Category Health/Medical

Dr. Axel Kallies, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Credit: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Researchers have uncovered the genes responsible for the way the body fights infection at the point of ‘invasion’. Hobit and Blimp1 have been found and these transcription factors control a universal molecular program responsible for placing immune cells at the ‘front lines’ of the body to fight infection and cancer. The presence of these organ-residing cells, which differ strikingly from their counterparts circulating in the blood stream, is key to local protection against viruses and bacteria.

Identifying how immune cells remain in the part of the body where they are needed most was critical to developing better ways to protect us from infections such as malaria or HIV...

MLCK and RLC phosphorylation are required for the basal tone in IAS.

A new molecular pathway critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system. This finding, based on studying calcium ion-controlled pathways in mice, may lead to new treatments for a host of digestive disorders ranging from common gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), to swallowing disorders, incontinence and pancreatitis.

A/Prof Ronghua ZhuGe, PhD said:. “Knowing how these muscles stay contracted for such long periods of time will allow us to develop potential new treatments for these diseases. The next step is to see whether this molecular mechanism in mice also operates in humans...

Microtubules in a cardiomyocyte at rest (top) and when compressed. Credit: The lab of Ben Prosser, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Using new high-resolution microscopy, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania found microtubules (MT) interact with the heart’s contractile machinery to provide mechanical resistance for the beating of the heart. Their findings could have implications for better understanding how microtubules affect the mechanics of the beating heart, and what happens when this goes awry.

Alterations in this microtubule network have been suggested to contribute to heart disease, but just how microtubules behave in the beating heart is poorly understood...

A new study finds a link between adequate sleep, earlier bedtimes and heart-healthy behavior. Credit: University of Delaware/Jeffrey C. Chase

Study connects Early Bedtime and ‘Adequate’ sleep with Heart Healthy choices. Early-to-bed, early-to-rise approach aligns much better with cardiovascular health. Sleep deficits and poor-quality sleep have been linked to obesity and a myriad of health problems, but this study shows that when it comes to promoting healthy hearts, it’s not a matter of getting more sleep. It’s a matter of getting adequate sleep at optimal times. Doing that seems to reduce the kind of behaviors – smoking, sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary choices – that put hearts in harm’s way.

The study examined the duration and approximate timing of sleep to see what patterns might...