#New technology enables ultra-fast steering and shaping of light beams A team of engineers has developed a new acousto-optic device that can shape
#Diabetes debate: Triglycerides form in liver despite insulin resistance In type 2 diabetics insulin fails to suppress blood sugar production by the liver
while paradoxically allowing the production of hepatic triglycerides. This combination results in multiple health risks including high blood sugar and fatty liver disease.
For years to gain insight into this phenomenon researchers focused on the role of altered insulin action in the liver in the production of triglycerides.
but instead reduces fatty liver disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. These results provide new insights into the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic liver disease
and provides new approaches to treat fatty liver disease which is now the most common liver disease in the world said Shulman.
Shulman and his team plan to apply similar methodology to translate their findings to insulin-resistant patients with type 2 diabetes hyperlipidemia and fatty liver disease e
#'Crispr'science: Newer genome editing tool shows promise in engineering human stem cells In a recent online report on the work in Molecular Therapy the Johns Hopkins team says the findings could streamline
and speed efforts to modify and tailor human-induced pluripotent stem cells (ipscs) for use as treatments
or in the development of model systems to study diseases and test drugs. Stem cell technology is quickly advancing
and studying disease. The researchers compared the ability of both genome editing systems to either cut out pieces of known genes in ipscs
As model genes the researchers used JAK2 a gene that when mutated causes a bone marrow disorder known as polycythemia vera;
SERPINA1 a gene that when mutated causes alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency an inherited disorder that may cause lung and liver disease;
However when using these genome editing tools for replacing portions of the genes such as the disease-causing mutations in JAK2
and potential cures for human diseases says Cheng g
#Computing: Common'data structure'revamped to work with multicore chips Today hardware manufacturers are making computer chips faster by giving them more cores or processing units.
a research team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center (BIDMC) has uncovered previously unknown steps in the development of insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.
therapies for type 2 diabetes.""We wanted to understand what was initially happening to cause the body to become unresponsive
"explains senior author Evan Rosen, MD, Phd, of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical school."
or too many nutrients from the mother can lead to a person becoming obese or diabetic in adulthood,
Most importantly, these data tell us that we have an awful lot still to learn about the basic mechanisms by which diabetes is triggered
#Byproducts from bacteria awaken dormant T-cells HIV viruses Dental and medical researchers from Case Western Reserve University found another reason to treat periodontal disease as soon as possible.
They discovered that byproducts of bacteria in gum disease, called metabolic small chain fatty acid (SCFA),
Their findings help explain why people with the HIV-infections and periodontal disease have higher levels of the virus in their saliva than HIV patients with healthy gums.
The researchers speculate that byproducts from other bacteria infections in other diseases might change gene expression using similar mechanisms.
For dental patients with HIV their findings further support how important it is to treat bacterial infections in gum disease early.
This interaction by SCFA and T-cells surprised co-investigators Fengchun Ye, assistant professor of biological sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of dental medicine,
In the interaction between gum disease and HIV, five SCFA byproducts from two prevalent oral bacteria--Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn)--are involved in activating resting immune T-cells carrying latent (inactive
and respond to inflammation to ward off an infection in the body.""As long as someone is healthy,
Last year, Ye and Karn discovered that one SCFA--butyric acid--induced a chain of events that reactivate the virus associated with Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common malignancy in HIV patients.
"The impact on waking up T-cells and activating HIV replication was a"double whammy"find that contributes to understanding the little-known microbiome in HIV disease,
That prompted the researchers to investigate the mechanism that drives the replication of the virus in gum disease.
As long as the patient is free of gum disease, the virus sleeps and remains in check, Karn said d
#Blood test for prostate cancer investigated Mitchell believes the technique will be transformative in providing improved cancer diagnostics that can both predict treatment outcomes and monitor patient responses to therapy.
In a large retrospective study of blood samples the researchers showed that the method called a liquid biopsy could accurately distinguish prostate cancer from normal controls without prior knowledge of the genetic signature of the tumors and with over three times the sensitivity of current prostate specific-antigen
Based on the reported data and work in progress I believe the'liquid biopsy'will revolutionize cancer diagnostics
but also following patient responses to therapy said Mitchell the paper's corresponding author and professor of Pathology Microbiology and Immunology.
The study collected serum from more than 200 patients with prostate cancer and more than 200 controls.
The researchers reported that the technique distinguished prostate cancer from normal controls with 84-percent accuracy and cancer from benign hyperplasia and prostatitis with an accuracy of 91 percent.
Because the method quantifies the inherent chromosomal instability of cancer and can be followed as a function of time without having to do an invasive tissue biopsy it is called a liquid biopsy.
It's been known for many years that dying cells including tumor cells shed DNA into the bloodstream.
and quantify cancer-specific DNA from normal controls by the identification and chromosomal location of billions of specific DNA fragments present in blood as cell-free DNA.
The prostate cancer study identified 20 hotspots of greatest chromosomal instability as additions or deletions in less than 0. 5 percent of the total DNA present in human chromosomes.
Since the entire genome was surveyed the researchers were able to identify a non-coding region of the genome as a hotspot which may be generating previously unrecognized chromosomal control elements in prostate cancer.
and cell control processes that are highly relevant to cancer. Since cell-free DNA has a relatively short half-life in the circulation sequencing of cell-free DNA soon after therapy may be used to detect minimal residual disease in solid tumors Mitchell said.
The researchers reported similar results in a study of breast cancer at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
Mitchell further predicted that liquid biopsies will quantify immediate tumor responses to therapy y
#New technology focuses diffuse light inside living tissue In the Jan 5 issue of Nature Communications Wang the Gene K. Beare Professor of Biomedical engineering at Washington University in St louis reveals for the first time a new
and in humans to treat viral infections that antibiotics are powerless to cure. My kids are now 15 and 13
The percentage of infections caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus that have proven resistant to treatment has risen steadily from just over 2 percent in 1975 and 29 percent in 1991 to more than 55 percent today--resulting in more than 11000 deaths in the U s. each year a higher death
The drugs called propargyl-linked antifolates show promise as a treatment for MRSA infections but have yet to be tested in humans.
The researchers are now using their algorithm to predict resistance mutations to other drugs designed to combat pathogens like E coli and Enterococcus.
We might even be able to coax a pathogen into developing mutations that enable it to evade one drug
Their computational approach could be especially useful for forecasting drug resistance mutations in other diseases such as cancer HIV
and influenza where raising resistant cells or strains in the lab is more difficult to do than with bacteria the researchers say.
Skin adipocytes help protect against infections Richard Gallo MD Phd professor and chief of dermatology at UC San diego School of medicine and colleagues have uncovered a previously unknown role for dermal fat cells known as adipocytes:
They produce antimicrobial peptides that help fend off invading bacteria and other pathogens. It was thought that once the skin barrier was broken it was entirely the responsibility of circulating (white blood cells like neutrophils
and macrophages to protect us from getting sepsis said Gallo the study's principal investigator. But it takes time to recruit these cells (to the wound site.
The human body's defense against microbial infection is tiered complex multi and involves numerous cell types culminating in the arrival of neutrophils
and monocytes--specialized cells that literally devour targeted pathogens. But before these circulating white blood cells arrive at the scene the body requires a more immediate response to counter the ability of many microbes to rapidly increase in number.
and leukocytes residing in the area of infection. Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium and major cause of skin and soft tissue infections in humans.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant forms of S. aureus is a significant problem worldwide in clinical medicine.
if the subcutaneous fat played a role in preventing skin infections. Ling Zhang Phd the first author of the paper exposed mice to S. aureus and within hours detected a major increase in both the number and size of fat cells at the site of infection.
More importantly these fat cells produced high levels of an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) called cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide or CAMP.
AMPS are used molecules by the innate immune response to directly kill invasive bacteria viruses fungi and other pathogens.
AMPS are our natural first line defense against infection. They are evolutionarily ancient and used by all living organisms to protect themselves said Gallo.
Too little CAMP and people experience frequent infections. The best example is atopic eczema (a type of recurring itchy skin disorder.
These patients can experience frequent Staph and viral infections. But too much CAMP is also bad.
Evidence suggests excess CAMP can drive autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases like lupus psoriasis and rosacea.
The scientists confirmed their findings by analyzing S. aureus infections in mice unable to either effectively produce adipocytes or
whose fat cells did not express sufficient antimicrobial peptides in general and CAMP in particular. In all cases they found the mice suffered more frequent and severe infections.
Further tests confirmed that human adipocytes also produce cathelicidin suggesting the immune response is similar in both rodents and humans.
or insulin resistance resulting in greater susceptibility to infection but too much cathelicidin may provoke an unhealthy inflammatory response.
For example current drugs designed for use in diabetics might be beneficial to other people who need to boost this aspect of immunity.
Conversely these findings may help researchers understand disease associations with obesity and develop new strategies to optimize care e
However, for patients who experience trauma to a joint that was otherwise healthy before the injury,
#Novel compound switches off epilepsy development In temporal lobe epilepsy seizures arise in the hippocampus and other structures of the limbic system located in the temporal lobe when a cascade of molecular and cellular events results in aberrant brain wiring.
The period between a brain injury and the onset of seizures called epileptogenesis is a silent period
because this brain abnormality cannot be detected by current neurological exams or electroencephalography (EEG). Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) or limbic epilepsy is a common adult epileptic disorder characterized by spontaneous recurrent seizures that may also spread to other brain regions triggering secondary severe generalized seizures.
Aside from neurosurgery which benefits only a small population of TLE patients there are no other effective treatments or preventive strategies.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. It's estimated that 66 million people in the world have epilepsy.
In the US 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some time during their lifetime.
The incidence of epilepsy is higher in young children and older adults. Although the cause of epilepsy is unknown there are some types of epilepsy associated with previous brain injury.
Recurrent seizures might cause brain damage. According to the Epilepsy Foundation temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common form of partial or localization related epilepsy.
It accounts for approximately 60%of all patients with epilepsy. The medial form accounts for almost 80%of all temporal lobe seizures.
While medial temporal lobe epilepsy is a very common form of epilepsy it is also frequently resistant to medications.
The overall prognosis for patients with drug-resistant medial temporal lobe epilepsy includes a higher risk for memory and mood difficulties.
This in turn leads to impairments in quality of life and an increased risk for death as observed in patients who have frequent seizures failing to respond to treatment.
These observations will contribute to our ability to predict epileptic events define key modulators of brain circuits especially after a brain injury
and provide potential biomarkers and therapeutic approaches for epileptogenesis says Dr. Musto o
#Researchers use sound to slow down speed up and block light Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated experimentally for the first time the phenomenon of Brillouin Scattering Induced Transparency (BSIT)
which can be used to slow down speed up and block light in an optical waveguide. The BSIT phenomenon permits light to travel in the forward direction while light traveling in the backward direction is absorbed strongly.
#'Healthy'fat tissue could be key to reversing type 2 diabetes Researchers from Melbourne's Walter
and Eliza Hall Institute with colleagues from the RIKEN Institute Japan found they could'reverse'type 2 diabetes in laboratory models by dampening the inflammatory response in fat tissue.
More than 850000 Australians are estimated to have type 2 diabetes which is the most common type of diabetes
and its prevalence is rising. The disease is linked strongly with'lifestyle'factors such as being overweight
or having high blood pressure. Long-term complications of type 2 diabetes include kidney eye and heart disease and there is no cure.
People with type 2 diabetes have reduced sensitivity to insulin a hormone that normally triggers uptake of glucose by cells
and their cells no longer respond to insulin appropriately. This decrease in insulin sensitivity is thought to be a result of long-term low-level inflammation of fat tissue in people who are obese.
Dr Vasanthakumar said Tregs acted as the guardians of the immune system preventing the immune response from getting out of hand-hand
When Treg numbers are reduced inflammatory diseases such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis can occur he said. Recent studies have shown that fat tissue has its own unique type of Tregs
and high blood glucose levels a classic hallmark of type 2 diabetes. The research team discovered a key hormone called IL-33 (interleukin-33) was able to selectively boost Treg populations in fat tissue effectively halting the development of type 2 diabetes
or even reversing the disease in preclinical models. Treating fat tissues with IL-33 restored normal Treg cell levels
which reduced inflammation and decreased blood glucose levels Dr Vasanthakumar said. Treatments that mimic IL-33 could have the potential to reduce obesity-related inflammation and type 2 diabetes.
Dr Kallies said the research underscored the importance of'healthy'fat tissue in maintaining a healthy body.
and our research highlights the important role it plays in preventing disease e
#From bacterium to biofactory Research team including Dr. Stefan Schiller, his assistants Dr. Matthias Huber and Dr. Andreas Schreiber,
or the allergy-inducing ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) will end up on the"Union List","as the cost of eliminating them would be too high."
#Key discovery to preventing blindness stroke devastation Studying the eye and the brain might hold the key to creating therapeutic solutions for blindness stroke
and other seemingly unrelated conditions associated with the central nervous system notes Dr. Bazan. The eye is a window to the brain.
or die when threatened with disease onset. The gene mechanism that we discovered is the interplay of two genes turned on by the messenger Neuroprotectin D1.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a devastating disease that targets the retina of the elderly
The causal mechanisms of this disease remain elusive. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE is a single layer of cells that accomplishes multiple functions such as providing survival molecules that prevent photoreceptors from dying.
They showed that NDP1 bioactivity governs key gene interactions decisive in cell survival when threatened by disease or injury.
Tracheal damage can be caused by tumor endotracheal intubation blunt trauma and other injuries. Narrowing and weakness of the trachea can occur
which will be available commercially later this year so the Feinstein Institute can start investigating how to engineer other kinds of tissue like bone or 3d print custom-made shields for cancer and radiation treatment.
#Modular disability aids for world's poorest Inspiration hit Cara O'sullivan 21 from Battle East Sussex after a year's placement with the Medical Engineering Resource Unit (MERU
The changes that MERU products can make to the lives of children with disabilities inspired
which offers support to young people with disabilities and their families living in poverty in Peru and Tanzania.
#Probiotic helps treat diabetes in rats could lead to human remedy In the study published Jan 27 in the journal Diabetes the researchers engineered a strain of lactobacillus a human probiotic common in the gut to secrete a Glucagen-like peptide
(GPL-1). They then administered it orally to diabetic rats for 90 days and found the rats receiving the engineered probiotic had up to 30 percent lower high blood glucose a hallmark of diabetes.
The study was a proof of principle and future work will test higher doses to see
The researchers found that upper intestinal epithelial cells in diabetic rats were converted into cells that acted very much like pancreatic beta cells
Also though it replaces the insulin capacity in diabetic rats the researchers found no change in blood glucose levels
Human patients would likely take a pill each morning to help control their diabetes March said d
minimally invasive approach appears safe for treating life-threatening aneurysms that occur in the deepest part of the aorta,
An aneurysm occurs when the wall of the vessel weakens, and if an aneurysm in the aorta bursts, it can lead to death in a matter of minutes."
"Currently, thoracic aortic aneurysms that reach into the aortic arch are very difficult to treat with minimally invasive endovascular methods
While our study only addressed aneurysms, the results have implications for cardiothoracic surgeons who perform procedures to repair tears in the ascending aorta (type A dissection),
whether this treatment will be safe and effective in aneurysms that extend a little closer to the heart within the aorta,
#New breast cancer risk prediction model more accurate than current model A new breast cancer risk prediction model combining histologic features of biopsied breast tissue from women with benign breast disease
and are referred to as benign breast disease (BBD).""Annually, more than a million American women have a biopsy with a benign finding
Developed by the National Cancer Institute and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, BCRAT is currently the most commonly used model for predicting breast cancer risk in women with BBD.
whereas predictions derived from the new model were calibrated appropriately to observed cancers (P. 247).""Since women with benign breast disease are at higher risk for breast cancer,
optimal early detection is extremely important, "Dr. Degnim says.""Ideally, women at increased risk for breast cancer should be identified
and neuroscientists to use to address questions ranging from fundamental mechanisms in cell biology to the underlying causes of mental illness to the discovery of novel therapeutics.
Ultimately it will help researchers achieve breakthroughs in a wide variety of areas in the life sciences such as neuroscience diabetes and cancer.
#Treating Cerebral Malaria: New Molecular Target Identified A drug already approved for treating other diseases may be useful as a treatment for cerebral malaria, according to researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health.
They discovered a novel link between food intake during the early stages of infection and the outcome of the disease, identifying two molecular pathways that could serve as new targets for treatment."
"We have known for a long time that nutrition can affect the course of infectious disease, but we were surprised at how rapidly a mild reduction in food intake could improve outcome in a mouse malaria model,
"said senior author James Mitchell, associate professor of genetics and complex diseases.""However, the real importance of this work is the identification of unexpected molecular pathways underlying cerebral malaria that we can now target with existing drugs."
"The study appears online January 30, 2015 in Nature Communications. Cerebral malaria--a severe form of the disease--is the most serious consequence of infection by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum,
resulting in seizures, coma, and death. Currently there is a lack of safe treatment options for cerebral malaria, particularly for use in children,
who represent the majority of cases. Even patients who receive early treatment with standard antimalarial chemotherapeutic agents run a high risk of dying,
despite clearance of the parasite. Moreover, around 25%of survivors develop neurological complications and cognitive impairment.
Lead authors Pedro Mejia and J. Humberto Treviño-Villarreal both researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health, found that leptin--a hormone secreted from fat tissue with roles in suppressing appetite,
but also in activating adaptive immune and inflammatory responses--is increased upon infection in a mouse model of cerebral malaria,
and turns out to be a major bad actor in promoting neurological symptoms and death. Remarkably, Mejia, Treviño-Villarreal and colleagues showed that reducing leptin using a variety of means,
or nutritionally by reducing food intake during the first two days of infection, protected against cerebral malaria.
In their animal model, treating mice with the mtor inhibitor rapamycin protected them against the neurological complications of cerebral malaria.
trials in humans for cerebral malaria treatment with this drug may be possible, according to the researchers e
such as to treat fractures and other pathologies that cause this kind of deviations in the bones of adult people.
#How cancer turns good cells to the dark side A new computational study by researchers at the Rice-based Center for Theoretical Biological Physics shows how cancer cells take advantage of the system by
and Jos Onuchic the researchers decode how cancer uses a cell-cell interaction mechanism known as notch signaling to promote metastasis. This mechanism plays a crucial role in embryonic development
and wound healing and is activated when a delta or jagged ligand of one cell interacts with the notch receptor on an adjacent one.
which the researchers mapped the flow of information through genetic circuits involved in cancer metastasis. At the heart of our new understanding is that the primary agents of metastasis are clusters of hybrid epithelial (nonmobile)
These and not the fully mesenchymal cells are the'bad actors'of cancer progression that pose the highest risk.
The multifaceted mechanism by which notch-delta-jagged signaling promotes cancer progression has been a mystery until now Ben-Jacob said
but recent experimental studies have revealed the jagged ligand plays a critical role in tumor progression.
Cancer takes advantage of jagged proteins'influence to form what are essentially migrating units of hybrid cancer stem cells Ben-Jacob said.
Notch-jagged signaling also helps cells develop resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and facilitates metastasis formation by promoting communications between cancer
and stromal (connective tissue) cells at the new locations he said. Recent findings showed stromal cells in the tumor environment secrete jagged ligands.
The Rice researchers found cancer cells hijack nearby stromal cells and prompt them to boost their production of the ligand reinforcing the cancer's chances of survival.
The researchers suggested cells'internal expression of jagged may also increase the production and maintenance of therapy-resistant cancer stem cells.
Because they have a high likelihood to acquire stem-like properties when arriving at distant organs they utilize this cellular plasticity to differentiate
#New breast exam nearly quadruples detection of invasive breast cancers in women with dense breast tissue Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) is a supplemental imaging technology designed to find tumors that would otherwise be obscured by surrounding dense breast
Tumors and dense breast tissue can both appear white on a mammogram making tumors indistinguishable from background tissue in women with dense breasts.
MBI uses small semiconductor-based gamma cameras to image the breast following injection of a radiotracer that tumors absorb avidly.
Unlike conventional breast imaging techniques such as mammography and ultrasound MBI exploits the different behavior of tumors relative to background tissue producing a functional image of the breast that can detect tumors
The finding that MBI substantially increases detection rates of invasive cancers in dense breasts without an unacceptably high increase in false positive findings has important implications for breast cancer screening decisions particularly as 20 states now require mammography facilities
and encourage discussion of supplemental screening options says Dr. Rhodes. These findings suggest that MBI has a more favorable balance of additional invasive cancers detected
Recent studies have reported supplemental cancer detection rates of 1. 9 per 1000 women screened with automated whole breast ultrasound
so our finding of an additional 8. 8 cancers per 1000 women makes MBI a very compelling option for women who elect supplemental screening says Dr. Rhodes. Michael O'connor Ph d. a Mayo Clinic scientist
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