Category Biology/Biotechnology

A new biosealant therapy may help to stabilize injuries that cause cartilage to break down, paving the way for a future fix or — even better — begin working right away with new cells to enhance healing, according to a new animal-based study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their research was published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

“Our research shows that using our hyaluronic acid hydrogel system at least temporarily stops cartilage degeneration that commonly occurs after injury and causes pain in joints,” said the study’s senior author, Robert Mauck, PhD, a professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and the director of Penn Medicine’s McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory...

A team of scientists has analyzed how microbes in the gut process the plant-based, sulfur-containing sugar sulfoquinovose. Their study discovered that specialized bacteria cooperate in the utilization of the sulfosugar, producing hydrogen sulfide. This gas has disparate effects on human health: at low concentrations, it has an anti-inflammatory effect, while increased amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the intestine, in turn, are associated with diseases such as cancer.

With the consumption of a single type of vegetable such as spinach, hundreds of chemical components enter our digestive tract. There, they are further metabolized by the gut microbiome, a unique collection of hundreds of microbial species...

Mutations to Dyrk1a gene lead to brain undergrowth; an existing drug rescues the condition in newborn mice. Damage to the autism-associated gene Dyrk1a, sets off a cascade of problems in developing mouse brains, resulting in abnormal growth-factor signaling, undergrowth of neurons, smaller-than-average brain size, and, eventually, autism-like behaviors, a new study from Scripps Research, Florida, finds.

The study from neuroscientist Damon Page, PhD, describes a new mechanis...

Enzyme with central role in cancer and type 2 diabetes also activates. Researchers have discovered a direct link between a master sensor of cell stress and a protein that protects the power stations of cells. The same pathway is also tied to type 2 diabetes and cancer, which could open a new avenue for treating all three diseases.

When cells are stressed, chemical alarms go off, setting in motion a flurry of activity that protects the cell’s most important players. During the rush, a protein called Parkin hurries to protect the mitochondria, the power stations that generate energy for the cell. Now Salk researchers have discovered a direct link between a master sensor of cell stress and Parkin itself...