Category Health/Medical

Factors Contributing to Cardiometabolic Risk

A profound new level of complexity and interaction among genes within specific tissues responsible for mediating the inherited risk for cardiometabolic diseases have been identified by researchers, including processes that lead to heart attack and stroke...

Eating oily fish twice a week can protect your eyesight a study has revealed

In middle-aged and older individuals with type 2 diabetes, intake of at least 500 mg/d of dietary long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, easily achievable with 2 weekly servings of oily fish, was associated with a decreased risk of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology.

Given the economic and societal burden of DR, developing effective strategies to prevent or at least delay its onset is a major public health issue. The retina is rich in long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCω3PUFAs). Experimental models support dietary LCω3PUFA protection against DR, but clinical data are lacking. Aleix Sala-Vila, D.Pharm., Ph.D...

New research explains how the protein TDP43 normally concentrates into droplets and how ALS-related mutations disrupt that, leading to them to form more problematic aggregates that afflict cells. Credit: Gül Zerze, Lehigh University

Structural biologists provide a new explanation for how ALS-associated genetic flaws interfere with the proper function and behavior of the protein TDP-43. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aggregates of the protein TDP-43 are almost always found in afflicted neurons and glial cells. Meanwhile, about 50 ALS-linked mutations are known to affect a particular region of TDP-43. Yet scientists have never understood how those two associations connect...

Improved Secretory Production of the Sweet-Tasting Protein, Brazzein, in Kluyveromyces lactis.

High-fructose corn syrup and sugar are on the outs with calorie-wary consumers. As a result, low- and no-calorie alternatives have become popular, and soon, there could be another option that tastes more sugar-like than other substitutes. Scientists report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry a step toward commercial production of a fruit protein called brazzein that is far sweeter than sugar – and has fewer calories. Brazzein has high stability over a wide range of pH values and temperatures, due to its four disulfide bridges.

Brazzein first attracted attention as a potential sugar substitute years ago. Making it in large amounts, however, has been challenging...