Category Biology/Biotechnology

An engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis says a compound found in green tea may be of particular benefit to patients struggling with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. Aggregation of Full Length Immunoglobulin Light Chains from AL Amyloidosis Patients Is Remodeled by Epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2016; jbc.M116.750323 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M116.750323

Epigallocatechine-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol found in green tea leaves, may be of particular benefit to patients struggling with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. These patients are susceptible to a frequently fatal condition called light chain amyloidosis, in which parts of the body’s own antibodies become misshapen and can accumulate in various organs, including the heart and kidneys...

A schematic illustration of a microbial fuel cell using a paper electrode coated with carbon paste. Credit: Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester

The concept behind microbial fuel cells, which rely on bacteria to generate an electrical current, is more than a century old. But turning that concept into a usable tool has been a long process. Microbial fuel cells, or MFCs, are more promising today than ever, but before their adoption can become widespread, they need to be both cheaper and more efficient. Researchers at the University of Rochester have made significant progress toward those ends. In a fuel cell that relies on bacteria found in wastewater, Kara Bren, a professor of chemistry, and Peter Lamberg, a postdoctoral fellow, have developed an electrode using paper.

Until now, most el...

Loss of IL-27 signaling results in increased disease severity and lung immunopathology after SeV.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes ~60,000 hospitalizations of children aged 0 to four, and nearly 200,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths among adults 65 and older. However, there are virtually no vaccines or treatments for these infections. Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine found evidence that cytokine Interleukin 27 (IL-27), may be the key to fighting and treating these infections.

Working with a mouse-model of parainfluenza virus infection, Sendai virus, which causes similar symptoms and patterns of tissue damage to RSV, researchers found that mice fared much worse in fighting the infectio...

Maternal licorice consumption during pregnancy and pubertal, cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in children. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017

Liquorice and its natural sweetener, glycyrrhizin, can have long-term harmful effects on the development of the fetus. A new Finnish study supports food recommendations for families with children in that women should avoid consuming large amounts of liquorice during pregnancy. The limit for safe consumption is not known. In the study, youths exposed to large amounts of liquorice in the womb performed less well than others in cognitive reasoning tests by a psychologist. The difference was equivalent to approximately 7IQ points...