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    The Cells that Control the Formation of Fat

    June 21, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Two different aspects of fat: left, mature human fat cells grown in a Petri dish (green: lipid droplets); right, a section of mouse fat tissue with in the middle, a blood vessel (red circle) surrounded by Aregs (arrows), newly discovered cells capable of suppressing adipogenesis. Credit: Bart Deplancke/EPFL

    Two different aspects of fat: left, mature human fat cells grown in a Petri dish (green: lipid droplets); right, a section of mouse fat tissue with in the middle, a blood vessel (red circle) surrounded by Aregs (arrows), newly discovered cells capable of suppressing adipogenesis. Credit: Bart Deplancke/EPFL

    A study has revealed a new cell type that resides in the body’s fat depots where it can actively suppress fat cell formation. This discovery was made using single-cell transcriptomics and opens entirely new avenues to combat obesity and related diseases such as diabetes.

    Adipogenesis – the formation of mature fat cells from their precursor cells – has been linked to obesity and related health problems such as cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes...

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    Game-Changing finding pushes 3D-printing to the molecular limit

    June 21, 2018, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Cube of advanced material featuring photochromic molecules. Credit: Victor Sans Sangorrin

    Cube of advanced material featuring photochromic molecules. Credit: Victor Sans Sangorrin

    New research proves that advanced materials containing molecules that switch states in response to environmental stimuli such as light can be fabricated using 3D printing. The study findings have the potential to vastly increase the functional capabilities of 3D-printed devices for industries such as electronics, healthcare and quantum computing.

    “This bottom-up approach to device fabrication will push the boundaries of additive manufacturing like never before. Using a unique integrated design approach, we have demonstrated functional synergy between photochromic molecules and polymers in a fully 3D-printed device...

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    Last of Universe’s Missing Ordinary Matter

    June 21, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A simulation of the cosmic web, or diffuse tendrils of gas connecting galaxies across the universe. Credit: NASA, ESA, E. Hallman (CU Boulder); Nicastro et al. Observations of the missing baryons in the warm–hot intergalactic medium. Nature, 2018; 558 (7710): 406 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0204-1

    A simulation of the cosmic web, or diffuse tendrils of gas connecting galaxies across the universe. Credit: NASA, ESA, E. Hallman (CU Boulder); Nicastro et al. Observations of the missing baryons in the warm–hot intergalactic medium. Nature, 2018; 558 (7710): 406 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0204-1

    Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have helped to find the last reservoir of ordinary matter hiding in the universe. Ordinary matter, or “baryons,” make up all physical objects in existence, from stars to the cores of black holes. But until now, astrophysicists had only been able to locate about two-thirds of the matter that theorists predict was created by the Big Bang.

    In the new research, an international team pinned down the missing third, finding it in the space between galaxies...

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    Putting the Brakes on Metastatic Cancer

    June 21, 2018, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology

    Overview of the in vivo screen for genes required for productive motility. a HEp3 cells were transduced with a pooled whole human genome lentiviral shRNA library and injected intravenously into 100 ex ovo avian embryos. Compact metastatic colonies derived from single cancer cells were excised 6 days post injection, expanded and analyzed by Illumina deep sequencing. Colonies were re-injected individually to validate their phenotype and prioritized based on a composite compactness (C.I.) index. Selected screen hits that produced metastatic colonies that were significantly more compact than those produced by cancer cells transduced with scramble shRNA transduced cells were selected for further analysis. b Composite compactness index (C.I.) distribution of screen hits relative to positive (anti-CD151) and negative (scramble shRNA) controls. Screen hits that are significantly more compact than negative control are indicated in green. Clones containing a single shRNA species are in bold. For clones containing multiple shRNAs, the two most predominant shRNAs are shown. Statistical significance was determined using one-way ANOVA with Fisher’s LSD test (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). c Table summarizing shRNA gene IDs from significantly compact clones containing single shRNA. Gene cards (http://www.genecards.org) and KEGG pathway (http://www.genome.jp) databases were used for gene function annotations

    Overview of the in vivo screen for genes required for productive motility. a HEp3 cells were transduced with a pooled whole human genome lentiviral shRNA library and injected intravenously into 100 ex ovo avian embryos. Compact metastatic colonies derived from single cancer cells were excised 6 days post injection, expanded and analyzed by Illumina deep sequencing. Colonies were re-injected individually to validate their phenotype and prioritized based on a composite compactness (C.I.) index. Selected screen hits that produced metastatic colonies that were significantly more compact than those produced by cancer cells transduced with scramble shRNA transduced cells were selected for further analysis. b Composite compactness index (C.I...

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