Aggregator

Researchers solved a long-standing mystery behind how a bacterial toxin associated with colorectal cancer damages the colon. The toxin first binds to a receptor called claudin-4, giving it access to attack the cells' protective barrier. After identifying this weak point, the team designed a decoy protein that successfully blocked the toxin in mice. The discovery could pave the way for new therapies to prevent inflammation and colon tumors.

First drug to lower the protein and slow cognitive decline creates buzz despite puzzling data

A growing Cyclospora outbreak has sickened more than 400 people in four states, and investigators are still searching for the contaminated food responsible. The CDC warns the actual number of cases is likely much higher and urges anyone with symptoms to seek medical care.

Adults and children were taken from deep within continent’s interior, genetic material from remote island of St. Helena suggests

Detecting escaping helium from LHS 1140b is important step in search for life beyond our Solar System

An existing constipation drug may have an unexpected new use: helping clear the "brain fog" that often lingers after depression. In a small clinical trial, people with a history of depression who took the medication prucalopride for about a week performed better on tests of memory, attention, and thinking speed than those who received a placebo. The drug targets a serotonin receptor found in both the gut and the brain, and researchers saw no significant side effects.

Researchers have discovered that a microscopic skeleton inside neurons does much more than hold cells together. It acts as a gatekeeper that controls what brain cells absorb and when they absorb it. When this protective structure weakens, neurons rapidly take in harmful proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that stabilizing it could become a promising new strategy for preventing brain cell damage.

As researchers piece together the pest’s global trek, countries are working to contain the growing threat

George Church moved to paper’s acknowledgements section, triggering exodus

The aggregation of α-synuclein (αSyn), a 140-mer protein, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies. KTKEGV pseudo-repeats (KRs) in the sequence of αSyn are key mediators of its prion-like propagation and neurodegeneration. Despite the availability of symptomatic treatments, no current therapy effectively delays disease progression. Here we report a 77-nucleotide RNA aptamer called 1R6, obtained through in vitro...

Genomic studies at single-cell resolution have identified several cell types associated with clinical and pathological traits in Alzheimer's disease^(1-9), but have not examined associations that are shared across populations. To bridge this gap, here we use single-nucleus RNA sequencing and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing to profile cortical and subcortical regions in post-mortem brain-tissue samples from Latin, white (excluding Latin) and African American (excluding...

While Alzheimer's disease (AD) is initiated by amyloid plaque accumulation, its progression involves local neuroinflammation that the brain cannot resolve when age-related dysfunction of the systemic immune system limits peripheral immune support. Preclinical studies using rodent models showed that transient systemic blockade of programmed death-ligand 1 is associated with reduced neuroinflammation, neuroprotection and attenuation of disease progression. Based on the underlying mechanism, a new...

Chronological aging is a major source of interindividual biological variability, yet the metabolic background that accompanies aging in women remains incompletely defined. Using large-scale plasma metabolomic and lipidomic profiling across the adult female lifespan, this study identifies coordinated metabolic signatures that progressively emerge with aging and dominate systemic metabolic variability independently of body mass index and estradiol status. Aging was associated with consistent...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and epigenetic alterations play critical roles in aging-related diseases, yet the molecular mechanisms linking mito-nuclear crosstalk to ovarian aging remain poorly understood. Here, single-cell transcriptome analysis of aging ovaries revealed senescence-associated hallmark alterations, including abnormally elevated mitochondrial metabolism, disrupted histone modification patterns, and enrichment of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). We demonstrated...

Oncogene-directed therapies can induce profound tumor regression in oncogene-addicted cancers, but their long-term benefit is often limited by resistance and relapse. Here we show that oncogene inactivation rapidly induces senescence and a pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). In vivo, oncogene inactivation-induced senescence (OIIS) predisposes tumors to relapse, accompanied by polyploidy, chromosomal instability, acquisition of alternative oncogenic pathways...

Aging affects lung function, predisposing older adults to respiratory diseases; however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of lung aging are not fully understood. Leveraging single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data from 184 and 70 lung parenchyma samples, respectively, we present an analytical platform to dissect the cell composition, gene expression modules, and regulatory changes linked to multiple hallmarks of lung aging. Our findings show cell type-specific age-association of...

Bifunctional glycosylases, OGG1 for purines and NTH1 for pyrimidines, repair oxidized DNA bases via consecutive glycosylase and AP-lyase reactions, yet their catalytic relationships and lyase activity's biological relevance remain unresolved. Here, we solved crystal structures of archaeal and human Ogg1 and Nth1 captured in key damage-recognition and catalysis-ready states, complemented by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of their complete reaction trajectories. We thereby define a...

Lysosomes are essential regulators of cellular homeostasis. Emerging evidence positions lysosomes as both vulnerable targets and active drivers of ageing biology. During ageing, lysosomes exhibit impaired biogenesis, defective acidification, reduced hydrolytic activity and compromised membrane integrity. These defects impair the clearance of damaged organelles and macromolecules and promote cellular stress responses, inflammageing and senescence, causing age-dependent functional decline across...

No abstract

No abstract