Category Health/Medical

Nuclear and cytoplasmic PTEN signaling. PTEN localizes to both the cytoplasm and the nucleus and shuttles between each by a variety of mechanisms. PTEN function is, at least in part, determined by its subcellular localization.

Pten (short for phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor that is defective in about 20-25% of all patients with cancers. Mayo Clinic researchers now have discovered that Pten safeguards against tumor formation by keeping chromosome numbers intact when a cell splits into 2 daughter cells. In this study, the last 3 amino acids of the Pten protein, which are often missing in human cancers, were found to be critical for forming an intact mitotic spindle, a structure required for accurate chromosome segregation.

Pten is the most prominent human tumor suppress...

Jennifer Lemon, Research Associate, Department of Biology, McMaster University. Credit: McMaster University

A dietary supplement containing a blend of 30 vitamins and minerals – all natural ingredients widely available in health food stores – has shown remarkable anti-aging properties that can prevent and even reverse massive brain cell loss, according to new research from McMaster University. It’s a mixture scientists believe could someday slow the progress of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, ALS and Parkinson’s.

The formula, which contains common ingredients such as vitamins B, C and D, folic acid, green tea extract, cod liver oil and other nutraceuticals, was first designed by scientists in McMaster’s Department of Biology in 2000...

Luigi Puglielli working in the lab. Credit: Clint Thayer, UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Medicine

A new mouse model is the first to show that when more of acetyl-CoA moves between different parts of nerve cells in the mouse brain, it can lead to behaviors that resembles some aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in humans. Acetyl-CoA, is a major part of the process cells use to make energy from food. It’s also used within cells to tag different proteins, which influences where and how they function. Local concentrations of acetyl-CoA and its movement, or flux, between different areas within cells is tightly regulated.

“We show, for the very first time, that changes in acetyl-CoA flux, and not just changes in its levels, in individual neurons can affect ne...

VAMPs are shown actuated and cut open in cross section. The cross section shows the inner chambers that collapse when vacuum is applied. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

To make robots more cooperative and have them perform tasks in close proximity to humans, they must be softer and safer. A new actuator generates movements similar to those of skeletal muscles using vacuum power to automate soft, rubber beams. Like real muscles, the actuators are soft, shock absorbing, and pose no danger to their environment or humans working collaboratively alongside them or the potential future robots equipped with them.

“Functionally, our actuator models the human bicep muscle,” said Whitesides, Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University...