Category Biology/Biotechnology

Highlights
• Loss of IRF4 in BAT causes decreased exercise capacity and a selective myopathy
• IRF4 represses myogenic genes in BAT, including the myokine myostatin
• Neutralizing serum myostatin rescues the ability of BATI4KO mice to exercise normally
•Warming reduces IRF4 in BAT, causing myopathy that is reversed by removal of BAT

Researchers open the door to potential new therapies for certain metabolic and muscular diseases. Now, endocrinologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown for the first time that brown adipose tissue (BAT), or brown fat, can exert control over skeletal muscle function. Alterations to the brown adipose tissue in mice resulted in a significant and consistent reduction in exercise performance...

This figure shows cross sectional MRI images are displayed with pixels colour-coded for fat content. In this individual, the high liver fat at baseline (30.4 percent) decreased to 1.3 percent after weight loss. The lower panels, at the level of the pancreas (outlined in white), show the decrease in pancreas fat (8.9 to 7.5 percent) associated with the restoration of first phase and maximal insulin secretion.
Credit: Taylor et al.

A clinical trial recently showed that nearly half of individuals with type 2 diabetes achieved remission to a non-diabetic state after a weight-loss intervention delivered within 6 years of diagnosis...

The reddish-blue mouse neurons in this image have reentered the cell cycle after exposure to amyloid beta oligomers, and thus are primed for death.
Credit: Image by Erin Kodis and George Bloom

About 50% of people who reach the age of 85 will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Most will die within about 5 years of exhibiting the hallmark symptoms of the disease – severe memory loss and a precipitous decline in cognitive function. But the molecular processes that lead to the disease will have begun years earlier.

Currently, there are no known ways to prevent the disease or to stop its progression once it has begun. But research at the University of Virginia offers new understanding of how the disease develops at the molecular level, long before extensive neuronal damage occurs and symptoms show up.

This is the vitamin pill-sized capsule, currently being commercialized by Atmo Biosciences.
Credit: RMIT University

New trials reveal swallowable sensor 3,000 times more accurate than current technology. New trials of a breakthrough swallowable sensor have revealed the device is 3,000 times more accurate than current technology used to diagnose many gut disorders. The findings show the revolutionary gas-sensing capsule developed by researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, could surpass breath testing as the benchmark for diagnosing gut disorders, paving the way to solving previously undiagnosed conditions.

The vitamin pill-sized capsule, currently being commercialised by Atmo Biosciences, provides real time detection and measurement of hydrogen, carbon dioxides and oxygen in ...