Category Health/Medical

UCLA researchers Tamer Sallam, left, and Peter Tontonoz expect that further exploration will lead to new insights into normal physiology as well as disease.

So-called ‘selfish’ gene acts to remove cholesterol from blood vessels. Scientists have identified a gene that may play a protective role in preventing heart disease. Their research revealed that the gene, called MeXis, acts within key cells inside clogged arteries to help remove excess cholesterol from blood vessels. Published in the journal Nature Medicine, the UCLA-led study in mice found that MeXis controls the expression of a protein that pumps cholesterol out of cells in the artery wall.

MeXis is an example of a “selfish” gene, one that is presumed to have no function because it does not make a protein product...

The image shows a metastatic colon tumour infiltrated by the immune system (brown) after combined treatment with the TGF-beta inhibitor and immunotherapy. (Author: Daniele Tauriello, IRB Barcelona)

Immune system-stimulating treatments combined with a TGF-beta inhibitor are effective against colon cancer. Researchers have developed a mouse model that mimics advanced human colon cancer. This model has allowed them to study the immune system response for the first time. In a short space of time, immunotherapy, that is to say therapies based on stimulating the immune system against cancer cells, has become a powerful approach to treat cancers such as melanoma and lung cancer. However, to date, most colon tumours appeared to be unresponsive to this kind of therapy...

Metabolic inflammation and NFкB-mediated neuroinflammatory responses in the NAc contribute to the expression of anxiodepressive behavior and heightened food cravings caused by a diet high in saturated fat and sugar.

A diet rich in saturated fat and sugar not only leads to obesity, it creates inflammation in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that controls mood and the feeling of reward. And this inflammation can lead to depressive, anxious and compulsive behaviour and disrupt metabolism, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). Published in the journal Molecular Metabolism, the study on mice provides new evidence confirming the harmful effect of saturated fat on health.

“The depressive, anxious and compulsive behaviou...

A section of “e-skin.” Credit: Jianliang Xiao / University of Colorado Boulder

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a new type of malleable, self-healing and fully recyclable “electronic skin” that has applications ranging from robotics and prosthetic development to better biomedical devices. Electronic skin, known as e-skin, is a thin, translucent material that can mimic the function and mechanical properties of human skin. A number of different types and sizes of wearable e-skins are now being developed in labs around the world as researchers recognize their value in diverse medical, scientific and engineering fields.

The new CU Boulder e-skin has sensors embedded to measure pressure, temperature, humidity and air flow, said Assistant Professor Jianliang Xiao, who is...