Category Health/Medical

The chemical structure of glutathione, an antioxidant that may help resist the toxins that are an underlying cause of aging. Credit: Graphic courtesy of Oregon State University

OSU researchers have found that a specific detoxification compound, glutathione, helps resist the toxic stresses of everyday life – but its levels decline with age and this sets the stage for a wide range of age-related health problems. A new study also highlighted a compound – N-acetyl-cysteine, or NAC — that is already used in high doses in medical detoxification emergencies. But the researchers said that at much lower levels NAC might help maintain glutathione levels and prevent the routine metabolic declines associated with aging.

Decline of these detoxification pathways are causally linked to cardiovascular dis...

Under the influence of interferons, chronic viral infections cause strong inflammation. This causes the B cells to initiate an inadequate immune response which first optimizes the production of antibodies for a short period, but then rapidly subsides. (Image: University of Basel)

Scientists at the University of Basel discovered a fundamental new mechanism explaining the inadequate immune defense against chronic viral infection. These results may open up new avenues for vaccine development. In the course of an infection or upon vaccination, B cells, produce antibodies that bind viruses and inactivate them. In the context of chronic viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis C virus, however, antibody production by B cells is quantitatively inadequate and starts too late.

A team of scientists...

A new compound has been shown to block a protein essential for the growth of many cancers. Australian researchers who collaborated with industry partner Servier included (L-R): Dr Gemma Kelly, Professor Andrew Roberts (both Walter and Eliza Hall Institute), Associate Professor Andrew Wei (The Alfred Hospital), Professor David Huang, Dr Jianan Gong, Associate Professor Guillaume Lessene (all Walter and Eliza Hall Institute), and Dr Donia Moujalled (The Alfred Hospital)

A new compound, discovered jointly by international pharmaceutical company Servier, France, and Vernalis (R&D),UK, has been shown by researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Servier to block a protein that is essential for the sustained growth of up to a quarter of all cancers...

This is an electron micrograph of C. jejuni in chicken gut. Credit: Griffith University

Pathogenicity and host-bacterial interactions of bacteria Campylobacter jejuni. A team at Griffith’s Institute for Glycomics identified a unique sensory structure that is able to bind host-specific sugar and is present on particularly virulent strains of Campylobacter jejuni. A direct-sensing galactose chemoreceptor recently evolved in invasive strains of Campylobacter jejuni. The team explain that the ability to cause disease depends on the ability of bacterial cells to move towards their target host cells. This movement is determined by specialised structures on the bacterial cells called sensory receptors that sense chemicals in their environment.

It is the first known finding of a bacterial sensor t...