Category Health/Medical

Key Proteins for the Repair of Nerve Fibers Identified

ADF/Cofilin-Mediated Actin Turnover Promotes Axon Regeneration in the Adult CNS

Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have identified a group of proteins that help to regenerate damaged nerve cells. Their findings are reported in the journal Neuron.

It is commonly accepted that neurons of the central nervous system shut down their ability to grow when they no longer need it; this occurs normally after they have found their target cells and established synapses. However, recent findings show that old nerve cells have the potential to regrow and to repair damage similar to young neurons...

Read More

Novel Nano-Vaccine for Melanoma

Melanoma in skin biopsy with H&E stain — this case may represent superficial spreading melanoma. Credit: Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

Injection of Nanoparticle has proven effective in Mouse Models, researchers say. Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a novel nano-vaccine for melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer. Their innovative approach has so far proven effective in preventing the development of melanoma in mouse models and in treating primary tumors and metastases that result from melanoma.

The focus of the research is on a nanoparticle that serves as the basis for the new vaccine. The study was led by Prof...

Read More

Researchers find Proteins that might Restore Damaged Sound-Detecting Cells in the Ear

Mouse cochlea with hair cells shown in green and auditory nerves shown in red. Credit: Doetzlhofer lab

Using genetic tools in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have identified a pair of proteins that precisely control when sound-detecting cells, known as hair cells, are born in the mammalian inner ear. The proteins, described in a report published June 12 in eLife, may hold a key to future therapies to restore hearing in people with irreversible deafness.

“Scientists in our field have long been looking for the molecular signals that trigger the formation of the hair cells that sense and transmit sound,” says Angelika Doetzlhofer, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine...

Read More

3D Printing the Human Heart

3D bioprinting of collagen to rebuild components of the human heartScience, 2019; 365 (6452): 482 DOI: 10.1126/science.aav9051

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University has published a paper in Science that details a new technique allowing anyone to 3D bioprint tissue scaffolds out of collagen, the major structural protein in the human body. This first-of-its-kind method brings the field of tissue engineering one step closer to being able to 3D print a full-sized, adult human heart.

The technique, known as Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH), has allowed the researchers to overcome many challenges associated with existing 3D bioprinting methods, and to achieve unprecedented resolution and fidelity using soft and living materials.

Each of t...

Read More