Category Biology/Biotechnology

Mice that mimic Alagille syndrome are born without the branches of the biliary tree (A), but show a near-normal appearing biliary system at adult age (B). To build the missing branches, liver cells switch identity and form tubes, shown in green, that connect to the trunk of the biliary tree, shown in blue (C). The images are part of a study about liver regeneration published in Nature by scientists at Cincinnati Children’s and the University of California San Francisco. Credit: Cincinnati Children’s

By studying a rare liver disease called Alagille syndrome, scientists from Cincinnati Children’s and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered the mechanism behind an unusual form of tissue regeneration that may someday reduce the need for expensive and difficult-to-obta...

A model of a double-bridged peptide (the peptide in light blue, the two bridges in yellow). The background of the figures shows many examples of skeletons (also named ‘scaffolds’ or ‘backbones’) of double-bridged peptides. Credit: C. Heinis/EPFL

Scientists have developed a new type of ‘double-bridged peptide’ that can be tailored to bind tightly to disease targets of interest. The peptides’ highly efficient binding, combined with their small size and high stability make them ideal for drug therapies...

Drs. Esteban Celis and Hussein Sultan in the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University laboratory. Credit: Phil Jones, Senior Photographer, Augusta University

New research published in Cancer Immunology Research by Drs. Esteban Celis and Hussein Sultan of the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University could serve as the stepping-stone in constructing vaccines with a greater likelihood of finding and attacking tumors in the human body. According to Celis and Sultan, the key in this vaccine strategy is increasing the amount of time a cytokine called interleukin 2 (IL2) stays in the body. IL2 is a molecule in the immune system responsible for regulating the activity of some white blood cells known as killer T cells.

“After administering peptide-based vaccines in mouse models of cancer, we ...

Calibrated Severity Scores (CSS), part of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), measure ASD symptom severity based on clinical assessment. This figure illustrates the CSS scores that were predicted for each of the participants, based on machine learning algorithms applied to EEG data. Credit: William Bosl, Ph.D.

Early diagnosis by ‘digital biomarkers’ may allow early intervention, better outcomes. Autism is challenging to diagnose, especially early in life. A new study in the journal Scientific Reports shows that inexpensive EEGs, which measure brain electrical activity, accurately predict or rule out autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in infants, even in some as young as 3 months.

“EEGs are low-cost, non-invasive and relatively easy to incorporate into well-baby checkups,” says C...