Category Health/Medical

This is the delivery and activation of genes by gold nanorods. Gold nanorods coated with charged lipids efficiently bind to DNA and penetrate cells. The team designed an artificial gene that is turned on by heat generated by the gold nanorods upon exposure to near infrared light illumination.
CREDIT
Kyoto University iCeMS

A new method efficiently transfers genes into cells, then activates them with light. This could lead to gene therapies for cancers. Mineko Kengaku, Tatsuya Murakami, and their colleagues from Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have developed a new method that modifies the surface of nanorods, making them more efficient in transporting cancer-killing genes into cells.

The method involves coating gold nanorods, which produce heat when e...

Reduced Slc6a15 in Nucleus Accumbens D2-Neurons Underlies Stress Susceptibility. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2017; 37 (27): 6527 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3250-16.2017

A gene can either amplify or reduce stress, depending on its level of activity. Globally, depression affects more than 300 million people annually. Nearly 800,000 die from suicide every year – it is the second-leading cause of death among people between 15 to 29 years old. Beyond that, depression destroys quality for life for tens of millions of patients and their families. Although environmental factors play a role in many cases of depression, genetics are also crucially important.

A new study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) has pinpointed how one particular gene plays a central role –...

Sunburn. Credit: © jivimages / Fotolia

High doses of vitamin D taken 1 hour after sunburn significantly reduce skin redness, swelling, and inflammation, according to double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The trial results were recently published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

In the study, 20 participants were randomized to receive a placebo pill or 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 IU of vitamin D one hour after a small UV lamp “sunburn” on their inner arm. Researchers followed up with the participants 24, 48, 72 hours and 1 week after the experiment and collected skin biopsies for further testing...

A mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) section shows microglia (green) in contact with AgRP neurons (red), which are critical hypothalamic neurons in the regulation of food intake and body weight. Credit: Image by the Suneil Koliwad Lab

Diet study finds link between brain inflammation and obesity in mice. Immune cells in the brain trigger overeating and weight gain in response to diets rich in fat, according to a new study in mice led by researchers from UC San Francisco and the University of Washington Medical Center. Brain-resident microglia could be targets for obesity treatments that might avoid many side effects of the obesity drugs currently in clinical use.

“Microglia are not neurons, but they account for 10 to 15% of the cells in the brain,” said Suneil Koliwad, MD, PhD, assistant profess...