Category: Guest Posts

Coffee can help you stay awake. But what does caffeine actually do to your brain once you’re asleep? Using AI, a team of researchers has an answer: it affects the brain’s ‘criticality’.

Current regulations for nanomedicines overlook the effects of the different forms of the same element, such as ions, nanoparticles, and aggregates. In a recent study, researchers developed a new analytical method combining an asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation system and mass spectrometry to separately quantify these forms. This technique allows for better quality control and safety evaluation of metal-based nanomedicines, promoting their development and clinical use, with applications also extending to food, cosmetics, and the environment.

Cohesin is a protein that forms a ring-shaped complex which wraps and alters the DNA molecule shape. It moves through the DNA and creates specific loops in the genetic material which determine the architecture of the genome and gene expression. Some mutations in the genes of the cohesion complex are responsible for rare diseases (cohesinopathies), such as the Cornelia de Lange syndrome (SCdL) or Roberts syndrome, which affect several organs and cause malformations during development.

Researchers have identified C5aR1 as a novel biomarker for metastasis risk and poor prognosis in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), the most common type of metastatic skin cancer. The new study’s findings in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, found that C5aR1 promotes the invasion of cSCC tumor cells. Its elevated presence suggests that C5aR1 might serve as a useful prognostic marker for metastatic disease and, potentially, a target for future therapies in advanced cSCC.

New HIV research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates and how easily it can reawaken in the body. These insights bring researchers closer to finding ways to flush out the dormant virus and eliminate it for good.

A lab-designed molecule developed and extensively studied could represent a breakthrough in slowing tumor recurrence in glioblastoma, an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.

The global measles outbreak must trigger an urgent debate into whether a vaccine should be recommended earlier to better protect against the highly contagious disease during infancy, a new review states.

Scientists have found that genetics and type of cancer treatment contribute most to a survivor’s risk of a second cancer.

Researchers gave participants face tattoos that can track when their brain is working too hard. The study introduces a non-permanent wireless forehead e-tattoo that decodes brainwaves to measure mental strain without bulky headgear. This technology may help track the mental workload of workers like air traffic controllers and truck drivers, whose lapses in focus can have serious consequences.

The liver has a unique structure, especially at the level of individual cells. Hepatocytes, the main liver cells, release bile into tiny channels called bile canaliculi, which drain into the bile duct in the liver periportal region. When this bile drainage system is disrupted, it causes liver damage and disease. Because of this unique architecture, liver disease investigation has been limited by the lack of lab-grown models that accurately show how the disease progresses, as it is challenging to recreate the liver’s complex structure and cell interactions in a dish.