.

And her lab is expansive. It includes a tissue culture lab space—where she and her team of postdoctoral fellows work with cells to try to recapitulate things. Then there’s the crystal room where one can find hundreds of labeled wells filled with proteins that are being watched to see if three-dimensional crystals materialize.

Cells’ electric fields keep nanoparticles at bay, scientists confirm

The humble membranes that enclose our cells have a surprising superpower: They can push away nano-sized molecules that happen to approach them. A team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has figured out why, by using artificial membranes that mimic the behavior of natural ones. Their discovery could make a difference in how we design the many drug treatments that target our cells.

The team’s findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, confirm that the powerful electrical fields that cell membranes generate are largely responsible for repelling nanoscale particles from the surface of the cell.

This repulsion notably affects neutral, uncharged nanoparticles, in part because the smaller, charged the attracts crowd the membrane and push away the larger particles. Since many drug treatments are built around proteins and other nanoscale particles that target the membrane, the repulsion could play a role in the treatments’ effectiveness.

Brain Thinning Predicts Alzheimer’s 10 Years Before Symptoms

Summary: Researchers identified cortical gray matter thinning as a potential early biomarker for dementia. In a study involving 1,500 participants from diverse backgrounds, thinner cortical gray matter was linked to a higher risk of developing dementia 5 to 10 years before symptoms appeared.

This finding suggests that measuring gray matter thickness via MRI could be key in early dementia detection and intervention. The research highlights the importance of early diagnosis in managing and possibly slowing the progression of dementia.

Study: In patients with Long COVID, Immune cells don’t follow the rules

People with long COVID have dysfunctional immune cells that show signs of chronic inflammation and faulty movement into organs, among other unusual activity, according to a new study by scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF).

The team analyzed immune cells and hundreds of different immune molecules in the blood of 43 people with and without long COVID. They delved particularly deep into the characteristics of each person’s T cells—immune cells that help fight viral infections but can also trigger chronic inflammatory diseases.

Their findings, which appear in Nature Immunology, support the hypothesis that long COVID may involve a low-level viral persistence. The study also reveals a mismatch between the activity of T cells and other components of the immune system in people with long-term COVID-19.

What are the capabilities of a commercially available p-tau217 immunoassay to identify Alzheimer disease pathophysiology?

In a recent study published in JAMA Neurology a group of researchers determined the utility of a novel and commercially available immunoassay for plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) to detect Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) pathology and evaluate reference ranges for abnormal amyloid β (Aβ) and longitudinal change across three selected cohorts.

Blood biomarkers have become key in AD diagnosis, offering a more scalable option than cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or positron emission tomography (PET) scans. They are particularly beneficial in settings with limited access to advanced testing, paving the way for early and precise diagnosis and better patient management. p-tau, especially p-tau at threonine 217 (p-tau217), stands out as a leading blood biomarker. It excels in differentiating AD from other conditions and detecting AD in mild cognitive impairment cases, often outperforming other tau biomarkers.

As the medical community moves towards anti-Aβ therapies for dementia, validated blood biomarkers like p-tau217 are crucial for guiding treatment. Further research is necessary to validate plasma p-tau217 across diverse memory clinic populations, addressing comorbidities to enhance its clinical utility for AD.