Bacteria Set Off Viral “Bombs” Inside Neighbors

A study finds some E. coli can deploy a chemical called colibactin to reawaken long-dormant viruses inside bacteria, causing destruction.

Certain E. coli strains can engage in a form of bacterial warfare by producing colibactin, a chemical that can awaken long-dormant viruses inside neighboring cells’ DNA, sometimes resulting in their destruction, according to a new study published February 23 in Nature. 

Throughout a bacterium’s life, bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—insert their DNA into its genome. Typically, these embedded viruses, known as prophages, are harmless and lie dormant unless something triggers their escape. The study reports that E. coli can release colibactin, which damages neighbors’ DNA, triggering the bacteria’s DNA repair system, known as an SOS response. This releases prophage DNA from the bacteria’s genome, causing the virus to regain its virulence. Once these viruses are released from the bacterial genomes, they replicate and burst out of the host microbe, destroying it. They can also begin to infect other, neighboring bacteria—including the bacteria that released the colibactin. 

Colibactin can damage DNA in mammalian cells. In humans, studies suggest that this damage can lead to colon cancer. The new study suggests that the colibactin may be a weapon bacteria use against other bacteria—not human hosts. 

Colibactin isn’t usually lethal to bacteria. Although it caused DNA damage in most bacteria, the study’s authors report that the majority were able to repair the damage. According to Science News, this may be because colibactin is unstable and quickly degrades before it can do irreparable harm. The researchers also found that some bacteria make chemicals that can inhibit colibactin.  

Colibactin may not be acting alone. The team found that the chemical by itself could not reactivate prophages. The researchers were only able to see this effect by combining all of the chemicals the colibactin-producing bacteria produced and delivering them to other bacteria. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04444-3.epdf?sharing_tok...

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/bacteria-set-off-viral-b...

Relocating farmland could turn back clock twenty years on carbon emissions, say scientists

Scientists have produced a map showing where the world's major food crops should be grown to maximize yield and minimize environmental impact. This would capture large amounts of carbon, increase biodiversity, and cut agricultural use of freshwater to zero.

The reimagined world map of agriculture includes large new farming areas for many major crops around the cornbelt in the mid-western US, and below the Sahara desert. Huge areas of farmland in Europe and India would be restored to natural habitat.

The redesign—assuming high-input, mechanized farming—would cut the carbon impact of global croplands by 71%, by allowing land to revert to its natural, forested state. This is the equivalent of capturing twenty years' worth of our current net CO₂ emissions. Trees capture carbon as they grow, and also enable more carbon to be captured by the soil than when crops are grown in it.

In this optimized scenario, the impact of crop production on the world's biodiversity would be reduced by 87%. This would drastically reduce the extinction risk for many species, for which agriculture is a major threat. The researchers say that croplands would quickly revert back to their natural state, often recovering their original carbon stocks and biodiversity within a few decades.

The redesign would eliminate the need for irrigation altogether, by growing crops in places where rainfall provides all the water they need to grow. Agriculture is currently responsible for around 70% of global freshwater use, and this causes drinking water shortages in many drier parts of the world.

Part 1

The researchers used global maps of the current growing areas of 25 major crops, including wheat, barley and soybean, which together account for over three quarters of croplands worldwide. They developed a mathematical model to look at all possible ways to distribute this cropland across the globe, while maintaining overall production levels for each crop. This allowed them to identify the option with the lowest environmental impact.

Relocating croplands could drastically reduce the environmental impacts of global food production, Nature Communications Earth & Environment, DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00360-6

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-relocating-farmland-clock-twenty-year...

Part 2

Living in more polluted areas increases risk for poor mental wellbeing

People  who live in more polluted areas, such as near busy roads, are at a higher risk of poor mental wellbeing, new research has found.

The study examined four types of air pollutants—nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and two types of particulate matter, those with diameters of less than 10 and 2.5µm (micrometers)—and linked these to individual-level health data.

It found a connection between air pollution and people reporting low mental wellbeing affects such as feeling unhappy, being under stress and not being able to concentrate.

It also found a potential link between increasing concentration of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter and elevated scores of poor mental wellbeing for people from a Pakistani/Bangladeshi origin in comparison with British-White people, and for non-UK born individuals in comparison with those born in the UK.

Nitrogen dioxide is mainly produced from traffic exhaust around busy roads, while sulfur dioxide is mainly an industrial type of pollutant. Nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide are gaseous types of pollutants. Particulate matter is related to both traffic exhaust and industrial processes and it is made up of microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the atmosphere.

Mary Abed Al Ahad et al, Air pollution and individuals' mental well-being in the adult population in United Kingdom: A spatial-temporal longitudinal study and the moderating effect of ethnicity, PLOS ONE (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264394

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-polluted-areas-poor-mental-wellbeing....

Universal mechanism of methane formation discovered

The formation of the greenhouse gas methane is based on a universal mechanism. An interdisciplinary research team  found out that methane arises in the cells of organisms by a purely chemical process. The studies provide, inter alia, an explanation for why methane is released not only through the activity of special microorganisms but—as observed for quite some time now—also by plants and mushrooms. The current findings are an important step towards understanding aerobic methane formation in the environment.

It was long assumed that methane is only formed through so-called ancient bacteria or archaea when they decompose organic substances in the absence of oxygen. When scientific observations showed that plants, mushrooms, algae and cyanobacteria also form methane in the presence of oxygen, this was initially attributed to enzymatic activities.

Up until now, however, no enzyme responsible for doing that has been found in any of these organisms. Now the scientists have succeeded in showing that methane can also be formed without such a catalyst—with the aid of a purely chemical mechanism.

This mechanism is driven by reactive oxygen species (ROS) that arise through the metabolic activity of cells. In interplay with the essential element iron, such oxygen compounds, in all organisms, are involved in a chemical reaction which, through various steps, leads to the formation of highly reactive metabolites. These substances promote the splitting-off of a methyl radical of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. Methane is formed through the subsequent reaction with hydrogen atoms. With the aid of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, the researchers were able to show that the extent of methane formation directly relates to metabolic activity: The more active the cell, the more methane is formed.

Leonard Ernst et al, Methane formation driven by reactive oxygen species across all living organisms, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04511-9

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-universal-mechanism-methane-formation...

Kids have low levels of COVID antibodies

Children are half as likely as adults to produce antibodies following COVID-19, according to a small study in Australia. There is growing evidence that kids mount a stronger and faster response to a SARS-CoV-2 infection. This might mean that they fend off the virus so quickly that it doesn’t have time to trigger antibody production. Because antibodies are probably important guards against reinfection, the findings raise questions about how well protected children might be against future infections.

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Radiocarbon dating says: it’s a fake

Radiocarbon dating has unmasked two forged paintings in France. The paintings were supposedly impressionist and pointillist works from around the early twentieth century. Heritage scientists clipped tiny threads from canvases and plucked what appeared to be a paintbrush bristle trapped in the paint — all were dated to within the past 70 years. Radiocarbon dating is gaining steam in the forensic analysis of artwork, thanks to advances that require smaller samples than ever before — “just a few crumbs of dust, basically”, says chemist Laura Hendriks.

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“By the end of university introductory physics classes, women who r...

Women feel less recognized by their teachers as being ‘physics people’ compared with men, reveals research by physicist Chandralekha Singh and her collaborators. Physicists can help by offering better support, she says.

Scientists discover part of the origins of metastasis

Metastatic cells occur in many forms of cancer. They originate in primary tumors and then break away and migrate. They travel through the tissues surrounding them, through blood vessels or lymphatic channels. Along the way, they may attach to one or more organs—such as the lungs, brain, bones or liver—and form new tumors also called metastases. This spread reduces patients' chances of recovery.

Scientists at the University of Geneva have discovered some of the mechanisms by which these cells arise. This is due to cells that have narrowly escaped cell death (apoptosis) following a chemotherapeutic treatment. Those cells reprogram themselves to acquire metastatic skills. Thanks to this study, these cells—called PAME by the researchers—now appear as new therapeutic targets. These results can be read in the journal Cell Reports.

Thanks to recent research, the scientists have discovered that the experience of imminent death within the primary tumor pushes certain cells to acquire pro-metastatic states. This near-death experience occurs in particular in the context of certain treatments aimed at depriving cancer cells of energy or oxygen. The team observed that these cells, which should have died, reprogram themselves and then present a high metastatic risk. These cells are called PAME for "post-apoptotic pro-metastatic cells."

To reach these conclusions, the UNIGE team used tumor samples taken from two colon cancer patients. Tumor cells from these samples were then transplanted into mice, where they grew and formed new tumors. These cells were subjected to an imminent death experience causing endoplasmic reticulum stress similar to that caused by certain chemotherapeutic drugs. This allowed the development of PAME cells.

The scientists also discovered that PAMEs trigger a storm of cytokines—proteins and other factors that ensure cell-to-cell communication—inducing adjacent cells to become PAME-induced migratory cells (PIMS). These PIMs then associate with PAMEs and help them migrate to form metastases.

The present results open up promising new prospects for therapeutic management, including the prevention of the development of pro-metastatic fields generated by certain treatments.

Arwen Conod, Marianna Silvano, Ariel Ruiz i Altaba. On the origin of metastases: Induction of pro-metastatic states after impending cell death via ER stress, reprogramming, and a cytokine storm. Cell Reports, 2022; 38 (10): 110490 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110490

https://researchnews.cc/news/12034/Scientists-discover-part-of-the-...

Study: Cancer drugs might be able to target tuberculosis

An unexpected link between tuberculosis and cancer may lead to new drug treatments for the bacterial disease that kills more than 1.5 million people each year, according to a study led by researchers .

The study found that lesions called granulomas in the lungs of people with active tuberculosis infections are packed with proteins known to tamp down the body's immune response to cancer cells or infection. Some types of cancer drugs target these immunosuppressive proteins. Because these medications are widely used in cancer patients, the researchers expect that clinical trials can be launched quickly to test whether they can combat tuberculosis infection.

The study suggests that unless you address the presence of these immunosuppressive proteins, you're not going to get an effective recruitment of the immune system to fight the bacteria.

Erin F. McCaffrey et al, The immunoregulatory landscape of human tuberculosis granulomas, Nature Immunology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41590-021-01121-x

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-cancer-drugs-tuberculosis.ht...

Bioengineers  tackle ovarian and colorectal cancer with disease-fighting implants

Baby Receives Heart Transplant With a Life-Changing Twist to Counter Organ Rejection

A baby in North Carolina has received a first-of-its-kind heart transplant that may prevent his body from rejecting the organ without the need for lifelong drugs to suppress the immune system. The child, Easton Sinnamon, is the first person to receive a heart transplant along with implantation of thymus tissue from the same donor, according to a statement from Duke University, where the procedure was performed. Because the thymus plays an important role in immune system function – in particular, teaching the body to recognize its own cells and tissues versus foreign invaders – it's possible that this combination transplant could allow the child's body to accept the new heart as part of itself instead of treating it as a foreign organ.

Much more research is needed to see if this combination transplant allows Easton to live without immunosuppressive drugs – which are typically necessary in transplant patients to stop the body from rejecting the organ — as well as whether it could work for other transplant recipients.

If the approach proves successful, it could potentially "be applied to all solid organs down the road

Novel Procedure Could Change Future of Transplant

Tests taken 172 days after the transplant show that the thymus tissue is working to produce immune cells known as T-cells in Easton's body, according to Duke University.

Although Easton is currently taking immunosuppressive drugs to prevent organ rejection, his doctors will attempt to taper him off the drugs in the next few months to see if his body treats the new organ as "self."

Physicists show how frequencies can easily be multiplied without special circuitry

Digital technologies and devices are  responsible for about ten percent of global electricity consumption, and the trend is rising sharply. It is therefore necessary to develop more efficient components for information processing.

A new discovery by physicists could make certain components in computers and smartphones obsolete. The team has succeeded in directly converting frequencies to higher ranges in a common magnetic material without the need for additional components. Frequency multiplication is a fundamental process in modern electronics. The team reports on its research in the latest issue of Science.

Non-linear electronic circuits are typically used to generate the high-frequency gigahertz signals needed to operate today's devices. The research team has now found a way to do this within a magnetic material without the electronic components that are usually used for this. Instead, the magnetization is excited by a low-frequency megahertz source. Using the newly discovered effect, the source generates several frequency components, each of which is a multiple of the excitation frequency. These cover a range of six octaves and reach up to several gigahertz. 

The discovery could also help make digital technologies more energy efficient in the future. 

Chris Koerner, Rouven Dreyer, Martin Wagener, Niklas Liebing, Hans G. Bauer, Georg Woltersdorf. Frequency multiplication by collective nanoscale spin-wave dynamics. Science, 2022; 375 (6585): 1165 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm6044

https://researchnews.cc/news/12096/Physicists-show-how-frequencies-...

Spider silk could stabilize cancer-suppressing protein

You know the relationship between crab and the cancer. But do you know how spider and cancer are related now?

The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers  have now found an unusual way of stabilizing the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells. The study is published in the journal Structure.

p53 plays a key role in the body's defense against cancer, in part by discovering and preventing genetic mutations that can lead to cancer. If a cell is lacking functional p53, it quickly becomes a cancer cell that starts to divide uncontrollably. Researchers around the world are therefore trying to develop cancer treatments that in some way target p53.

The problem is that cells only make small amounts of p53 and then quickly break it down as it is a very large and disordered protein. 

Researchers have been inspired by how nature creates stable proteins and have used spider silk protein to stabilize p53. Spider silk consists of long chains of highly stable proteins, and is one of nature's strongest polymers.

The researchers attached a small section of a synthetic spider silk protein onto the human p53 protein. When they then introduced it into cells, they found that the cells started to produce it in large quantities. The new protein also proved to be more stable than ordinary p53 and capable of killing cancer cells. Using electron microscopy, computer simulations, and mass spectrometry, they were able to show that the likely reason for this was the way the spider silk part managed to give structure to p53's disordered sections.

The researchers now plan to study the protein's structure in detail and how its different parts interact to prevent cancer. They also hope to find out how the cells are affected by the new potent p53 protein and how well they tolerate its spider-silk component. Creating a more stable variant of p53 in cells is a promising approach to cancer therapy, and now we have a tool for this that's worth exploring.

 Michael Landreh, A 'spindle and thread'-mechanism unblocks p53 translation by modulating N-terminal disorder, Structure (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2022.02.013. www.cell.com/structure/fulltex … 0969-2126(22)00049-1

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-spider-silk-stabilize-cancer-suppress...

Hot springs reveal where continental plates collide beneath Tibet

In the classic example of mountain-building, the Indian and Asian continental plates crashed—and continue colliding today—to form the world's largest and highest geologic structures: the Himalayan Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau.

Despite the importance of these formations, which influence the global climate through atmospheric circulation and seasonal monsoons, experts have proposed contradicting theories about how tectonic plates below the surface created the iconic behemoths. Now, using geochemical data from 225 hot springs, scientists have mapped the boundary between the Indian and Asian continental plates, shedding light on processes occurring deep below the surface. The findings, which have implications for mineral formation, appear in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Limited underthrusting of India below Tibet: He/He analysis of thermal springs locates the mantle suture in continental collision, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113877119.

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-hot-reveal-continental-plates-collide...

Is sunscreen bad for coral reefs?

Lathering up with sunscreen before enjoying a cooling dip can lead to harmful chemicals getting washed out to sea.

Over the last decade, scientific studies have shed light on the toxic effects that many widely-used sunscreen ingredients can have on coral reefs. To date, this research has focused mostly on how chemical UV filters, such as oxybenzone, can lead to coral bleaching and disrupt coral reproduction. As a result, some countries have banned these ingredients. But scientists caution that there is still a lot we don’t know.

Many products using mineral rather than chemical filters are now marketed as ‘reef-friendly’, but these alternative ingredients haven’t undergone proper scrutiny, and the wider impacts of sunscreen components on marine and freshwater environments are still largely unknown.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/is-sunscreen-bad-for-coral-reef...

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Could you protect astronauts from cosmic radiation by creating a magnetic field around their spaceship?

Dangerous energetic particles emitted by the Sun are mostly deflected by the Earth’s protective magnetic bubble, called the magnetosphere, or absorbed by the atmosphere. Astronauts outside this relatively safe environment, on the Moon or Mars, for example, would require some other means of protection if they are to avoid the harmful effects of this radiation.

It has been demonstrated that a 1 Tesla magnet (similar to the strength of magnets in an MRI machine) would be able to provide a magnetic shield about 100-200m across. This is technically feasible and would be capable of deflecting the majority of harmful solar particles.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/could-a-magnetic-field-protect-a...

Long Covid: Elevated inflammation persists in immune cells months after mild COVID-19

There is a lack of understanding as to why some people suffer from long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Long-term symptoms are relatively common after severe COVID-19 infection but may also affect some individuals with previous mild disease. A new study now demonstrates that a certain type of immune cells called macrophages show altered inflammatory and metabolic expression several months after mild COVID-19. The findings are published in the journal Mucosal Immunology.

The macrophages from people with mild COVID-19 exhibit an altered inflammatory and metabolic expression for three to five months post-infection. Even though the majority of these people don't have any persistent symptoms, their immune system 's more sensitive than that of their healthy counterparts.

To examine this aspect, the researchers in the current study analyzed blood samples from 68 people with previous mild COVID-19 infection and a control group of 36 people who had not had COVID-19.

The researchers isolated the macrophages in the laboratory and stimulated them with spike protein, steroids, and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a molecule that triggers the immune system. The cells were then RNA-sequenced to measure active genes. The researchers also measured the presence of eicosanoid signaling molecules, which are a fundamental feature of inflammation.

It is not surprising to find a large number of eicosanoid molecules in people with COVID-19 as the disease causes inflammation, but it was surprising that they were still being produced in high quantities several months after the infection, according to the researchers.

The study also showed a higher concentration of leukotrienes, which are a type of pro-inflammatory molecules known for causing asthma. It's very striking that the concentration of leukotrienes remains elevated in macrophages in people who have had mild COVID-19.

Part 1

The blood samples were collected on two occasions, at three to five months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and after 12 months. At three to five months, around 16 percent reported persistent mild symptoms while the rest were symptom-free. At 12 months, none reported persistent symptoms and there was no longer any difference in inflammatory markers between those with previous COVID-19 infection and the healthy control group.

 Mild COVID-19 imprints a long-term inflammatory eicosanoid- and chemokine memory in monocyte-derived macrophages, Mucosal Immunology, online March 15, 2022, DOI: 10.1038/s41385-021-00482-8

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-elevated-inflammation-persis...

Part 2

Getting bacteria and yeast to talk to each other, thanks to a 'nanotranslator'

Cells communicate with one another in the language of chemistry, but those from different kingdoms, such as bacteria and yeast, speak dialects virtually unintelligible to the other. By learning how microbes "talk," researchers hope to one day manipulate their behavior to protect against disease, for example. Efforts like this are in their infancy, but in a new study in ACS' Nano Letters, researchers describe the first system that enables two unrelated organisms to communicate.

In nature, many cells send and receive chemical signals. This strategy allows bacteria to regulate their behavior, fungi to mate and human cells to notify each other of threats. This type of chemical communication has inspired researchers to devise their own means to join these conversations so they can give cells instructions. While some studies have examined micro- or nano-scale particles that communicate with one type of cell, the use of particles to enable communication between two different types of cells has not been explored. Antoni Llopis-Lorente, Ramón Martínez-Máñez and colleagues wanted to create a nano-scale translating device so they could send a chemical signal between members of two different kingdoms of life—something that rarely happens in the natural world.

The team built the nanotranslator from silica nanoparticles loaded with two molecules: one that reacts with glucose, and another molecule called phleomycin. The signaling system they constructed had two steps, which they tested independently then put together. First, the researchers initiated a signal by exposing E. coli to lactose. The bacteria converted the lactose into glucose, which reacted with the nanotranslator. Next, this device released phleomycin, another messenger compound. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae detected the phleomycin and responded by fluorescing, something they had been genetically engineered to do. The researchers envision many possible applications for similar nanotranslator-based communication systems. For example, these devices could be used to tell cells to turn off certain processes and to switch on others, or to alter the activity of human immune cells to treat disease, the researchers say.

Beatriz de Luis et al, Nanoprogrammed Cross-Kingdom Communication Between Living Microorganisms Nano Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02435. doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02435

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-bacteria-yeast-nanotranslator.html?ut...

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Sniffer ants can smell cancer better than dogs

Scientists have trained a colony of ants to sniff out cancerous cells with surprising accuracy.

Ants are able to detect cancer cells by sniffing out their unique odour, a new study has shown.

Individual ants only need a few training sessions to learn the scent of cancer... which researchers said make them more “feasible, fast and less laborious” than using other animals.

While this is the first study of its kind, researchers said it shows the potential of ants to act as a cancer bio-detector.

When cancerous cells grow they produce specific compounds, which can be detected using high-tech equipment or picked up by animals with especially sensitive noses. Dogs can smell cancer, as has been shown in recent research – one study found our canine companions could sniff out lung cancer with nearly 97 per cent accuracy.

However, training dogs is a lengthy and costly process. So, researchers at universities in France decided to investigate using different animals to detect cancer’s odour. Insects, being easily reared and inexpensive, seemed like a good choice. Their olfactory system is often crucial to their survival, leading them towards edible plants and willing mates.

• Ants can rapidly be conditioned to associate the odor of cancer cells with a reward
• •
  Ants discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells and between two cancerous lines
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  Discrimination relies on volatile organic compounds that are specific of cell lines

https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)00229-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004222002292%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

Extract from the bark of the Neem tree may help reduce the spread of coronavirus, an India-US research team reported.

xtract from the bark of a neem tree has shown antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a recently published study in Virology. The India-US research team hopes that the findings can support the development of new medications to lower the risk of serious illness and curb the spread of coronavirus infections.

The neem tree (Azadirachta indica) is a big-leaf mahogany indigenous to India. The tree’s various components have been reported to have various medicinal properties against certain virus, bacteria and parasites. The extracts derived from the bark in particular have beneficial effects against malaria, stomach and intestinal ulcers, and skin disorders, laboratory studies have shown.

Given the bark extract’s history in addressing diseases, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata and the University of Colorado in the US investigated whether neem extracts would similarly help suppress COVID-19 infections. The team combined different methods to comprehensively examine the extract’s effects against coronaviruses.

Part 1

Computer modeling done by the researchers revealed that the neem bark extract can target a wide range of viral proteins. Certain components can bind to various regions on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is responsible for enabling viral entry into human cells. The binding of neem compounds stabilizes the spike protein and effectively acts as a block on key regions that typically bind with the host cell. That prevents the spike proteins from fusing with the host cell.

Because the virus is no longer able to latch onto the host cells, it cannot access the host’s genetic machinery needed for its replication. The viral replication typically correlates with disease progression and severity, even allowing the virus to spread to other cells and organs in the body. Accordingly, cutting off this access point can prevent SARS-CoV-2 from severely damaging the body.

In the lab, the researchers introduced the bark extracts to samples of human lung cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. They found that the extracts inhibited viral infection and replication in the cells, primarily by reducing the expression of genes that code for the viral envelope. The envelope is an important outer layer that protects the virus’ genetic material and helps the virus move through the cell membrane to enter the cell.

By blocking entry and reducing viral replication, the extract also relieved other complications that COVID-19 causes, including inflammation in the brain and hepatitis in mice models.

Overall, the neem compounds showed potential as antiviral agents both for protecting against infection and mitigating disease severity after infection. Moreover, the researchers highlighted that the multi-targeted nature of its effects—particularly its capacity to bind to several spike regions—may make the extract effective against new variants that carry mutations in their spike protein.

part 2

Moving forward, the researchers aim to identify the specific compounds in the neem bark that are responsible for the antiviral effects. That could help guide the development of neem-based antiviral therapies and determining the dosage requirements for treating coronavirus infections.

“The antiviral properties of neem bark extract offer a new premise for restricting viral spread, replication and fusion. Our studies can guide new antiviral therapeutic efforts to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and hold promise for treating the future emergence of new coronavirus strains,” the authors wrote.

The article can be found at: Sarkar et al. (2022) Azadirachta indica A. Juss bark extract and it....

Part 3

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5 Signs of a Dark Empath - The Most Dangerous Personality Type

There Are 'Secret' Tunnels Connecting Your Skull And The Brain

Did you know you have tiny tunnels in your head? That's OK, no one else did either until recently! But that's exactly what a team of medical researchers confirmed in mice and humans in 2018 – tiny channels that connect skull bone marrow to the lining of the brain.

The research shows they may provide a direct route for immune cells to rush from the marrow into the brain in the event of damage.

Previously, scientists had thought immune cells were transported via the bloodstream from other parts of the body to deal with brain inflammation following a stroke, injury, or brain disorder.

This discovery suggests these cells have had a shortcut all along.

The tiny tunnels were uncovered when a team of researchers set out to learn whether immune cells delivered to the brain following a stroke or meningitis originated from the skull, or the larger of the two bones in the shin – the tibia.

The specific immune cells they followed were neutrophils, the "first responders" of the immune squad. When something goes awry, these are among the first cells the body sends to the site to help mitigate whatever is causing the inflammation.

The team developed a technique to tag cells with fluorescent membrane dyes that act as cell trackers. They treated these cells with the dyes, and injected them into bone marrow sites in mice. Red-tagged cells were injected into the skull, and green-tagged cells into the tibia.

Part 1

Once the cells had settled in, the researchers induced several models of acute inflammation, including stroke and chemically induced meningoencephalitis.

They found that the skull contributed significantly more neutrophils to the brain in the event of stroke and meningitis than the tibia. But that raised a new question – how were the neutrophils being delivered?

Unexpectedly scientists discovered tiny channels that connected the marrow directly with the outer lining of the brain!

Using organ-bath microscopy – which uses a chamber full of solution to maintain the integrity of the isolated tissue while it is being examined – the team imaged the inner surface of a mouse's skull. There, they found microscopic vascular channels directly connecting the skull marrow with the dura, the protective membrane that encases the brain.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-018-0213-2

Part 2

Researchers discover new form of ice

 Researchers have discovered a new form of ice, redefining the properties of water at high pressures.

Solid water, or ice, is like many other materials in that it can form different solid materials based on variable temperature and pressure conditions, like carbon forming diamond or graphite. However, water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice known to us.

A team of scientists  pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure. The water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds—freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly re-formed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.

By incrementally raising the pressure, and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice make the transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.

the transition to Ice-X, when water stiffens aggressively, occurs at much lower pressures than previously thought.

While it's unlikely we'll find this new phase of ice anywhere on the surface of Earth, it is likely a common ingredient within the mantle of Earth as well as in large moons and water-rich planets outside of our solar system.

Zachary M. Grande et al, Pressure-driven symmetry transitions in dense H2O ice, Physical Review B (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.105.104109

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ice.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_...

Scientists discover a new kind of cell death linked to copper

Copper is an essential element of life from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals. In humans, it binds to enzymes to help blood clot, hormones mature, and cells process energy. But too much copper kills cells—and now scientists have figured out how.

Copper is a double-edged sword: too little and cells can't survive. But too much, and cells die.

Researchers have uncovered a new form of cell death that is induced by copper.

found that copper binds to specialized proteins, causing them to form harmful clumps, and also interferes with the function of other essential proteins. Cells go into a state of toxic stress and ultimately die.

By shedding light on key components of this process, the research also identified which cells are particularly vulnerable to copper-induced death. The findings could help researchers better understand diseases in which copper is dysregulated, and could even inform the development of new cancer treatments. 

 Peter Tsvetkov et al, Copper induces cell death by targeting lipoylated TCA cycle proteins, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0529

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-kind-cell-death-linked.htm...

Sponges, not just their microbes, make biologically potent compounds

Marine sponges are incredible sources of structurally diverse and biologically active natural products. The development of secondary metabolites isolated from sponges into FDA approved drugs is well precedented, with representative examples such as the antiviral nucleoside, vidarabine, and the potent anticancer drug, eribulin mesylate, used in treatment of late-stage, metastatic breast cancer. Despite these success stories, the pharmaceutical industry has largely abandoned efforts to identify bioactive compounds from sponges due to challenges associated with the sustainable sourcing of raw material for extraction, chemical modification of intricate architectures, and overall lack of precedent regarding how sponges assemble these secondary metabolites. The San Diego intertidal and subtidal zones are home to an incredibly rich taxonomic diversity of sponges, presenting a unique opportunity to apply modern genomic and metabolomic approaches to identify new, bioactive scaffolds and decrypt their biosynthetic origin. We profiled over 20 species of sponges local to San Diego using classical and feature-based molecular networking, as well as examined the variation of microbial symbionts across phyla using culture-dependent and independent methods. Our access to fresh, local samples enabled our identification of a variety of novel, bioactive compounds and glean new insights into their genetic origin and environmental role in host-microbe interactions.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/945819

Link between high cholesterol and heart disease 'inconsistent', new study finds

New research from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has revealed that the link between 'bad' cholesterol (LDL-C) and poor health outcomes, such as heart attack and stroke, may not be as strong as previously thought.

Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the research questions the efficacy of statins when prescribed with the aim of lowering LDL-C and therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Previous research has suggested that using statins to lower LDL-C positively affects health outcomes, and this is reflected in the various iterations of expert guidelines for the prevention of CVD. Statins are now commonly prescribed by doctors, with one third of Irish adults over the age of 50 taking statins, according to previous research.

The new findings contradict this theory, finding that this relationship was not as strong as previously thought. Instead, the research demonstrates that lowering LDL-C using statins had an inconsistent and inconclusive impact on CVD outcomes such as myocardial infarction (MI), stoke, and all-cause mortality. 

In addition, it indicates that the overall benefit of taking statins may be small and will vary depending on an individual's personal risk factors.

Part 1

The lead author on the paper is Dr. Paula Byrne from the HRB Centre for Primary Care Research based in RCSI's Department of General Practice. Commenting on the findings, Dr. Byrne says that "the message has long been that lowering your cholesterol will reduce your risk of heart disease, and that statins help to achieve this. However, our research indicates that, in reality, the benefits of taking statins are varied and can be quite modest."

The researchers go on to suggest that this updated information should be communicated to patients through informed clinical decision-making and updated clinical guidelines and policy.

This important discovery was a collaboration with Professor Susan M Smith, also of RCSI and with researchers from the University of New Mexico, USA, (Dr. Robert DuBroff), the Institute for Scientific Freedom in Denmark (Dr. Maryanne Demasi), Bond University in Australia (Dr. Mark Jones) and independent researcher Dr. Kirsty O'Brien.

Evaluating the Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction and Relative and Absolute Effects of Statin Treatment, JAMA Internal Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0134

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-link-high-cholesterol-heart-...

Part 2

**

Smoke from major wildfires destroys the ozone layer, study shows

 A new study shows that smoke from wildfires destroys the ozone layer. Researchers caution that if major fires become more frequent with a changing climate, more damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun will reach the ground.

Atmospheric chemists found that smoke from the Australian wildfires of 2019 and 2020 destroyed atmospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere for months. The ozone shield is a part of the stratosphere layer of the Earth's atmosphere that absorbs UV rays from the sun.

The researchers used data from the Canadian Space Agency's Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite to measure the effects of smoke particles in the stratosphere. The results appear in the journal Science.

The Australian fires injected acidic smoke particles into the stratosphere, disrupting the chlorine, hydrogen and nitrogen chemistry that regulate ozone. This is the first large measurement of the smoke, which shows it converting these ozone-regulating compounds into more reactive compounds that destroy ozone.

Similar to the holes over polar regions, this damage is a temporary effect, and the ozone levels returned to pre-wildfire levels once the smoke disappeared from the stratosphere. But an increase in the prevalence of wildfires would mean the destruction happens more often.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm5611

How to clean solar panels without water

Scientists discover how molecule becomes anticancer weapon

Years of toil in the laboratory have revealed how a marine bacterium makes a potent anti-cancer molecule.

The anti-cancer molecule salinosporamide A, also called Marizomb, is in Phase III clinical trials  to treat glioblastoma, a brain cancer. Scientists now for the first time understand the enzyme-driven process that activates the molecule.

Researchers found that an enzyme called SalC assembles what the they call the salinosporamide anti-cancer "warhead." 

The work solves a nearly 20-year riddle about how the marine bacterium makes the warhead that is unique to the salinosporamide molecule and opens the door to future biotechnology to manufacture new anti-cancer agents.

Now that scientists understand how this enzyme makes the salinosporamide A warhead, that discovery could be used in the future to use enzymes to produce other types of salinosporamides that could attack not only cancer but diseases of the immune system and infections caused by parasites.

 Bradley Moore, Enzymatic assembly of the salinosporamide γ-lactam-β-lactone anticancer warhead, Nature Chemical Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-00993-w. www.nature.com/articles/s41589-022-00993-w

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-molecule-anticancer-weapon...

Microbial communities where cells cooperate have increased drug tolerance

New research  has revealed a key mechanism which increases tolerance to drugs amongst microbial communities. The findings could help the development of more effective antifungal treatments.

Antimicrobial drug resistance and tolerance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites no longer respond, or have less sensitivity, to treatments. It is a major issue within medicine, for example, invasive fungal infections are responsible for 1.6 million deaths annually.

Around the world, more people die each year from invasive fungal species than from malaria. There are currently only three classes of antifungal drugs in clinical use and in an increasing number of cases, these antifungals fail. Understanding the mechanisms which increase or decrease the chance of a drug working is crucial to aid the developments of new treatments.
Part 1

In their study, published in Nature Microbiology today, the scientists analyzed data from 12,000 microbial communities from all over the world, provided by the Earth Microbiome Project.

Within these groups of different microorganisms, which live together producing and absorbing materials they all need to survive and grow, the researchers found one type in particular was highly prevalent. Auxotrophs, which are unable to create essential metabolites, like amino acids, vitamins or fatty acids, were present in 99.95% of the 12,538 communities they studied.

The widespread nature of auxotrophs has been considered a paradox, a fundamental problem in our understanding of microbiology. This is because they must absorb metabolites from the environment and so they have been thought of as weaker than other cells which can create these chemical compounds themselves. They have been seen as scrounger cells, a drain on communal resources.

By analyzing drug exposure data from the project, the scientists found that communities with auxotrophs are more likely to have tolerance against hundreds of drugs, than communities without these cells. Moreover, the research showed that they are not scrounger cells, but rather cooperative partners as, in exchange for taking up metabolites that are essential for them, they return other metabolites to the community.

Further experiments using a yeast model showed that this increased tolerance is because cells that cooperate in metabolism, have increased levels of metabolic export, the movement of metabolites out of cells. As a side-effect, this also causes drugs to be moved out of cells at a higher rate.

Part 2

This work solves a paradox around auxotroph success by revealing how auxotrophs are very valuable to their communities. They increase the metabolic interactions within the communities, and by doing so, increase the tolerance to drugs. Additionally, the increase in metabolic flow also leads to an enrichment of the shared environment, with more supplies available that can be used for growth and survival.

Mohammad Alam, Microbial communities form rich extracellular metabolomes that foster metabolic interactions and promote drug tolerance, Nature Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01072-5. www.nature.com/articles/s41564-022-01072-5

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-microbial-cells-cooperate-drug-tolera...

Part 3

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Effectiveness of antibiotics significantly reduced when multiple bugs present

A study has found that much higher doses of antibiotics are needed to eliminate a bacterial infection of the airways when other microbes are present. It helps explain why respiratory infections often persist in people with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis despite treatment.

According to this study, even a low level of one type of microbe in the airways can have a profound effect on the way other microbes respond to antibiotics. 

The results highlight the need to consider the interaction between different species of microbe when treating infections with antibiotics—and to adjust dosage accordingly.

Thomas James O'Brien et al, Decreased efficacy of antimicrobial agents in a polymicrobial environment, The ISME Journal (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01218-7

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-effectiveness-antibiotics-significant...

You Don't Actually Know How Water Works

Researchers store a quantum bit for a record-breaking 20 milliseconds

Computers, smartphones, GPS: quantum physics has enabled many technological advances. It is now opening up new fields of research in cryptography (the art of coding messages) with the aim of developing ultra-secure telecommunications networks. There is one obstacle, however: after a few hundred kilometers within an optical fiber, the photons that carry the qubits or "quantum bits" (the information) disappear. They therefore need "repeaters," a kind of "relay," which are partly based on a quantum memory. By managing to store a qubit in a crystal (a "memory") for 20 milliseconds, a research team  has set a world record and taken a major step towards the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks. This research can be found in the journal npj Quantum Information.

Antonio Ortu et al, Storage of photonic time-bin qubits for up to 20 ms in a rare-earth doped crystal, npj Quantum Information (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41534-022-00541-3

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-quantum-bit-fora-record-breaking-mill...

New Lightweight Coating to Reduce Wood Flammability

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-wooden-materials-fire-resistant-eco-f...

These countries have the most polluted air in the world, new report says

Not a single country met the World Health Organization's quality for air in 2021, a new study suggested. And consequently, millions are breathing polluted air that does not satisfy WHO health guidelines, according to the report that analyzed real-time air quality of 6,475 cities.

Bangladesh was the most polluted country, while New Delhi, India, is the world's most polluted capital. The countries with the worst air pollution were India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, all exceeding WHO guidelines by 10 times.

Air pollution is considered the largest environmental threat, leading to 7 million deaths per year and other respiratory problems such as asthma and lung cancer

The top 10 best air quality countries or regions

1. New Caledonia
2. U.S Virgin Islands
3. Puerto Rico
4. Cape Verde
5. Saba
6. Finland
7. Grenada
8. Bahamas
9. Australia
10. Estonia

The top 10 worst air quality countries or regions

1. Bangladesh
2. Chad
3. Pakistan
4. Tajikistan
5. India
6. Oman
7. Kyrgyzstan
8. Bahrain
9. Iraq
10. Nepal

Source: Various News Agencies

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-countries-polluted-air-world.html?utm...

Research:humans have given wild animals their diseases nearly 100 times

An international research team has found that humans might give viruses back to animals more often than previously understood.

In a study published March 22 in Ecology Letters ("Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health"), the authors describe nearly one hundred different cases where diseases have undergone "spillback" from humans back into wild animals, much like how SARS-CoV-2 has been able to spread in mink farms, zoo lions and tigers, and wild white-tailed deer.

In their new study, Albery and colleagues found that almost half of the incidents identified occurred in captive settings like zoos, where veterinarians keep a close eye on animals' health and are more likely to notice when a virus makes the jump. Additionally, more than half of cases they found were human-to-primate transmission, an unsurprising result both because pathogens find it easier to jump between closely-related hosts, and because wild populations of endangered great apes are so carefully monitored.

Disease spillback has recently attracted substantial attention due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the United States and Canada. Some data suggest that deer have given the virus back to humans in at least one case, and many scientists have expressed broader concerns that new animal reservoirs might give the virus extra chances to evolve new variants.

Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health, Ecology Letters (2022).

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-humans-wild-animals-diseases.html?utm...

Hidden land subsidence crisis in Delhi unveiled using satellite data

Using satellite data, researchers have found that around 100 sq km in and around Delhi has high risk of land subsidence. Groundwater extraction is causing parts of the city to sink, with the largest area experiencing subsidence just 800m away from Delhi international airport.

Land subsidence is a severe often overlooked geological hazard and is a widespread global problem. It can be attributed to underground extraction of minerals, oil, gas and water, as well as natural events such as soil compaction, earthquake, and loess deposits. According to U.S. Geological Survey, more than 80% of land subsidence across the world is caused due to excessive groundwater extraction. When water is extracted from aquifers, the clay between pockets of water collapse gradually, leading to land subsidence.

A study titled "Tracking hidden crisis in India's capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use," published in Scientific Reports co-authored by researchers from IIT Bombay, German Research Centre for Geosciences, University of Cambridge and the Southern Methodist University US have found that the rate of land subsidence near Delhi airport is accelerating rapidly.

During the years 2014–2016, the subsidence was found to be approximately 11cm/year which rose significantly by almost 50% over the next two years to around 17cm/year. The trend remained almost the same during 2018–2019, the study found.

The airport requires stable ground because of the risk of major disruption if there's significant ground movement," Garg said. "Kuala Lumpur airport is an example to understand the implications of land subsidence where cracks on taxiways, and water-logging emerged due to soil settlement. Continuous monitoring of Delhi International airport and its connecting roads is therefore crucial."

The growing population expansion and urbanization require an enormous amount of water to fulfill the demand. There is a huge gap of 750 million liters a day between the demand and the supply. Millions of residents do not have access to a piped water supply and rely on groundwater for their daily needs. In some places, the water depth is as high as 120m below ground level. The groundwater shortage is further complicated by Delhi's unchecked urbanization, which is disrupting the rejuvenation of the city's aquifers. Concrete and other infrastructure have overtaken the city, blocking rainwater from absorbing into the ground.

Part 1

Despite its slow pace, land subsidence is known to cause losses worth billions of dollars all over the world due to damage to infrastructure, roads, pavements, and underground utilities such as drainage systems, aggravated flood risks and more frequent water-logging.

 Shagun Garg, Mahdi Motagh, J. Indu and Vamshi Karanam, Tracking hidden crisis in India's capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use, Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04193-9

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-hidden-subsidence-crisis-india-capita...

Part 2

Why flush toilets are wasteful 

 Flies can be used to detect use of chemical weapons, other pollutants

Researchers  have found that blow flies can be used as chemical sensors, with a particular focus on the detection of chemical warfare agents.

Despite widespread bans, it is alleged that chemical have been deployed in some of the recent conflicts.

A new study shows that blow flies could be used as a safer alternative for investigating the use of these weapons—as well as other chemicals in the environment—keeping humans out of potentially dangerous situations.

The work appears in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Blow flies are ubiquitous, and they are very adept at sampling the environment around us. They will fly through the environment, taste it, and that information will be stored in their guts. Through a series of experiments, researchers  were able to look at how different environmental factors would impact their detection of chemical weapon simulants.

A mass spectrometer can be used to determine what chemicals were in the blow flies' guts after they fly through a dangerous environment.

While chemical warfare agents do not persist for long in the environment, the researchers found they're preserved well enough in the fly's guts for chemical analysis. They also were able to detect the chemical warfare agent simulants up to 14 days after a fly's initial exposure—illustrating a safer alternative for the collection of samples, without risking human lives.

Sarah N. Dowling et al, Insects as Chemical Sensors: Detection of Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants and Hydrolysis Products in the Blow Fly Using LC-MS/MS, Environ. Sci. Technol. (2022). doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07381

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-flies-chemical-weapons-pollutants.htm...

Study: Sickle Cell Mutation Driven by Pressure, Not Random Chance

New research finds that the appearance of the HbS mutation, which protects against malaria but leads to sickle cell disease when present in two copies, was more common in sperm samples from men in Ghana, where malaria risk is high, than Europeans.

New research challenges the overarching assumption that genetic mutations occur randomly and are then either kept or discarded by natural selection. In the study, published January 14 in Genome Research, scientists found that the rate of a specific mutation with important health implications is nonrandom, occurring more or less often in different populations that have experienced specific environmental pressures over the course of generations.

analyzed tens to hundreds of millions of sperm cells from each of seven donors from Ghana and four from Europe, comparing how often mutations occurred in regions of two hemoglobin subunit genes in each group. They found that the hemoglobin S (HbS) mutation of the hemoglobin subunit beta (HBB) gene, which is known to protect against malaria but causes sickle cell disease when two copies are present, occurred more often in samples from the African cohort than the European one, while mutations to the similar and nearby gene for the delta subunit, which isn’t protective against malaria, did not.

Because the study focused on sperm samples, which are equivalent to a single generation, natural selection and genetic drift had no influence on the prevalence of mutations.  And given the medical importance of the mutation exhibiting increased occurrence in the African cohort, the results raise a fundamental challenge to the notion of random mutation.

These  differences in mutation rates can be occurring down to very fine resolution, that they can differ between populations, and that could help explain evolutionary processes like adaptation to disease.

However, Other researchers in the field aren’t entirely convinced by the study’s big-picture conclusions about the nature of evolution, though they were impressed by the technological advancement it represents.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/study-sickle-cell-mutati...

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New study reveals why HIV remains in human tissue even after antiretroviral therapy

Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, HIV infection is no longer the life sentence it once was. But despite the effectiveness of drugs to manage and treat the virus, it can never be fully eliminated from the human body, lingering in some cells deep in different human tissues where it goes unnoticed by the immune system.

Now, new research  reveals a possible answer to the mystery of why infected people can't get rid of HIV altogether. 

The study found that in HIV patients, killer T cells—a type of white blood cells responsible for identifying and destroying cells infected with viruses—have very little to none of a protein called CD73.

Because CD73 is responsible for migration and cell movement into the tissue, the lack of the protein compromises the ability of killer T cells to find and eliminate HIV-infected cells. This mechanism explains one potential reason for why HIV stays in human tissues forever.

Following extensive studies, researchers discovered that chronic inflammation results in increased levels of a type of RNA found in cells and in blood, called microRNAs. These are very small types of RNA that can bind to messenger RNAs to block them from making CD73 protein. It was  found that this was causing the CD73 gene to be suppressed.

The team's discovery also helps explain why people with HIV have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis,

This provides us the opportunity to come up with potential new treatments that would help killer T cells migrate better to gain access to the infected cells in different tissues.

Shima Shahbaz et al, Elevated ATP via enhanced miRNA-30b, 30c, and 30e downregulates the expression of CD73 in CD8+ T cells of HIV-infected individuals, PLOS Pathogens (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010378

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-reveals-hiv-human-tissue-ant...

New technique transplants mitochondria from one living cell to another

In a technological breakthrough, researchers  have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria—the tiny powerhouses of the cell—from one living cell to another with unparalleled efficiency.

Just as the human body can be divided into different organs—such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, intestine or liver—our cells also consist of several complementary and interdependent systems. These are referred to as organelles, meaning small organs. And much as we are sometimes able to add several decades to the life of a patient with kidney disease by transplanting a healthy kidney, we may one day also be able to rejuvenate individual cells by transplanting cell components.

New findings  suggest that it has now reached the point of technical feasibility. In their research, recently published in the journal PLOS Biology, the researchers successfully used a "nanosyringe" they had previously developed to transplant mitochondria from one living cell to another.

Using cylindrical nanosyringes that were specially developed for this study, the researchers pierced the cell membrane and sucked up the spherical mitochondria. They then pierced the membrane of a different cell and pumped the mitochondria back out of the nanosyringe into the recipient cell.

The position of the nanosyringe is controlled by laser light from a converted atomic force microscope. A pressure regulator adjusts the flow, allowing scientists to transfer incredibly small volumes of fluid in the femtolitre range (millionths of a millionth of a milliliter) during organelle transplants. "Both the donor and acceptor cells survive this minimally invasive procedure.

The transplanted mitochondria also have a high survival rate—more than 80 percent. In most cells, the injected mitochondria begin to fuse with the filamentous network of the new cell 20 minutes after transplantation. The host cell accepts them. This holds true in most cases, though in a few cells they fall victim to the host cell's quality control system and are degraded.

 It is conceivable that it could be used to rejuvenate stem cells, which exhibit a decline in metabolic activity as they age. 

Christoph G. Gäbelein et al, Mitochondria transplantation between living cells, PLOS Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001576

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-technique-transplants-mitochondria-ce...

Scientists find microplastics in blood for first time

Scientists have discovered microplastics in human blood for the first time, warning that the ubiquitous particles could also be making their way into organs.

The tiny pieces of mostly invisible plastic have already been found almost everywhere else on Earth, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains as well as in the air, soil and food chain.

A Dutch study published in the Environment International journal on Thursday examined blood samples from 22 anonymous, healthy volunteers and found microplastics in nearly 80 percent of them.

Half of the blood samples showed traces of PET plastic, widely used to make drink bottles, while more than a third had polystyrene, used for disposable food containers and many other products.

This is the first time scientists have actually been able to detect and quantify such microplastics in human blood.

This is proof that we have plastics in our body—and we shouldn't. It impacts our health.

The study said the microplastics could have entered the body by many routes: via air, water or food, but also in products such as particular toothpastes, lip glosses and tattoo ink.

Heather A. Leslie et al, Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood, Environment International (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-microplastics-blood.html?u...