Category Biology/Biotechnology

The Salk team expanded upon their previous development of a drug candidate J147, which takes a different tack by targeting Alzheimer’s major risk factor—old age. In the new work, the team showed that the drug candidate worked well in a mouse model of aging not typically used in Alzheimer’s research. When these mice were treated with J147, they had better memory and cognition, healthier blood vessels in the brain and other improved physiological features.

“Initially, the impetus was to test this drug in a novel animal model that was more similar to 99% of Alzheimer’s cases,” says Prof Antonio Currais. “We did not predict we’d see this sort of anti-aging effect, but J147 made old mice look like they were young, based upon a number of physiological parameters.”

Alzheimer’s is the 3rd ...

Orosensory stimulation produced by consuming a sweetened solution and possibly the hedonic value of that sweet stimulation induces synaptic plasticity in dHC CA1 neurons in an experience-dependent manner. Collectively, these findings are consistent with our hypothesis that dHC neurons form a memory of a meal.

Neurons in the dorsal hippocampus, the part of the brain that is critical for episodic memory, are activated by consuming sweets. Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events experienced at a particular time and place.

In the study, a meal consisting of a sweetened solution, either sucrose or saccharin, significantly increased the expression of the synaptic plasticity marker called activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) in dorsal hippocampal neurons in ra...

PFF limits spread of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM – the most common primary tumor of the brain and CNS by targeting protein TROY. In addition, TGen lab research also found PPF increases effectiveness of a standard-of-care chemotherapy drug called temozolomide (TMZ), and radiation, to treat glioblastoma. “We showed that PPF decreased glioblastoma cell expression of TROY, inhibited glioma cell invasion, and made brain cancer cells more vulnerable to TMZ and radiation,” said Dr. Nhan Tran, Ass Prof and head of TGen’s Central Nervous System Tumor Research Lab.

An advantage of small-molecule PPF – previously used in clinical trials in an attempt to treat Alzheimer’s disease and dementia – is that it can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and reach the tumor...

QA_Cn incorporated in a composite resin system.

Material scientist Andreas Hermann, orthodontist Yijin Ren et al have made a 3D printing substrate which kills bacteria on contact. The first applications will be in dentistry, but other implants may follow.

‘The director of Kolff, who is head of the Orthodontics Department, asked me if I could come up with an antimicrobial dental glue’, Herrmann explains. Kids with braces have small metal blocks glued to their teeth, and these are an ideal breeding ground for the microbes that cause tooth decay. ‘So when I saw all sorts of 3D printed objects for use in dentistry in her office, I said: why not incorporate the antimicrobials in 3D prints?’ The results were published after 2.5 years of work.

In dentistry, it is standard practice to work with ma...