Category Health/Medical

Far right, a zebrafish embryo breaks free from a group of unhatched sibling eggs. Credit: Zebrafish Lab

New UCLA research demonstrates that BPS (Bisphenol S), a common replacement for BPA, speeds up embryonic development and disrupts the reproductive system. The animal study is the first to examine the effects of BPA and BPS on key brain cells and genes that control the growth and function of organs involved in reproduction.

“Our study shows that making plastic products with BPA alternatives does not necessarily leave them safer,” explained senior author Nancy Wayne, a reproductive endocrinologist and a professor of physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Using a zebrafish model, Wayne and her colleagues found that exposure to low levels of BPA and BPS — equivalent to th...

IGF-1R Regulates Short-Term Synaptic Facilitation under Physiological and AD-Related Conditions

Researchers find IGF-1 receptor, “master” lifespan regulator, plays critically important role regulating the transfer of information within neural circuits. They hope their findings can be used to indicate a new direction for therapy used to treat patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The research reveals IGF-1R as a differential regulator of 2 different modes of transmission – spontaneous and evoked – in hippocampal circuits of the brain. “We know that IGF-1R signaling controls growth, development and lifespan, but its role in AD has remained controversial,” said Dr. Slutsky...

Kenneth Dill, right, and co-authors Adam de Graff, left, and Michael Hazoglou, center, standing beside a computerized display of three identified proteins at risk for oxidation: (Left) – A normal protein that has a balance of charges not at risk for oxidation; (Center) – The RBAp48 protein is at risk because of a high negative charge (red area), which are histones known in memory loss. (Right) – Telomerase protein is at risk for oxidation because of high net positive charge (blue area). Credit: John Griffin, Stony Brook University

When people turn about 80 yo, ~half of the body’s proteins are damaged by oxidation. Oxidation occurs because of random chemical degradations that are associated with converting food to energy in the presence of oxygen...

This is a picture of Seborrheic keratosis lesions on a patient’s back. Credit: James Heilman, MD, via Wikimedia Commons

An investigation into the molecular mechanisms responsible for the most common type of benign skin lesion may lead to the first nonsurgical treatment for the growths, seborrheic keratoses (SKs), which in addition to being cosmetically unattractive are often worrisome to patients. Blocking a specific signaling enzyme Akt leads to the death of cultured SK cells and the breakdown of SK lesions with no effect on normal skin cells.

Sometimes called “senile warts,” “barnacles” or “liver spots,” SKs vary in color from tan to black, can be flat or raised, and range in size from quite small to an inch or more across...