Following up on a 2018 study that identified an epigenetic modifier known as histone deacetylase 11 (HDAC11) as a potential therapeutic target for treating obesity and diabetes, researchers have published new research that finds HDAC11 regulates G protein-coupled receptors. The details of the study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…

A repurposed mouse model can develop symptoms of both severe COVID-19 (lung damage, blood clots, abnormal blood vessels, and death) and also of milder disease, including loss of the sense of smell, according to a recent study. The study also showed that convalescent plasma from a patient who had recovered from COVID-19 protected the mice…

Medication against the nonhuman primate version of HIV given two weeks after infection helped keep tuberculosis in check. «Most humans are able to control a low dose of TB infection by maintaining it in a dormant form called latent tuberculosis infection,» says Riti Sharan, PhD, a staff scientist at Texas Biomed and first paper author.…

In a study in mice, scientists have shown that gene-edited cellular therapeutics can be used to successfully treat cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, potentially paving the way for developing less expensive cellular therapies to treat diseases for which there are currently few viable options. The study, in mice, is the first in the emerging field of…

Some types of gut bacteria are better than others at stimulating certain immune cells, specifically CD8+ T cells. And while these CD8+ T cells normally help protect the body against cancer, overstimulating them may promote inflammation and exhaust the T cells — which can actually increase susceptibility to cancer, according to new mouse model. Some…

Domestication has a consistent effect on the gut microbiota of animals and is similar to the effects of industrialisation in human populations, with ecological differences such as diet having a strong influence. These findings, published today in eLife, highlight how the flexibility of the gut microbiota can help animals respond to ecological change and could…

Researchers have identified two types of cells in our brains that are involved in organizing discrete memories based on when they occurred. This finding improves our understanding of how the human brain forms memories and could have implications in memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. «This work is transformative in how the researchers studied the…

New research reveals that sex differences in learning and memory mechanisms are triggered by biological events occurring during puberty. Findings show prepubescent female rodents have much better hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and spatial learning than same-age males, but puberty has opposite consequences for synaptic plasticity in the two sexes. The study, titled «Prepubescent female rodents…

Researchers fabricated a 3D artificial cancer tissue that overcomes one of the biggest challenges in tissue engineering: replicating the body’s smallest blood vessels. The breakthrough offers a possible alternative to animal drug testing. In the recent issue of the scientific journal, Advanced Materials, the researchers reported a technique for replicating the body’s smallest blood vessels,…

‘Pretty’ parrots are more likely to be snatched up for Indonesia’s illegal wildlife trade, a new study reveals. The findings not only expose the key drivers behind the country’s illegal trade in these birds, but offer lessons for the potential emergence and spread of infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans. The findings not…