Category Health/Medical

The discovery by Yale researchers may help lead to individualized treatments for lung cancer and other types of cancer. © blueringmedia – stock.adobe.com

A Yale-led study describes how EGFR cancer gene silences genes that typically suppress tumors. The finding may lead to the development of more effective, individualized treatment for patients with lung cancer and other cancer types. Mutations in the EGFR gene are linked to multiple cancer types, including cancers of the lung, brain, and breast. Yet scientists did not know precisely how EGFR represses genes that prevent cancers. The Yale team conducted multiple experiments and found that EGFR silences tumor suppressor genes in lung cancer and glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.

“EGFR can target multiple unrelated tumor suppressor gene...

This image, captured with a high-powered confocal laser microscope, shows pain-sensing neurons in the skin of a larval fruit fly. Credit: Stephanie E. Mauthner

Indiana Uni researchers have that found a suite of genes in both fruit flies and humans – including one dubbed “smoke alarm” – plays a role in nerve sensitivity. The study could help lead to new drug targets in pain management. “Our study is the first to thoroughly assess the function of a large set of genes expressed at high levels in nociceptive neurons, the nerves responsible for the sensation of pain in humans,” Tracey said. “It represents a significant step forward in the field of nociception and pain research.”

A total of 36 genes were identified as having a role in either hypersensitivity or lack of sensation to stimuli, 20 o...

Proposed mechanism of skeletal muscle mitochondria involvement in sarcopenia

Muscle wastage and loss of strength, ie sarcopenia causes loss of quality of life. At about 55 years old, people begin to lose muscle mass, this loss continues into old age, at which point it becomes critical. The underlying causes of sarcopenia are unknown and thus no treatment is available for this condition. A study has discovered that Mitofusin 2 is required to preserve healthy muscles in mice. This protein could serve as a therapeutic target to ameliorate sarcopenia in the elderly.

They demonstrate that low activity of this protein in 24-month old mice (equivalent of a person aged 80) is directly associated with muscle wastage and sarcopenia observed...

Highlights •Dietary fiber with vitamin A increases the potency of tolerogenic CD103+ DCs •High-fiber diet protects mice against peanut allergy via gut microbiota and SCFA •High-fiber effects rely on epithelial GPR43 and immune cell GPR109a •Dietary fiber promotes TFH and IgA responses

The development of food allergies in mice can be linked to what their gut bacteria are being fed. Rodents that received a diet with average calories, sugar, and fiber content from birth were shown to have more severe peanut allergies than those that received a high-fiber diet. The researchers show that gut bacteria release a specific fatty acid in response to fiber intake, which eventually impacts allergic responses via changes to the immune system.

“We felt that the increased incidence of food allerg...