Multiple sensors and multiple downstream effectors of gut sensory systems, using the L cell as an example

A team of scientists from King’s College London and Imperial College London tested a high-fat diet, containing a fermentable carbohydrate, and a control diet on mice and looked at the effect on food intake of those with and without the FFAR2 receptor.

The results showed that mice fed the diet containing fermentable carbohydrate were protected against obesity. This protection was lost however, when the FFAR2 receptor was not present. Indeed, those with the receptor showed an increase of 130% in the satiety inducing gut hormone peptide YY, as well as an increased density of cells containing PYY, leading to an increased feeling of fullness.

Lead author of the study, Gavin Bewick from King...

Researchers in the Brady lab, postdoc Zachary Charlop-Powers, above, examine DNA from soil samples that might encode microbial molecules with interesting properties. Credit: Zach Veilleux/The Rockefeller University

In soil collected from city parks, Rockefeller Uni researchers dug up genetic evidence of bacteria capable of producing a wide range of compounds whose potent effects might be used as medicines. “By sequencing and analyzing genes within soil samples, we found the genetic instructions for making a wide range of natural products that have the potential to become treatments for various conditions, from cancer to bacterial or fungal infections, or that are already being used as drugs,” says Sean F...

Illustration of the degradable system carrying treatment for hemophilia B. Credit: Cockrell School of Engineering

In the near future, hemophiliacs could be able to treat their disease by simply swallowing a capsule. Thanks to a breakthrough led by researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, treatment for hemophilia can now be administered via a biodegradable system, a capsule, giving people affected by the hereditary bleeding disorder hope for a less expensive, less painful treatment option than conventional injections or infusions.

They designed the oral delivery system, which contains micro- and nanoparticles, to carry a protein therapy that treats hemophilia B. There are ~400,000 people worldwide with hemophilia A or B...

Ketone (fluorenone) polymer can fix hydrogen via simple electrolytic hydrogenation in water at room temperature and release hydrogen when heated to 80 degrees C. Credit: Waseda University

Polymer addresses safety and energy loss. A Waseda University (Tokyo) research group has developed a polymer which can store hydrogen in a light, compact and flexible sheet, and is safe to touch even when filled with hydrogen gas. The conventional methods of storing and carrying hydrogen were accompanied by safety risks such as explosions. Recently, hydrogen-absorbing organic compounds have been studied as storage materials, for their ability to stably store and release hydrogen through chemical bonding...