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A microscopic image of a mouse lymph node. Credit: Image courtesy of Kazuhiro Suzuki

Researchers in Japan have discovered that the adrenergic nervous system controls when white blood cells circulate through the body, boosting the immune response by retaining T and B cells in lymph nodes at the time of day when they are most likely to encounter foreign antigens. On their way around the body, T and B cells pass through lymph nodes, where specialized cells may present them with antigens from bacteria or other pathogens. The T and B cells then reenter the bloodstream in search of these pathogens so that they can kill them. Previous studies have suggested that number of T and B cells present in the bloodstream varies over the course of the day.

Kazuhiro Suzuki and colleagues from the WPI Immuno...

Stuck in senescence, this cell can no longer grow or divide. The Arid1b protein (green) induces this state by regulating the expression of specific genes. In contrast other regions of the DNA (blue) contain genes that are not bound by Arid1b and are not expressed (red). Credit: MRC CSC

Scientists have shown that a mutation in gene Arid1b can cause liver cancer. The gene normally protects against cancer by limiting cell growth, but when mutated it allows cells to grow uncontrollably. The researchers have shown that two existing drugs can halt this growth in human cells. This points to a new approach to treating liver cancer. These early results could be translated into a treatment relatively quickly. This is because the drugs are already used to treat other types of cancer...

Paul C.W. Chu. Credit: University of Houston

Researchers at the University of Houston have reported a new method for inducing superconductivity in non-superconducting materials, demonstrating a concept proposed decades ago but never proven.The technique can also be used to boost the efficiency of known superconducting materials, suggesting a new way to advance the commercial viability of superconductors, said Paul C.W. Chu, TcSUH.

“Superconductivity is used in many things, of which MRI is perhaps the best known,” said Chu, the physicist who holds the TLL Temple Chair of Science at UH. But the technology used in health care, utilities and other fields remains expensive, in part because it requires expensive cooling...

This topological insulator, doped with chromium (Cr) atoms, conducts electricity on its surface and possesses desirable magnetic properties at a higher range of temperatures than before when sandwiched between magnetic materials known as ferromagnets. Credit: Natasha Hanacek/NIST

Traditional semiconductors like silicon are releasing their last new lines. Exotic materials called topological insulators (TIs) are on their way in. And when it comes to cool, nitrogen is the new helium. This was clearly on display in a novel experiment at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that was performed by a multi-institutional collaboration including UCLA, NIST and the Beijing Institute of Technology in China.

Topological insulators are a new class of materials that were discovered l...