Category Health/Medical

A solid bond: New research led by Harvard Medical School reveals that interaction between the protein DBC1 and the signaling molecule NAD+ may help ward off DNA damage. Photo credit: David Bolinsky, e.mersion studios, 2017 

DNA repair is essential for cell vitality, survival and cancer prevention, yet cells’ ability to patch up damaged DNA declines with age for reasons not fully understood. Now, research led by scientists at Harvard Medical School reveals a critical step in a molecular chain of events that allows cells to mend their broken DNA. The findings offer a critical insight into how and why the body’s ability to fix DNA dwindles over time and point to a previously unknown role for the signaling molecule NAD as a key regulator of protein-to-protein interactions in DNA repair...

Egress of sperm autoantigen from seminiferous tubules maintains systemic tolerance

Unexpected connection likely sabotaging vaccines designed to treat cancer. The University of Virginia School of Medicine has again shown that a part of the body thought to be disconnected from the immune system actually interacts with it, and that discovery helps explain cases of male infertility, certain autoimmune diseases and even the failure of cancer vaccines. Scientists developing such vaccines may need to reconsider their work in light of the new findings or risk unintentionally sabotaging their own efforts...

A 3-D printed gel structure lifts and lowers a US dime when alternately exposed to water and DMSO solvent. Credit: © Chenfeng Ke

Using advanced 3D printing, Dartmouth College researchers have unlocked the key to transforming microscopic nanorings into smart materials that perform work at human-scale. Nanomachines can already deliver medication and serve as computer memories at nanometer scale. By integrating a 3D printing technique pioneered at Dartmouth’s Ke Functional Materials Group, researchers may unlock even greater potential for these mini-machines.

“Up until now, harnessing the mechanical work of nanomachines has been extremely difficult. We are slowly getting closer to the point that the tiny machines can operate on a scale that we can see, touch and feel...

Release of platelets in the lung vasculature. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – San Francisco

Cells in mouse lungs produce most blood platelets and can replenish blood-making cells in bone marrow, study shows. Using video microscopy in the living mouse lung, UC San Francisco scientists have revealed that the lungs play a previously unrecognized role in blood production. The researchers found that the lungs produced greater than half of the platelets in mouse circulation. In another surprise finding, the scientists also identified a previously unknown pool of blood stem cells capable of restoring blood production when the stem cells of the bone marrow, previously thought to be the principal site of blood production, are depleted.

“This finding definitely suggests a more s...