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    Category Health/Medical

    New Material Regrows Bone

    March 8, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A schematic representation of the experimental design. Credit: Image courtesy of Northwestern University

    A schematic representation of the experimental design. Credit: Image courtesy of Northwestern University

    Procedure could potentially treat patients with injuries to the skull. A team repaired a hole in a mouse’s skull by regrowing “quality bone,” a breakthrough that could drastically improve the care of people who suffer severe trauma to the skull or face. The work by a joint team of Northwestern University and University of Chicago researchers showed that a potent combination of technologies was able to regenerate the skull bone with supporting blood vessels in just the discrete area needed without developing scar tissue – and more rapidly than with previous methods.

    Injuries or defects in the skull or facial bones are very challenging to treat, often requiring the surgeon to graft bone f...

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    Bone-derived Hormone Suppresses Appetite in Mice

    March 8, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    MC4R-dependent suppression of appetite by bone-derived lipocalin 2. Nature, 2017; DOI:

    MC4R-dependent suppression of appetite by bone-derived lipocalin 2. Nature, 2017; DOI:

    Scientists discover new mechanism that regulates food intake and blood sugar. Lipocalin 2 turns on neurons in the brain that have been previously linked to appetite suppression. The findings reveal a previously unknown mechanism for regulating the body’s energy balance and could lead to new targeted therapies for the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

    “In recent years, studies at CUMC and elsewhere have shown that bone is an endocrine organ and produces hormones that affect brain development, glucose balance, kidney function, and male fertility,” says Stavroula Kousteni, PhD, associate professor of physiology and cellular biophysics (in medicine) at CUMC...

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    Ultrafast Detection of a Cancer Biomarker enabled by innovative Nanobiodevice

    March 8, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    (A) An image of the nanobiodevice (left), an SEM image of the hybrid structure of nanopillars and nanoslits (middle), and the magnified SEM image (right). (B) Schematic of the hybrid structure of nanopillars and nanoslits around the cross injector. (C) Diagram showing the scheme of sample injection. Figure panels C-a to C-e are arranged by time in ascending order. Sample of nucleic acids and direction of electrophoretic migration are depicted in green diagonal and blue arrows, respectively. Suggested dominant mechanisms for each process are shown at the bottom.

    (A) An image of the nanobiodevice (left), an SEM image of the hybrid structure of nanopillars and nanoslits (middle), and the magnified SEM image (right). (B) Schematic of the hybrid structure of nanopillars and nanoslits around the cross injector. (C) Diagram showing the scheme of sample injection. Figure panels C-a to C-e are arranged by time in ascending order. Sample of nucleic acids and direction of electrophoretic migration are depicted in green diagonal and blue arrows, respectively. Suggested dominant mechanisms for each process are shown at the bottom.

    A nanobiodevice that can quickly and effectively separate microRNA from mixtures of nucleic acids has been developed...

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    Small molecules fighting Aging-related Diseases

    March 8, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    One of the activating molecules synthesized by the research group binds to Sirtuin 6. The chemical name of the activator is “4-(pyridine-3-yl)-4,5-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-α]quinoxaline”. Illustration: Clemens Steegborn (free with attribution).

    One of the activating molecules synthesized by the research group binds to Sirtuin 6. The chemical name of the activator is “4-(pyridine-3-yl)-4,5-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-α]quinoxaline”. Illustration: Clemens Steegborn (free with attribution).

    For the first time molecules able to activate enzyme sirtuin 6 has been produced by an international research network led by Bayreuth Biochemist Prof. Dr. Clemens Steegborn. Furthermore, the scientists were able to reveal the structural basis of such processes. These findings will enable the development of drugs that might support the fight against aging-related diseases. Sirtuins are enzymes that fulfil a variety of regulatory functions in the body. In particular, they regulate energy metabolism and stress responses...

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