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Evolutionarily conserved neural responses to affective touch in monkeys transcend consciousness and change with age
Affective touch-a slow, gentle, and pleasant form of touch-activates a different neural network than which is activated during discriminative touch in humans. Affective touch perception is enabled by specialized low-threshold mechanoreceptors in the skin with unmyelinated fibers called C tactile (CT) afferents. These CT afferents are conserved across mammalian species, including macaque monkeys. However, it is unknown whether the neural representation of affective touch is the same across...
Changes in well-being among socially isolated older people during the COVID-19 pandemic: An outcome-wide analysis
Older adults experienced major changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions, and it might be expected that those who were already socially isolated before the pandemic were particularly vulnerable. We apply an outcome-wide longitudinal design on 4,636 participants (mean age 66.8 y) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, observed in 2018/19 and early (June/July 2020) and later (November/December 2020) in the pandemic. Social isolation is defined using an index including...
Exacerbated atherosclerosis in progeria is prevented by progerin elimination in vascular smooth muscle cells but not endothelial cells
Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare disease caused by the expression of progerin, a mutant protein that accelerates aging and precipitates death. Given that atherosclerosis complications are the main cause of death in progeria, here, we investigated whether progerin-induced atherosclerosis is prevented in HGPSrev-Cdh5-CreERT2 and HGPSrev-SM22α-Cre mice with progerin suppression in endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), respectively....
Multimodal cell atlas of the ageing human skeletal muscle
Muscle atrophy and functional decline (sarcopenia) are common manifestations of frailty and are critical contributors to morbidity and mortality in older people¹. Deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying sarcopenia has major implications for understanding human ageing². Yet, progress has been slow, partly due to the difficulties of characterizing skeletal muscle niche heterogeneity (whereby myofibres are the most abundant) and obtaining well-characterized human samples^(3,4). Here we...
Targeting dysregulated phago-/auto-lysosomes in Sertoli cells to ameliorate late-onset hypogonadism
Age-related changes in testicular function can impact health and well-being. The mechanisms underlying age-related testicular dysfunction, such as late-onset hypogonadism (LOH), remain incompletely understood. Using single-cell RNA sequencing on human testes with LOH, we delineated Sertoli cells (SCs) as pivotal metabolic coordinators within the testicular microenvironment. In particular, lysosomal acidity probing revealed compromised degradative capacity in aged SCs, hindering autophagy and...
Intracellular magnesium optimizes transmission efficiency and plasticity of hippocampal synapses by reconfiguring their connectivity
Synapses at dendritic branches exhibit specific properties for information processing. However, how the synapses are orchestrated to dynamically modify their properties, thus optimizing information processing, remains elusive. Here, we observed at hippocampal dendritic branches diverse configurations of synaptic connectivity, two extremes of which are characterized by low transmission efficiency, high plasticity and coding capacity, or inversely. The former favors information encoding, pertinent...
An approach to identify gene-environment interactions and reveal new biological insight in complex traits
There is a long-standing debate about the magnitude of the contribution of gene-environment interactions to phenotypic variations of complex traits owing to the low statistical power and few reported interactions to date. To address this issue, the Gene-Lifestyle Interactions Working Group within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genetic Epidemiology Consortium has been spearheading efforts to investigate G × E in large and diverse samples through meta-analysis. Here, we present a...
Daily briefing: Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst mass bleaching event on record
Your perception of time is skewed by what you see
Dozens of genes are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder
Will AI accelerate or delay the race to net-zero emissions?
How volcanoes shaped our planet — and why we need to be ready for the next big eruption
How to freeze a memory: putting worms on ice stops them forgetting
Multimodal cell atlas of the ageing human skeletal muscle
How ground glass might save crops from drought on a Caribbean island
Author Correction: Targeting SWI/SNF ATPases in enhancer-addicted prostate cancer
Author Correction: Interim analyses of a first-in-human phase 1/2 mRNA trial for propionic acidaemia
Star Formation Shut Down by Multiphase Gas Outflow in a Galaxy at a Redshift of 2.45
Targeting dysregulated phago-/auto-lysosomes in Sertoli cells to ameliorate late-onset hypogonadism
Forced to eat bat feces, chimps could spread deadly viruses to humans
Tobacco farming is driving apes to seek unusual food source, brimming with pathogens