Category Health/Medical

Immune cell discovery a new attack on Alzheimer’s, neurological disorders. Combating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases by inserting healthy new immune cells into the brain has taken a leap toward reality. Neuroscientists at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to safely thwart the brain’s resistance to them, vaulting a key hurdle in the quest.

Their discovery about brain cells called microglia heralds myriad possibilities for treating and even preventing neurodegenerative disorders. The team’s paper appears in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

When microglia are healthy, ...

A research team, led by Professor Sung Ho Park in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNIST announced the results of a study on osteoblasts that damage joint bones in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

In this study, the research team studied the possibility of a treatment method targeting mechanisms related to the differentiation process of osteoblasts that melt bones through enzyme reactions. First, it was confirmed that a superinhancer is formed near the NFATC1 gene, which is known to be an important factor in the formation of osteoblasts, and it is formed only in osteoblasts.

In addition, it was confirmed that an enhancer RNA, a type of non-encrypted RNA, is formed in the NFATC1 superinhand during osteoblastic cell formation.

Non-encrypted RNA does not encode protei...

The material can be injected intravenously and has potential application in heart attacks, traumatic brain injury and more. A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

“This biomaterial allows for treating damaged tissue from the inside out,” said Karen Christman, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California...

Fathers exposed to chemicals in plastics can affect the metabolic health of their offspring for two generations, a University of California, Riverside, mouse study reports.

Plastics, which are now ubiquitous, contain endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, that have been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases; parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been shown to cause metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes, in the offspring.

Most studies have focused on the impact of maternal EDC exposure on the offspring’s health. The current study, published in the journal Environment International, focused on the effects of paternal EDC exposure.

Led by Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine, the researchers investigated ...