Category Health/Medical

Dual Contrast – Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (DC-MRF): A Platform for Simultaneous Quantification of Multiple MRI Contrast Agents. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08762-9

New imaging method out of Case Western Reserve University elevates MRI capabilities. Current MRI techniques rely on a single contrast agent injected into a patient’s veins to vivify images. The new method uses two at once, which could allow doctors to map multiple characteristics of a patient’s internal organs in a single MRI. The strategy could serve as a research tool and even aid disease diagnosis.

Two contrast agents could include one specifically targeting diseased tissue, and one designed to show healthy tissue, for example...

Image: The spread of herpes simplex virus infection (green, left) is suppressed in cells treated with EZH2/1 inhibitors (GSK126 or GSK343). Credit: NIAID

After herpesviruses infect a cell, their genomes are assembled into specialized protein structures called nucelosomes. Many cellular enzyme complexes can modulate these structures to either promote or inhibit the progression of infection. Scientists studying how one of these complexes (EZH2/1) regulated herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection unexpectedly found that inhibiting EZH2/1 suppressed viral infection...

This is an image of the 3-D droplet bioprinter, developed by the Bayley Research Group at Oxford, producing mm-sized tissues. Credit: Sam Olof/ Alexander Graham

Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed a new method to 3D-print laboratory- grown cells to form living structures. The approach could revolutionise regenerative medicine, enabling the production of complex tissues and cartilage that would potentially support, repair or augment diseased and damaged areas of the body...

Untreated mouse skin showing no hair growth (left) compared to mouse skin treated with the drug UK5099 (right) showing hair growth. Credit: UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center/Nature Cell Biology

UCLA researchers have discovered a new way to activate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow. The research may lead to new drugs that could promote hair growth for people with baldness or alopecia, which is hair loss associated with such factors as hormonal imbalance, stress, aging or chemotherapy treatment. Hair follicle stem cells are long-lived cells in the hair follicle; they are present in the skin and produce hair throughout a person’s lifetime...