Our bodies hold roughly 14 trillion cells, each containing a nucleus with DNA measuring two meters long by 20 atoms wide. To fit inside each nucleus, DNA coils around specialized proteins. These spools of wrapped DNA inhibit gene regulatory proteins from binding to protein-coding stretches along the genome, which help keep genes in the “off” […]
Discovery of novel mechanisms that cause migraines
Researchers at CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur and Inserm have demonstrated a new mechanism related to the onset of migraine. They found how a mutation that causes dysfunction in a protein which inhibits neuronal electrical activity induces migraines. These results, published in Neuron on December 17, 2018, open a new path for the development of anti-migraine […]
Diabetes: The discovery of insulin
The innovative scientists who discovered insulin won a Nobel prize, but the discovery also caused controversy. The discovery of insulin occurred in 1921 following the ideas of a Canadian orthopedic surgeon named Frederick G. Banting, the chemistry skills of his assistant Charles Best, and John MacLeod of the University of Toronto in Canada. Several conflicting […]
Researchers report startling inflammasome discovery in Alzheimer’s study
In recent years, researchers have largely converged on the role of inflammation in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Studies over the past decade have revealed unexpected interactions between the brain and the immune system, and metabolic conditions such as obesity and diabetes may activate inflammatory responses that contribute to the development and […]
Discovery presents treatment hope for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases
There is new hope for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases following a ground-breaking discovery made by an Australian-Chinese research collaboration. Researchers from the University of South Australia and the Third Military Medical University in China have discovered a signal pathway within cells, and also invented a potential drug that could stop degeneration […]
New protocol produces large numbers of mature human podocytes, enabling kidney disease modeling, drug discovery
Human stem cells are of great interest in the fields of regenerative medicine and medical research because they reproduce indefinitely and can differentiate into every other cell type found in the body. While stem cells naturally occur in very few places in the adult body, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) can be produced directly […]
Cell ‘chatter’ discovery could open clinical trial opportunity for fatal childhood brain tumour
Brain tumours are hard to treat. But even this is a harrowing understatement for some forms of the disease. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is one such example. These rare brain tumours almost exclusively affect children, and they’re invariably fatal. “Almost all children with DIPG sadly die within a couple of years of diagnosis,” says […]
Complexity of NMDA receptor drug discovery target revealed
Know your target. Especially if your target is coming into focus for treating diseases such as schizophrenia and treatment-resistant depression. NMDA receptors, critical for learning and memory, are sensors in the brain. Studying them in molecular detail is challenging, because they usually come in four parts, and the parts aren’t all the same. Researchers at […]