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Vitamin B12 has long been seen as a health hero, helping the body make red blood cells, repair DNA, and keep nerves functioning properly. But scientists are discovering that the story may be more complicated than simply “more is better.” While too little B12 can damage DNA and raise cancer risk, some studies suggest that extremely high levels — especially from long-term high-dose supplements — may also be linked to certain cancers or poorer outcomes in cancer patients.

Fossil evidence suggests some predatory dinosaurs could expel salt from their bloodstream like modern birds and crocodiles do

Scientists in Japan have created powerful new vitamin K-based compounds that may help the brain regenerate lost neurons — a breakthrough that could one day change how diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are treated. By combining vitamin K with components related to vitamin A, the researchers developed compounds that were about three times more effective at turning neural stem cells into neurons than natural vitamin K alone.

Researchers at Texas A&M have developed a nasal spray that appears to reverse brain aging by calming inflammation and restoring the brain’s energy systems. After just two doses, memory and cognitive function improved for months, raising hopes for future treatments targeting dementia and brain fog.

Selective butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition is gaining renewed attention as a potential therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD), particularly in advanced stages marked by a shift from acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to BChE dominance. Beyond cholinergic regulation, BChE participates in metabolic, inflammatory, and affective pathways, including the enzymatic control of acyl ghrelin that influences appetite, energy balance, and mood. Preclinical and experimental evidence suggests that...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative illness marked by cognitive impairment, synaptic dysfunction and neuronal death. Tau protein abnormalities and mitochondrial dysfunction are key features of its pathogenesis, and both are involved in driving disease development. Emerging evidence suggests that pathogenic tau not only destabilizes microtubules but also directly compromises mitochondrial dynamics, bioenergetics and quality control, ultimately aggravating...

Mitochondrial targeting of the PINK1 kinase results, under normal conditions, in membrane-potential-driven inner membrane penetration and cleavage by the resident protease PARL before retro-translocation and proteasomal degradation. In compromised mitochondria, with reduced membrane potential, inner membrane incorporation is not achieved, which leads to surface activation of the full-length protein, Parkin recruitment and mitophagy. Here, we identify a third pathway in which PINK1 is imported...

Endoplasmic reticulum autophagy (ER-phagy) is a selective autophagy pathway in which receptor proteins target ER membranes and proteins for degradation, yet its role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. Here, we identify FAM134B/RETREG1 as a specific ER-phagy receptor mediating amyloid precursor protein (APP) degradation. FAM134B directly interacts with ER-localized wild-type and familial mutant APP via their C-terminal domains and recruits LC3 through its LC3-interacting region (LIR) to...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive decline. The precise molecular mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of AD remain elusive. Here we show that glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) is produced by microglia and transferred to astrocytes through extracellular vesicles (EVs) in PS19 tau pathology mice. Tau is cleaved in microglia to generate N-terminal fragments that form a complex on mitochondria with Parkin/Nix and...

Detection of α-synuclein (α-syn) amyloid seeds in human biofluids has attracted great interest for clinical diagnosis of synucleinopathies. However, as a common biomarker, α-syn lacks specificity in reliably differentiating distinct disorders. Here, we report tubulin polymerization promoting protein (TPPP/p25) as a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker for the specific diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA). We demonstrate that native TPPP/p25 is self-protected against amyloid aggregation,...

Young children are at increased risk for respiratory tract infections and are frequently colonized by respiratory pathogens. However, how the mucosal immune system differs between children and adults is relatively unknown. We collected nasal samples from 50 young children (aged 1-5 years) and 318 young adults (aged 18-34 years) to study how the mucosal immune system and host-microbe interactions differ with age. We used multi-omics data integration to combine host (immunophenotyping,...

Globally, the growing proportion of older individuals is imposing personal and societal costs. However, interventions that slow aging are possible; for example, dampened nutrient signaling pathway activity in animal models promotes better health later in life. Recent findings indicate that such interventions have long-term effects even when applied transiently in early adulthood, forming a "physiological memory." Similar memory has been extensively documented in human epidemiology, where the...

Aging is typically framed as a one-way, irreversible accumulation of molecular damage in cells and tissues, leading to progressive functional decline. Yet mammalian reproduction, and particularly female reproduction, reveals a striking exception to this rule. Despite residing within an aging organism and within a fast-aging ovarian tissue environment, oocytes give rise to embryos that begin life with restored developmental potential and youthful molecular organization. By reframing ovarian...

Maintaining balance requires a complex interplay between sensory and motor processes, and this ability deteriorates with age, impairing daily life activities and contributes to increased fall risks. Importantly, while cognitive-motor interference paradigms suggest an aging-related increase in the cortical involvement in balance regulation, direct evidence remains lacking. To clarify this issue, we assessed the effect of aging on sway-based corticokinematic coherence (CKC), which is a measure of...

Endogenous bioelectric currents regulate development and regeneration, but their influence on organismal longevity and stem cell-mediated repair is not well understood. We demonstrate that a brief, clinically safe pulse of electrical current (PEC) produces lasting rejuvenation in the colonial chordate Botryllus schlosseri. In this species where all differentiated tissues are replaced weekly and progenitor populations mediate the weekly de novo generation of new organs, organismal aging is...

The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR^(mt)) protects mitochondria from proteotoxic stress. Current models induce acute and severe mitochondrial disruption and propose cytosolic detection following the release of mitochondrial damage signals into the cytosol. However, this mode of toxicity contrasts sharply with physiological stress, such as the gradual accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during aging or chronic respiratory chain defects. Here, we employ a chemogenetic...