Category Health/Medical

AAV2/8 mediates sustained transgene expression in the mouse abdomen and thorax.

Researchers have developed a new strategy using lung-targeted gene therapy that may lead to improved treatments for inherited diseases including emphysema. Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is the most common genetic cause of emphysema, a chronic lung disease that leads to significant morbidity and mortality. AATD, which affects up to 100,000 Americans, is caused by inheritance of a single gene mutation.

The current treatment for patients affected by AATD involves weekly intravenous infusion of the normal AAT protein – an inconvenient, invasive and expensive option. Delivery of a normal copy of the gene, known as gene therapy, is an experimental approach to treating some genetic conditions including AATD...

Andrew West. Credit: UAB

Stored samples of urine and CSF from patients with Parkinson’s disease hold a brand-new type of biomarker – a phosphorylated protein that correlates with the presence and severity of Parkinson’s disease. “Nobody thought we’d be able to measure the activity of this huge protein called LRRK2 in biofluids since it is usually found inside neurons in the brain,” said Prof. West. “New biochemical markers like the one we’ve discovered together with new neuroimaging approaches are going to be the key to successfully stopping Parkinson’s disease in its tracks...

MIT researchers have developed a new way to image proteins and RNA inside neurons of intact brain tissue. Image: Yosuke Bando, Fei Chen, Dawen Cai, Ed Boyden, and Young Gyu

Microscopy technique allows pinpointing RNA molecules in the brain. Key to the new technique is expanding the tissue before imaging it so it can be seen at very high resolution using ordinary microscopes commonly found in research labs. “Now we can image RNA with great spatial precision, thanks to the expansion process, and we also can do it more easily in large intact tissues,” says A/Prof Ed Boyden.

Studying the distribution of RNA inside cells could help scientists learn more about how cells control their gene expression and could also allow them to investigate diseases thought to be caused by failure of RNA to m...

New research suggests that replacing saturated fats like butter, lard, and fat in red meat with unsaturated fats from plant-based foods — like olive oil, canola oil, and soybean oil — can confer substantial health benefits. Credit: © tanyasid / Fotolia

Consuming higher amounts of unsaturated fats was associated with lower mortality, according to a study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In a large study population followed for more than 3 decades, researchers found that higher consumption of saturated and trans fats was linked with higher mortality vs same number of calories from carbohydrates. Most importantly, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats conferred substantial health benefits...