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    Category Health/Medical

    Gut Bacteria can Cause, Predict and Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis

    July 12, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Collinsella aerofaciens enhances arthritis severity. Two weeks post-immunization (marked with arrow) a subset of mice were treated with C. aerofaciens every alternate day for 4 weeks (marked with arrows), n = 10. Mice not treated with C. aerofaciens (n = 8) were used as a control. Mice were followed for a incidence and onset of arthritis (*P = 0.068) and b disease severity. Collinsella enhances T-cell proliferation. c T-cell proliferation was measured by culturing sorted (by fluorescence-activated cell sorting) CD4 cells from the spleens of CII-primed mice cultured with dendritic cells that were pre-cultured with Collinsella for 4 h. **P = 0.02 (n = 3 mice/group). Collinsella reduces the expression of the tight junction protein ZO-1 and Occludin. d CACO-2 cells cultured with or without Collinsella stained with ZO-1 and Occludin showed differences in the expression of tight junction proteins. e Quantification of the mean fluorescence intensity of ZO-1 and Occludin expression in CACO-2 cells cultured alone or in the presence of Collinsella, # P < 0.05 and *P < 0.01. f Increased gut permeability was observed in DQ8 mice when Collinsella was administered. Sera of mice were tested for FITC-Dextran before and after treating mice with Collinsella for 3 weeks (*P = 0.03; n = 10 mice/group). g Fold difference in the expression of Th17 regulatory cytokine/chemokine transcripts in CACO-2 cells cultured with C. aerofaciens compared with CACO-2 cells cultured with bacterial growth media. Error bars represent standard error of the mean values. Experiments were repeated for reproducibility

    Collinsella aerofaciens enhances arthritis severity. Two weeks post-immunization (marked with arrow) a subset of mice were treated with C. aerofaciens every alternate day for 4 weeks (marked with arrows), n = 10. Mice not treated with C. aerofaciens (n = 8) were used as a control. Mice were followed for a incidence and onset of arthritis (*P = 0.068) and b disease severity. Collinsella enhances T-cell proliferation. c T-cell proliferation was measured by culturing sorted (by fluorescence-activated cell sorting) CD4 cells from the spleens of CII-primed mice cultured with dendritic cells that were pre-cultured with Collinsella for 4 h. **P = 0.02 (n = 3 mice/group). Collinsella reduces the expression of the tight junction protein ZO-1 and Occludin...

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    How Tumor Necrosis Factor,TNF protects against Infection

    July 11, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Highlights •TNF inhibits IL-4-induced Arg1 expression in macrophages and dendritic cells •Arg1 is upregulated in macrophages or dendritic cells of L. major-infected TNF−/− mice •Arg1 hyperexpression in TNF−/− mice impairs in situ production of leishmanicidal NO •Arg1 deletion restores parasite and disease control in otherwise non-healing mice

    Highlights •TNF inhibits IL-4-induced Arg1 expression in macrophages and dendritic cells •Arg1 is upregulated in macrophages or dendritic cells of L. major-infected TNF−/− mice •Arg1 hyperexpression in TNF−/− mice impairs in situ production of leishmanicidal NO •Arg1 deletion restores parasite and disease control in otherwise non-healing mice

    Tumour necrosis factor (TNF), a messenger substance in the immune system, plays an important role in triggering chronic inflammatory diseases. For this reason, TNF inhibitors are a standard form of treatment for patients with RA and certain inflammatory bowel diseases. However, TNF also protects against infection, which means that inhibiting it can cause latent infections to resurface...

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    Pomegranate finally reveals its powerful Anti-Aging Secret

    July 11, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    EPFL researcher and last author Johan Auwerx is pictured. Credit: © EPFL / Alain Herzog

    EPFL researcher and last author Johan Auwerx is pictured. Credit: © EPFL / Alain Herzog

    Intestinal bacteria transform a molecule contained in the fruit with spectacular results. As we age, our cells increasingly struggle to recycle mitochondria, thus accumulate in the cell. This degradation affects the health of many tissues, including muscles, which gradually weaken over the years. A buildup of dysfunctional mitochondria is also suspected of playing a role in other diseases of aging, such as Parkinson’s disease. The scientists identified a molecule that, all by itself, managed to re-establish the cell’s ability to recycle the components of the defective mitochondria: urolithin A...

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    Researchers Storing Information securely in DNA

    July 11, 2016, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    SANDIA BIOENGINEERS Marlene and George Bachand show off their new method for encrypting and storing sensitive information in DNA. Digital data storage degrades and can become obsolete and old-school books and paper require lots of space. (Photo by Lonnie Anderson)

    SANDIA BIOENGINEERS Marlene and George Bachand show off their new method for encrypting and storing sensitive information in DNA. Digital data storage degrades and can become obsolete and old-school books and paper require lots of space. (Photo by Lonnie Anderson)

    Experiments at CERN’s LHC generate 15 million Gb of data per year. That is a lot of digital data to inscribe on hard drives or beam up to the “cloud.” George Bachand, a Sandia National Laboratories bioengineer is exploring a better, more permanent method for encrypting and storing sensitive data: DNA. Compared to digital and analog information storage, DNA is more compact and durable and never becomes obsolete. Tape- and disk-based data storage degrades and can become obsolete, requiring rewriting every decade or so...

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