Category Biology/Biotechnology

Team of researchers from the Gandia campus of Valencia’s Polytechnic University and the La Fe Health Investigation Institute have developed the Moosy 23 eNose

In much the same way as dogs can be trained to detect some diseases through their keen sense of smell, technology can help create electronic devices capable of performing this same task. This is precisely what Gandia campus of Valencia’s Polytechnic University and La Fe Health Investigation Institute have achieved, developing a prototype of an electronic nose that can distinguish between patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Moosy 32 eNose -can also tell whether the disease is active, with close to 90% accuracy...

Comparison of microRNA extraction using nanowires versus conventional collection (a) Scatterplot comparing normalized intensities of microRNAs extracted with the nanowire device versus conventional collection by ultracentrifugation. (b) Histogram showing the frequency of microRNA species at different fluorescent intensities collected by nanowires (red) and ultracentrifugation (blue). Both the scatterplot and histogram analyses show a notably greater abundance of extracted microRNAs using the nanowire technology. © Takao Yasui

Cells communicate with each other through a number of different mechanisms...

Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. Credit: Marvin 101/Wikipedia

Gene expression in specific cells and in specific regions can provide a more precise, neuroprotective approach than traditional treatments for neurological diseases. For multiple sclerosis, increasing cholesterol synthesis gene expression in astrocytes of the spinal cord can be a pathway to repair nerves that affect walking.

MS patients differ markedly from each other regarding which disability affects them the most. Inflammation strips the myelin coating from axons, and connections at the ends of nerves, called synapses, are lost, together disrupting signaling and eventually causing permanent disability depending on where this occurs...

Highlights •Ablation of IRF4 induces transplant acceptance by establishing T cell dysfunction •IRF4 represses PD-1, Helios, and other molecules associated with T cell dysfunction •Irf4‒/‒ T cell dysfunction is initially reversible but later becomes irreversible •Trametinib inhibits IRF4, abrogates EAE development, and prolongs allograft survival

Wenhao Chen, Ph.D., a scientist in the Immunobiology and Transplant Science Center at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, and his colleagues have identified a critical switch that controls T-cell function and dysfunction and have discovered a pathway to target it...