Category Biology/Biotechnology

Both the acquired immune system and innate immune system has a memory. And BCG vaccine against tuberculosis can stimulate this memory. After a BCG vaccination, the innate immune system responds better to a wide range of other infections. Mihai Netea and colleagues from Radboud university medical center discovered and described how that works. They think that the old vaccine could be useful for specific target groups, such as the elderly.

BCG, a vaccine against TB, was discovered in the 1920s and is one of the most used vaccines worldwide. In the Netherlands, the vaccine no longer falls within the national vaccination program...

To visualize the neural pathways, two markers (red and green) were applied to two regions of the orbitofrontal cortex. These compounds then migrated, accumulating in the thalamic neurons. Dense labeling with the two tracers is visible in the submedius thalamic nucleus (delimited by a dotted line). Credit: Images generated at the Bordeaux Imaging Centre and obtained by Fabien Alcaraz

When faced with a change to our environment, we have to make appropriate decisions, which usually involves the orbitofrontal cortex. Yet unexpectedly, scientists have discovered that a brain region located in the thalamus also plays a crucial role in using these evolved skills.

Using a labeling technique, the scientists evidenced a specific area, the thalamic submedius nucleus, which is closely linked to the or...

Researchers have developed a method for synthesising organic molecules very selectively, by assembling simple molecules and using an enzyme from E. coli (FSA: D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase), which acts as a biocatalyst.

This is a significant step forward since it replicates the formation of carbohydrates in conditions resembling those that presumably initiated life on the Earth (prebiotic conditions) and because it allows relatively large organic molecules to be obtained very selectively and efficiently. Furthermore, it is a process with few steps, that does not use organic solvents and generates no waste, and it has great potential in chemistry, especially for obtaining molecules and active ingredients of interest (drugs, supplements, etc.).

Prof...

The choroid plexus located in the brain ventricle is marked with red in the brain image. The volume of the choroid plexus was measured in this work. The dots in the graph show the volume of the choroid plexus in patients with CRPS (on the left) and healthy control subjects (on the right). Credit: Image courtesy of Aalto University

Neuroscientists have found a novel connection between the size of the choroid plexus in the brain and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), an unexpected finding, they say. ‘When studying magnetic resonance images of the brains of patients suffering from CRPS, we noticed that the choroid plexus was nearly 1/5 larger in patients than in healthy control subjects,’ says Postdoctoral Researcher Guangyu Zhou.

Located in the walls of the brain ventricles, the choroid ...