Category Biology/Biotechnology

Image1: Serotonin transporter expression (marked in brown) in human colon. Image2: TLR2 mRNA and protein expression in 5-HT treated cells.

Scientists at the University of Exeter Medical School and University of Zaragoza in Spain studied a protein TLR2, a critical detector of the microbiota found in the intestine. They found that it regulates levels of serotonin – a neurotransmitter of the brain and also found in the gut, where it regulates our bowel routines. The research in cell cultures and verified in mice, provides strong evidence that microbiota can interfere with human physiology by modulating the serotonin transporter activity...

360 degree imaging of human brain organoids using lightsheet microscope, showing smooth appearance of normal organoid (left) and surface folding in PTEN mutant organoid (right) — as well as the mutant organoid’s large size. Credit: Yun Li and Julien Muffat

Implications also for understanding Zika virus-caused microencephaly. Whitehead Institute provide insight into a specific gene pathway that appears to regulate the growth, structure, and organization of the human cortex. They also demonstrate that 3D human cerebral organoids – miniature, lab-grown versions of specific brain structures – can be effective in modeling the molecular, cellular, and anatomical processes of human brain development. And they suggest a new path for identifying the cells affected by Zika virus.

“We found that incr...

Interactive 3-D models of human joints, showing how common medical complaints have arisen and how we are likely to evolve in the future, have been created at Oxford University.

Interactive 3D models of human joints, showing how common medical complaints have arisen and how we are likely to evolve in the future, have been created at Oxford University. The Oxford researchers made the 3D computer models by compiling 128 slice CT scans of bones from humans, early hominids, primates and dinosaurs. In all, they scanned 224 bone specimens, spanning 350 million years from the Devonian period to the modern day.
By using 3-D engineering and mathematical methods the group has produced 3-D ‘morphs’ to plot changes in the shapes of species throughout the human lineage...

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia

A new study led by scientists from TSRI, Florida sheds light on a signaling circuit in cells that drives therapy resistance in prostate cancer. Targeting the components of this circuit suppresses advanced prostate cancer development. Prostate cancer—which, according to the American Cancer Society, affects 1 in 6 American men—is the second-leading cause of death after lung cancer in American men.

Currently, the most effective treatment of advanced prostate cancer is to deprive the cancer of what feeds it—androgen hormones such as testosterone...