Category Health/Medical

In this composite image, a human nerve cell derived from a patient with Rett syndrome shows significantly decreased levels of KCC2 compared to a control cell.
Image: Gong Chen lab, Penn State University

“The most exciting part of this research is that it directly uses human neurons that originated from Rett Syndrome patients as a clinically-relevant disease model to investigate the underlying mechanism,” said Dr. Chen...

Even a cell phone camera is sufficient to examine tissue samples for tumor cells. Credit: © Fraunhofer IAP

Antibodies combat viruses and bacteria. They also attach themselves to cancer cells – in a typical, characteristic way. Fraunhofer scientists are using this property to detect cancer cells in tissue samples. Such rapid tests can already be applied by surgeons during operations – within a few minutes and without expensive equipment.

The tumor glows brightly on the bluish fluorescent MRI image. The ulcer is localized. With this information, the surgeon relies on his eyes. “Locating tumors accurately in tissue sections is not easy...

This section of a serpentine channel reactor shows the parallel reactor and feeder channels separated by a nanoporous membrane. At left is a single nanopore viewed from the side; at right is a diagram of metabolite exchange across the membrane

Lives of soldiers and others injured in remote locations could be saved with a cell-free protein synthesis system developed at the Dept of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab. The device, a creation of a team led by Andrea Timm and Scott Retterer of the lab’s Biosciences Division, uses microfabricated bioreactors for on-demand production of therapeutic proteins for medicines and biopharmaceuticals. Making these miniature factories cell-free, which eliminates the maintenance of a living system, simplifies the process and lowers cost.

“With this approach, ...

Micrograph showing a lymph node invaded by ductal breast carcinoma, with extension of the tumour beyond the lymph node. Credit: Nephron/Wikipedia

The high amounts of dietary sugar in the typical Western diet may increase the risk of breast cancer and metastasis to the lungs, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings, demonstrated dietary sugar’s effect on an enzymatic signaling pathway known as 12-LOX (12-lipoxygenase).

“We found that sucrose intake in mice comparable to levels of Western diets led to increased tumor growth and metastasis, when compared to a non-sugar starch diet,” said Assistant Prof. Peiying Yang, Ph.D. “This was due, in part, to increased expression of 12-LOX and a related fatty acid called 12-HETE.”
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