Category Health/Medical

Highlights •The three isoforms of mammalian Tet3 include Tet3FL, Tet3s, and Tet3o •The CXXC domain of Tet3 is a specific reader of 5-carboxylcytosine at CcaCG sequences •The crystal structure of the CXXC domain-5caC complex was solved •Tet3FL in neurons targets genes of the lysosome and base excision repair pathways

Stopping disruptions in cellular “trash removal” brought on by errors in molecular marks on DNA may guard against neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. Novel findings from a team led by Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Professor Gerd Pfeifer, Ph.D., implicate certain epigenetic modifications in the development of some neurodegenerative diseases...

Salmeterol

Looking at birth records from Denmark dating between 1997 and 2007, it was determined that “This study adds to a body of recent research suggesting that medications used for certain common health conditions like asthma, when taken in pregnancy, may influence a newborn’s neurodevelopment,” Newschaffer said.

B2AR agonist drugs – which include salmetereol and formoterol – are used to relax the bronchial passages in a person’s lungs, providing a release from the constricting nature of asthma. According to the study, B2AR drugs can cross the placenta and reach the fetus, which may have an effect on its developing neurons.

Using Denmark’s Civil Registration System, Gidaya and the research team drew their sample from births in Denmark between Jan. 1, 1996 and Dec. 31 2006...

The contaminated water (colored water in vials) is drawn through the hybrid membrane by negative pressure; the heavy metal ions (red spheres) bind to the protein fibers in the process. The filtered water is of drinking quality. Credit: Graphics copyright: Bolisetty & Mezzenga, Nature Nanotechnology, 2016

Water pollution is one of today’s most serious global problems. A new water filtration system has been developed that is superior to existing systems at removing various toxic heavy metal ions and radioactive substances from water and can even be used in gold recovery. Prof. Raffaele Mezzenga’s hybrid filter membrane not only has an extremely simple structure, but uses low-cost raw materials, such as whey protein fibres and activated charcoal...

A new Yale study shows the brain responds to taste and calorie counts in fundamentally different ways. And only one of these responses explains why most New Years’ resolutions have already disappeared under a deluge of Boston Crème Pies. It’s the brain’s desire for calories – not sweetness – that dominates our desire for sugars.

“It turns out the brain actually has two segregated sets of neurons to process sweetness and energy signals,” said Ivan de Araujo of the John B. Pierce Laboratory. “If the brain is given the choice between pleasant taste and no energy, or unpleasant taste and energy, the brain picks energy.”

Both sweet taste and nutrient value register in the striatum, an ancient region of the brain involved in processing rewards...