Category Health/Medical

Mucus-based bioink could be used to Print and Grow Lung Tissue

translucent gel printed in a grid pattern inside a glass dish on a gloved hand
Researchers developed a mucus-based bioink for 3D-printed lung tissue.
Adapted from ACS Applied Bio Materials 2024, DOI:10.1021/acsabm.4c00579

Lung diseases kill millions of people around the world each year. Treatment options are limited, and animal models for studying these illnesses and experimental medications are inadequate. Now, writing in ACS Applied Bio Materials, researchers describe their success in creating a mucus-based bioink for 3D printing lung tissue. This advancement could one day help study and treat chronic lung conditions.

While some people with lung diseases receive transplants, donor organs remain in short supply...

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New study shows ‘Dancing Molecules’ can Regenerate Cartilage in 3 days

arthritis
In new experiments, human cartilage cells treated with fast-moving dancing molecules made more collagen II (shown in red), a crucial component for regeneration. Cell nuclei are shown in blue/purple. Credit: Stupp Research Group/Northwestern

In November 2021, Northwestern University researchers introduced an injectable new therapy, which harnessed fast-moving “dancing molecules,” to repair tissues and reverse paralysis after severe spinal cord injuries.

Now, the same research group has applied the therapeutic strategy to damaged human cartilage cells. In the new study, the treatment activated the gene expression necessary to regenerate cartilage within just four hours. And, after only three days, the human cells produced protein components needed for cartilage regeneration.

The re...

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S. PEPITEM – a Novel Protective Agent for ‘Inflammageing’

Senior woman hand pain

A naturally occurring peptide called PEPITEM could potentially rejuvenate the immune response in older individuals and protect against ‘inflammageing’, which is widely believed to be the root cause of many age-related diseases.

The study, published today in the journal npj Aging, raises the exciting possibility of a protective agent that could dampen age-related inflammation and restore normal immune function in older adults.

PEPITEM (Peptide Inhibitor of Trans-Endothelial Migration) was initially identified at the University of Birmingham in 2015. While the role of the PEPITEM pathway has already been demonstrated in immune-mediated diseases, this is the first data showing that PEPITEM has the potential to increase healthspan in an aging population.

Researchers, led by Drs M...

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Study identifies RNA molecule that Regulates Cellular Aging

SNORA13 (red) in the nucleus of senescent human cells
This shows SNORA13 (red) in the nucleus of senescent human cells within a specialized structure called the nucleolus where ribosomes are assembled. DNA is stained in blue.

A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered a new way that cells regulate senescence, an irreversible end to cell division. The findings, published in Cell, could one day lead to new interventions for a variety of conditions associated with aging, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, as well as new therapies for a collection of diseases known as ribosomopathies.

“There is great interest in reducing senescence to slow or reverse aging or aging-associated diseases...

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