Category Health/Medical

A long noncoding RNA whose function was previously unknown turns out to play an important role in promoting the body’s immune response against cancer and holds promise for enhancing the efficacy of anti-cancer immunotherapy.

That’s according to new findings reported in Nature Cell Biology by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

The group dubbed the RNA they identified LIMIT—for long noncoding RNA inducing major histocompatibility complex class I and immunogenicity of tumor.

“LIMIT is easy to remember, but really it does the opposite. It stimulates immune functions against cancer,” says senior study author Weiping Zou, M.D., Ph.D., the Charles B...

In doing so, a researcher has found it could protect men from stomach inflammation. Autoimmune diseases have something in common with horses, bachelor’s degrees and daily flossing habits: women are more likely to have them.

One reason for autoimmune diseases’ prevalence in women may be sex-based differences in inflammation. In a new study, West Virginia University researcher Jonathan Busada investigated how sex hormones affect stomach inflammation in males and females. He found that androgens — or male sex hormones — may help to keep stomach inflammation in check.

“Stomach cancer is primarily caused by rampant inflammation,” said Busada, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine and researcher with the Cancer Institute...

Conventional studies investigating the effects of reduced gravity on muscle mass and function have used a ground control group that is not directly comparable to the space experimental group. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba set out to explore the effects of gravity in mice subjected to the same housing conditions, including those experienced during launch and landing. “In humans, spaceflight causes muscle atrophy and can lead to serious medical problems after return to Earth” says senior author Professor Satoru Takahashi. “This study was designed based on the critical need to understand the molecular mechanisms through which muscle atrophy occurs in conditions of microgravity and artificial gravity.”

Two groups of mice (six per group) were h...

Fasting diets have risen in popularity in recent years, however little is known about the long-term impact of these diets, particularly for future generations.

New research, published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reveals that reduced food intake in roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans) has a detrimental effect on three generations of offspring — particularly when those descendants have access to unlimited food.

Lead researcher Dr Edward Ivimey-Cook, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “We know that reduced food intake increases the lifespan in many animals and can potentially improve health in humans. However, little is known about the long-term effects of reduced food intake, including time-limited fasting, on distant descendants.

“We wa...