Category Health/Medical

A Cancer Shredder

Krebs bekämpfen, indem eine neu entwickelte Substanz Krebs erregende Aurora-Proteine schreddert: Das ist das Ziel einer neuen Studie von Wissenschaftlern der Unis in Würzburg und Frankfurt. (Image: Dr. Sandy Pernitzsch)

Substance with new mechanism of action found. Researchers have developed a new compound for treating cancer. It destroys a protein that triggers its development.

The villain in this drama has a pretty name: Aurora – Latin for dawn. In the world of biochemistry, however, Aurora (more precisely: Aurora-A kinase) stands for a protein that causes extensive damage. There, it has been known for a long time that Aurora often causes cancer. It triggers the development of leukemias and many pediatric cancers, such as neuroblastomas.

Researchers at the universities of Wür...

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Neurons in Spinal-cord injuries are Reconnected in vivo via Carbon Nanotube Sponges

Neurons in spinal-cord injuries are reconnected in vivo via carbon nanotube sponges
From left to right: image of a healthy backbone (control); image of an injured backbone without an implant; image of an injured backbone in which the biocompatible nanomaterial has been implanted and where the neuronal reconnection can be observed. Credit: Author: Pedro Ramos / CIC biomaGUNE

Research conducted by two groups at the Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials CIC biomaGUNE and one at SISSA, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (Italy), have shown that functional materials based on carbon nanotubes facilitate the reconnecting of neuronal networks damaged as a result of spinal cord injuries...

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Something old, something New Combine for Effective Vaccine against Parasitic Skin Disease

3D illustration of one phase of the life cycle of the parasite that causes cutaneous leishmaniasis
Illustration: Shutterstock.com

Scientists use CRISPR to edit structural gene in organism that causes leishmaniasis. Scientists are planning for Phase 1 human trials of a vaccine they developed by using CRISPR gene-editing technology to mutate the parasite that causes leishmaniasis, a skin disease common in tropical regions of the world and gaining ground in the United States.

“If you assure protection in the sand fly model, then you have a good shot at a real vaccine,” said Abhay Satoskar, a co-lead investigator of the work and professor of pathology and microbiology at The Ohio State University.

The team applied the new technology to the century-old Middle Eastern practice of le...

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Discovery Enables Adult Skin to Regenerate like a Newborn’s

An image of a regenerating skin wound with hair follicles that can make goose bumps. The green lines are the muscles attached to individual regenerating hairs so that they can stand up.

A newly identified genetic factor allows adult skin to repair itself like the skin of a newborn babe. The discovery by Washington State University researchers has implications for better skin wound treatment as well as preventing some of the aging process in skin.

In a study, published in the journal eLife on Sept. 29, the researchers identified a factor that acts like a molecular switch in the skin of baby mice that controls the formation of hair follicles as they develop during the first week of life. The switch is mostly turned off after skin forms and remains off in adult tissue...

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