Category Biology/Biotechnology

This could potentially contribute to Rx for muscle degeneration caused by old age and diseases such as muscular dystrophy. A particular type of protein called integrin is present on the stem cell surface and used by stem cells to interact with, or “sense” their surroundings. How stem cells sense their surroundings, also known as the stem cell “niche,” affects how they live and last for regeneration. The presence of the protein β1-integrin was shown to help promote the transformation of those undifferentiated stem cells into muscle after the tissue has degraded, and improve regenerated muscle fiber growth as much as 50%.

The experiment shows that β1-integrin – one of 28 types of integrin – mai...

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Why some people handle stress better than others is a question that has fascinated scientists for decades. Now a Yale-led team reports that flexible brain activity in a particular area of the brain may predict resilience. Conversely, its absence can help pinpoint those most at risk for binge drinking, emotional eating, and angry outbursts, according to a study published the week of July 18 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

30 research participants were given fMRI scans while exposed to either highly threatening, violent, and stressful images and to neutral, non-stressful images for 6 minutes each. The scientists found 3 distinct patterns of response to stress...

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A new study has revealed a relationship between chronic periodontitis and lacunar infarct, two common diseases in the elderly. Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the gums, whereas lacunar infarct is a type of cerebral small vessel disease that can lead to a stroke.

Additional research is needed to understand this link. It is hypothesized that periodontitis leads to systemic inflammation and, as a result, the health of the blood vessels could be affected. On the other hand, chronic periodontitis and lacunar infarct may share common vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

“We observed that people diagnosed with periodontal d...

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For the 1st time, researchers led by Tufts Uni engineers have integrated nano-scale sensors, electronics and microfluidics into threads – ranging from simple cotton to sophisticated synthetics – that can be sutured through multiple layers of tissue to gather diagnostic data wirelessly in real time. The research suggests that the thread-based diagnostic platform could be an effective substrate for a new generation of implantable diagnostic devices and smart wearable systems.

They used a variety of conductive threads that were dipped in phys...

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