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Pre-Inca elites wore headdresses made of feathers from Amazonian macaws

Insects must perform tricky internal calculations to travel in a straight line

Newly mapped brain circuitry in mice links tooth grinding to pleasure pathways

Neurodegenerative diseases are a set of devastating medical conditions in which neuronal loss associated with the aggregation of toxic proteins leads to progressive cognitive impairment. These diseases are usually modeled in animals by mimicking late disease stages through genetic modifications that aggressively accumulate proteins that damage the brain. However, these diseases typically unfold over decades, and disease-associated genes are known to have important, but understudied, biological...

Neurodegenerative diseases are a set of devastating medical conditions in which neuronal loss associated with the aggregation of toxic proteins leads to progressive cognitive impairment. These diseases are usually modeled in animals by mimicking late disease stages through genetic modifications that aggressively accumulate proteins that damage the brain. However, these diseases typically unfold over decades, and disease-associated genes are known to have important, but understudied, biological...

Identifying biomarkers that precisely track the neurodegenerative component of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is essential for effective clinical management. Here we show that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the synaptic proteins NPTX1 and NPTXR are robust indicators of disease severity and future clinical progression. In two independent, multi-ethnic cohorts spanning the AD continuum (n = 635), lower CSF NPTX levels correlate strongly with cognitive impairment and cortical thinning in...

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Senescent mesenchymal stem cells residing in an inflammatory, dysbiotic, and hypoxic microenvironment pose a barrier to periodontal regeneration. Here we introduce a hydrocaffeic acid (HCA)-mediated silk fibroin hydrogel incorporating Mn/HCA-modified calcium peroxide (Mn-hCaO₂) and HCA-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (hZIF8) to rejuvenate this environment. The strategy imbues the hydrogel with enhanced adhesion and adaptability in periodontal pockets. The Mn-HCA complex acts...

Cellular interactions between thymocytes and other immune and stromal thymic cells play a key role in T cell maturation and homeostasis. Previous efforts delineating the cellular interactomes that support T cell development have mostly relied on imaging techniques, genetic deletion of essential molecular factors and bone marrow chimeras. Here, using synthetic NOTCH receptors we took a direct and unbiased genetic approach to fluorescently label cells in physical contact with CD4^(+) and...

Rising life expectancy and an aging population highlight the importance of cancer control. DNA methylation (DNAm)-based biological age (BA) may provide insights into aging, carcinogenesis, and cancer prevention and care. We estimated five BA metrics among 1916 participants aged 50-75 years at baseline in the German ESTHER cohort, with repeat BA measurements available for 894 participants after 8 years. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess associations between prior cancer and...

We reconceptualize p21 as the master regulator of a "resilience network" that empowers cancer cells to defy therapy. Beyond cell cycle arrest, p21 orchestrates a multi-faceted defense, suppressing ferroptosis and cuproptosis by governing redox and metal ion homeostasis. This perspective demands a therapeutic paradigm shift: targeting the p21 network is essential to dismantle this evolved survival machinery and force durable tumor regression in resistant cancers.

Large-scale randomized trials have found that multivitamin-multimineral (MVM) supplements and cocoa flavanols may benefit several age-related chronic conditions among older adults, but it remains unclear whether these two supplements directly slow the biological aging process. This prespecified ancillary study evaluated the 2-year effect of a daily MVM (Centrum Silver) and cocoa extract (500 mg cocoa flavanols per day, including 80 mg (-)-epicatechin) on five DNA methylation measures of...

Aging is associated with reduced cerebrovascular reactivity and impaired neurovascular coupling, limiting the brain's ability to maintain adequate oxygen delivery during physiological stressors such as hypoxia. These vascular changes may heighten middle-aged adults' vulnerability to hypoxia-induced neural and cognitive impairments, yet dose-response data integrating cerebral oxygenation and cognition remain scarce. In a single-blind, randomized crossover trial, 16 participants completed four...

Aging is a major contributor to β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes, with cellular senescence increasingly recognized as an important underlying mechanism. Here, we established a doxorubicin (DOX)-induced senescence model using MIN6 mouse insulinoma β-cell line to elucidate the mechanisms by which senescence remodels organelle homeostasis and insulin secretion. Senescence was validated by senescence-associated β-galactosidase positivity, p16^(INK4a)/p21/p53 upregulation, and cell cycle arrest....

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