One step closer to creating new hair follicles

In a new study,  researchers take a unique approach to identify the molecular signals that induce a critical trigger for hair follicle formation and regeneration.

The findings could prove crucial for developing new therapies to re-grow hair—and provide a blueprint for unraveling other mysteries of tissue growth at the cellular level.

This is a decades-old problem that has been unsolvable because formation of the dermal condensate, the signaling center that induces the growth and differentiation of hair follicles, has been difficult to visualize and capture due to how rapidly they form.

Dermal condensates (DCs) are densely-packed clusters of cells, located under the skin's outer layer. DCs act as central commanders of hair follicle activity by sending signals to the skin's outer layer, instructing it to form hair follicles and determining follicle size.

Unraveling the steps that induce DC formation has been a major challenge for researchers, because the process is difficult to track over time and tease apart experimentally. Overcoming this barrier could open the door to effective methods for reproducing DCs to test new drugs for hair loss and to generate hair follicles in 3D culture models.

For this study researchers  took a unique approach to study DCs.

Using single-cell RNA-sequencing data from mouse skin, they designed a computational approach to align a series of single-cell profile "snapshots" to reconstruct the time course of DC development. This provided a roadmap that delineates how an immature dermal cell drives itself to maturity. More importantly, the approach allowed the researchers to investigate the molecular signals that serve as engines in the process. By combining their computational findings with in vivo genetic experiments, they were able to pin down the critical signals involved in DC formation.

One of the signals is known as Wnt and the other is called "sonic hedgehog," or SHH. Both signals are considered essential in the development of many tissue types and play a role in regulating adult tissue homeostasis and regeneration. They are also implicated in pathological states such as cancer when they are aberrantly overactivated.

For the study, the researchers were able to genetically modulate these signals to curtail the speed of DC formation, effectively playing out the DC formation process in slow motion.

This work will help pave the way to developing robust methods for recreating DCs in the laboratory, and for adult hair follicle regeneration.

https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/one-step-closer-to-creating-...

Researchers obtain functional human blood cells via interspecies chimerism

Interspecies chimerism is a phenomenon of an organism consisting of tissue and genetic information from two different species. Currently, many studies investigate the use of interspecies chimerism with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to generate functional human cells, tissues or organs in large animals, which is expected to solve the shortage of functional tissues and organs for transplant. However, hPSCs interspecies chimerism faces barriers due to the extremely low chimeric contribution of hPSCs.

Recently, research teams led by Prof. Pan Guangjin and Prof. Lai Liangxue from the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) made new progress on hPSCs interspecies chimerism. They developed an enhanced hPSCs in interspecies chimerism that allows the obtaining of functional human blood cells through interspecies chimerism technology for the first time. The study is published online in Stem Cell Reports.

The teams discovered that the rapid apoptosis  of hPSCs in the interspecies embryos was mainly due to the growth disadvantage and a "loser" state competing with the host animal stem cells. A new factor MYCN combined with anti-apoptotic gene BCL2 effectively overcame apoptosis of hPSCs and markedly promoted chimerism formation.

Strikingly, the teams isolated live human blood progenitor cells from blood-deficient mice through interspecies chimerism using hPSCs for complementation. The obtained cells can be further cultured and differentiated into different blood cells in dish.

This work presents an important method for understanding the interspecies chimerism barrier using hPSCs. The enhanced hPSCs for interspecies chimerism lays the foundation for acquiring human cells, tissues and organs for transplantation purposes in the future.

Yanling Zhu et al, Generating functional cells through enhanced interspecies chimerism with human pluripotent stem cells, Stem Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.009

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-functional-human-blood-cells-interspe...

Tumors partially destroyed with sound don't come back

Noninvasive sound technology developed recently by researchers breaks down liver tumors in rats, kills cancer cells and spurs the immune system to prevent further spread—an advance that could lead to improved cancer outcomes in humans.

By destroying only 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume, the rats' immune systems were able to clear away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% animals.

Even if we don't target the entire tumor, we can still cause the tumor to regress and also reduce the risk of future metastasis. 

Results also showed the treatment stimulated the rats' immune responses, possibly contributing to the eventual regression of the untargeted portion of the tumor and preventing further spread of the cancer.

The treatment, called histotripsy, noninvasively focuses ultrasound waves to mechanically destroy target tissue with millimeter precision. The relatively new technique is currently being used in a human liver cancer trial in the United States and Europe.

Tejaswi Worlikar, Man Zhang, Anutosh Ganguly, Timothy L. Hall, Jiaqi Shi, Lili Zhao, Fred T. Lee, Mishal Mendiratta-Lala, Clifford S. Cho, Zhen Xu. Impact of Histotripsy on Development of Intrahepatic Metastases in a Rodent Liver Tumor Model. Cancers, 2022; 14 (7): 1612 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14071612

First US trial of GM mosquitoes

The results are in from the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the United States. The British biotechnology company Oxitec, which ran the experiment, reported in a webinar that its insects behaved as planned: bioengineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes hatched, spread and mated with the wild population. A survey of more than 20,000 mosquito eggs laid in the area confirmed that all the females that inherited a deadly gene from a bioengineered dad died before they reached adulthood. More research is needed to discover whether the method successfully suppresses the wild population or achieves its ultimate goal of reducing the transmission of diseases carried by the mosquitoes, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Hypersonic Missiles

NASA Beamed a Doctor to The ISS in a World-First 'Holoportation' Achievement

There's never been a house call quite like this. In a first for telepresence communication, a NASA flight surgeon was 'holoported' to the International Space Station (ISS), appearing and conversing as a virtual presence in real time, hundreds of miles above the surface of Earth.

 When NASA flight surgeon Josef Schmid was beamed up to the ISS in October of last year, the illusion was made possible thanks to Microsoft's 'holoportation' technology, which lets users interact with 3D representations of remote participants in real time.

Unlike traditional holographic projections that appear to hover in the air for anybody to see, holoportation requires the use of an augmented reality headset, such as Microsoft's HoloLens technology, for the wearer to be able to perceive (and interact with) the remotely captured individual(s), who are filmed with a multiple-camera setup in their actual location.

In this case, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who was on board the ISS and wearing such a headset, had a two-way conversation with Schmid and members of his medical team, along with Fernando De La Pena Llaca, the CEO of AEXA Aerospace, which develops custom holoportation software (the kind that made this ISS session possible).

https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-surgeon-beamed-to-international-s...

There's Something Different About Clouds in Antarctica

Clouds that form in the frosty air above Antarctica are different in the way that water and ice interact inside them, a new study reveals – and that in turn changes how much sunlight they reflect back into space, which is important for climate change models.

Through a combination of modeling, satellite imagery and data collected from flying through the clouds themselves, researchers have identified a process of 'secondary' ice production. This means icy particles collide with supercooled water droplets, freezing and then shattering them, creating many more shards of ice.

The technical term for this sequence of events is Hallett-Mossop rime splintering. It dims the clouds, reducing the amount of sunlight that's reflected back into space, and allowing more of it through into the ocean below. "The Southern Ocean is a massive global heat sink, but its ability to take heat from the atmosphere depends on the temperature structure of the upper ocean, which relates to the cloud cover.

Based on the researchers' calculations, in clouds at temperatures between -3°C and -8°C (26.6°F and 17.6°F), around 10 Watts per square meter of extra energy could reach the ocean from the Sun, enough to significantly change temperatures.

Ice formation inside these clouds is very efficient, and the resulting ice can fall down into the ocean very quickly, too. That rapidly reduces the amount of water in the clouds, and shifts several of their key characteristics from a reflectance point of view.

What's happening inside the clouds also affects their shape, creating further consequences for how well they protect the water underneath.

All these factors need to be weighed up in order to produce climate models that are as accurate as possible.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021AV000454

Astronomers discover micronovae, a new kind of stellar explosion

A team of astronomers, with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), have observed a new type of stellar explosion—a micronova. These outbursts happen on the surface of certain stars, and can each burn through around 3.5 billion Great Pyramids of Giza of stellar material in only a few hours.

The phenomenon challenges our understanding of how thermonuclear explosions in stars occur. We thought we knew this, but this discovery proposes a totally new way to achieve them.

Micronovae are extremely powerful events, but are small on astronomical scales; they are much less energetic than the stellar explosions known as novae, which astronomers have known about for centuries. Both types of explosions occur on white dwarfs, dead stars with a mass about that of our sun, but as small as Earth.

A white dwarf in a two-star system can steal material, mostly hydrogen, from its companion star if they are close enough together. As this gas falls onto the very hot surface of the white dwarf star, it triggers the hydrogen atoms to fuse into helium explosively. In novae, these thermonuclear explosions occur over the entire stellar surface. Such detonations make the entire surface of the white dwarf burn and shine brightly for several weeks.

Micronovae are similar explosions that are smaller in scale and faster, lasting just several hours. They occur on some white dwarfs with strong magnetic fields, which funnel material towards the star's magnetic poles. For the first time, researchers have now seen that hydrogen fusion can also happen in a localized way. The hydrogen fuel can be contained at the base of the magnetic poles of some white dwarfs, so that fusion only happens at these magnetic poles.

This leads to micro-fusion bombs going off, which have about one millionth of the strength of a nova explosion, hence the name micronova.

 Simone Scaringi et al, Localized thermonuclear bursts from accreting magnetic white dwarfs, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04495-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04495-6

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-astronomers-micronovae-kind-stellar-e...

Nanoparticles can cross the placenta during pregnancy, potentially exposing fetus

Most nanoparticles are engineered, with few produced naturally. These particles are used in thousands of products, from sunscreens to pharmaceuticals to sports equipment. They are highly valued because they can enhance the effectiveness of drugs and produce sturdy-though-lightweight products.

Nanoparticles are so named because they are less than 100 nanometers wide, meaning they are tens of thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair. Despite their usefulness, nanoscale materials are poorly understood, with very little known about the potential effects on human health and the environment.

Inhaled nanoparticles—human-made specks so minuscule they can't be seen in conventional microscopes, found in thousands of common products—can cross a natural, protective barrier that normally protects fetuses, according to  scientists studying factors that produce low-birth-weight babies.

The scientists reported in the medical journal Placenta they were able to track the movement of nanoparticles made of metal titanium dioxide through the bodies of pregnant rats. After the nanoparticles were inhaled into the lungs of the rodents, some of them escaped this initial barrier. From there, the particles flowed through the placentas, which generally filter out foreign substances to protect the fetus.

Using some specialized techniques, researchers found evidence that the particles can migrate from the lung to the placenta and possibly the fetal tissues after maternal exposure throughout pregnancy. The placenta does not act as a barrier to these particles. Nor do the lungs.

Part 1

During the experiment, scientists were surprised to also detect titanium dioxide in the "control" group of rats that hadn't been given nanoparticles to inhale. It turns out the food given to the animals contained titanium dioxide. As a result, the researchers were able to observe the path the metal took through a rat's body.

The research emerged from investigations into the causes of low birth weight in human infants. Newborns weighing less than 5.5 pounds can suffer adverse health effects as infants and throughout their lives.

According to Stapleton, one theory is mothers who give birth to babies with low birth weights may have inhaled harmful particulates. The resulting inflammation may affect bodily systems, such as blood flow in the uterus, that could inhibit growth of the fetus.

J.N. D'Errico et al, Maternal, placental, and fetal distribution of titanium after repeated titanium dioxide nanoparticle inhalation through pregnancy, Placenta (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2022.03.008

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-nanoparticles-placenta-pregn...

Part 2

Study shows everyday plastic products release trillions of microsco...

Plastics surround us, whether it's the grocery bags we use at the supermarket or household items such as shampoo and detergent bottles. Plastics don't exist only as large objects, but also as microscopic particles that are released from these larger products. These microscopic plastics can end up in the environment, and they can be ingested into our bodies.

**

Using bacteria to build settlements on Mars

In collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a sustainable method for making bricks out of Martian soil, using bacteria and urea. These "space bricks" can be used to construct building-like structures on Mars that could facilitate human settlement on the red planet.

**

Scientists invented a ‘biohybrid’ fish that swims with a pacemaker

Hidden miracles of the natural world: brought before your eyes by science

How does GPS work?

New discoveries about the origin of the brain's immune system

What gets into the brain and what doesn't is strictly regulated. Researchers  have now studied phagocytes that coat the blood vessels in the brain and reinforce the blood-brain barrier. As the scientists have shown, these cells only mature fully after birth according to a defined step-by-step developmental program. Until now, it had been assumed that this process was completed during embryonic development. Their studies, which were published in the journal Nature on April 20, 2022, were initially carried out on genetically modified mouse lines and were confirmed on human samples. They are expected to provide important insights into the development and treatment of diseases of the brain.

Researchers  were able to show that the immune cells we studied migrate from the cerebral membrane to the blood vessels in the brain shortly before birth and mature there. This process is probably not completed until weeks after birth and could partly explain why the brain is so vulnerable at the beginning of life.

The late timing of the maturation of the phagocytes, also called macrophages, was very surprising , since the precursor cells are already present in the brain long before. In addition, the scientists were able to show for the first time that the vessels, as structure-giving cells of the brain, send important signals for normal development of the brain's macrophages.

The blood-brain barrier is formed by cells on the blood vessels of the brain. They control which substances can enter the brain and which cannot. This protects the brain from harmful substances and pathogens. The blood-brain barrier is particularly permeable in the case of infectious diseases, certain brain tumors and oxygen deficiency.

Significance for Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and more
In addition to the blood-brain barrier, the immune cells scientists studied control what can reach the brain cells from the blood, they eat pathogens and prevent excessive inflammation. They are also involved in the development of cancer, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. These findings could be important for a better understanding of these diseases and future therapies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04596-2

https://researchnews.cc/news/12820/New-discoveries-about-the-origin...

New  duality found in theoretical particle physics

A new and surprising duality has been discovered in theoretical particle physics. The duality exists between two types of scattering processes that can occur in the proton collisions made in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland and France. The fact that this connection can, surprisingly, be made points to the fact that there is something in the intricate details of the standard model of particle physics that is not fully understood. The standard model is the model of the world on sub-atomic scale that explains all particles and their interactions, so when surprises appear, there is cause for attention. The scientific article is now published in Physical Review Letters.

The concept of duality occurs in different areas of physics. The most well known duality is probably the particle-wave duality in quantum mechanics. The famous double-slit experiment shows that light behaves like a wave, while Albert Einstein received his Nobel prize for showing that light behaves like a particle.

The strange thing is that light is actually both and neither of the two at the same time. There are simply two ways we can look at this entity, light, and each comes with a mathematical description. Both with a completely different intuitive idea, but still describe the same thing.

What physicists have now found is a similar duality. They calculated the prediction for one scattering process and for another scattering process.

Their current calculations are less experimentally tangible than the famous double slit experiment, but there is a clear mathematical map between the two, and it shows that they both contain the same information. They are linked, somehow.

Part 1

Physicists calculated the scattering process for two gluons interacting to produce four gluons, as well as the scattering process for two gluons interacting to produce a gluon and a Higgs particle, both in a slightly simplified version of the standard model. To their surprise, they found that the results of these two calculations are related. A classical case of duality. Somehow, the answer for how likely it is for one scattering process to happen carries within it the answer for how likely it is for the other scattering process to happen. The strange thing about this duality is that we don't know why this relation between the two different scattering processes exists. Physicists are mixing two very different physical properties of the two predictions, and they see the relation, but it is still a bit of a mystery wherein the connection lies.

According to current understanding, the two should not be connected—but with the discovery of this surprising duality, the only proper way to react to it is to investigate further.

Lance J. Dixon et al, Folding Amplitudes into Form Factors: An Antipodal Duality, Physical Review Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.111602

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-duality-theoretical-particle-physics....

Part 2

Scientists discover how salt in tumors could help diagnose and treat breast cancer

Analyzing sodium levels in breast cancer tumors can give an accurate indication of how aggressive a cancer is and whether chemotherapy treatments are taking effect, new research has shown.

In this new study, researchers developed a technique using sodium magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect salt levels in breast cancer tumours in mice.

Using this technique, the researchers looked at breast cancer tumours and discovered that salt (sodium) was being accumulated inside cancer cells and that more active tumors accumulate more sodium.

The researchers then took a group of 18 tumors and targeted some of them with chemotherapy treatment. When they scanned the tumors a week later they found that sodium levels had reduced in the tumors treated with chemotherapy.

Imaging salt levels could be a vital new tool to help diagnose and monitor breast cancer, the researchers say. The team is now conducting an observational study to see if their results can be replicated in human breast cancer patients.

Andrew D. James et al, Sodium accumulation in breast cancer predicts malignancy and treatment response, British Journal of Cancer (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41416-022-01802-w

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-scientists-salt-tumors-breas...

Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

An enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists  can break down environment-throttling plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in just a matter of hours to days.

This discovery, published recently in Nature, could help solve one of the world's most pressing environmental problems: what to do with the billions of tons of plastic waste piling up in landfills and polluting our natural lands and water. The enzyme has the potential to supercharge recycling on a large scale that would allow major industries to reduce their environmental impact by recovering and reusing plastics at the molecular level.

The project focuses on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a significant polymer found in most consumer packaging, including cookie containers, soda bottles, fruit and salad packaging, and certain fibers and textiles. It makes up 12% of all global waste.

The enzyme was able to complete a "circular process" of breaking down the plastic into smaller parts (depolymerization) and then chemically putting it back together (repolymerization). In some cases, these plastics can be fully broken down to monomers in as little as 24 hours.

Hal Alper, Machine learning-aided engineering of hydrolases for PET depolymerization, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04599-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04599-z

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-plastic-eating-enzyme-billions-tons-l...

Study identifies causes of cancer

A team of  researchers can now quantify the factors causing changes in the DNA that contribute most to cancer growth in tumors of most major tumor types.

They write in a new paper, published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, that their new molecular analysis approach brings clarity to a longstanding debate over how much control humans have over developing cancer across time.

Looking at the instances of specific genetic mutations can reveal the extent to which preventable exposures like ultraviolet light caused tumor growth in 24 cancers.

We can now answer the question—to the best of our knowledge—'What is the underlying source of the key mutations that changed those cells to become a cancer instead of remaining normal tissue'.

Previously, scientists have shown that they can reliably predict how certain factors that cause specific mutations that alter the genome in tissues. By combining this knowledge with their method that quantifies the contribution of each mutation to cancer, researchers showed the specific percentage of the blame to be assigned to known and unknown but identified factors in the emergence of cancer.

This work now done is really direct: scientists look in your tumor, and they see the signal written in your tumor of what caused that cancer.

They write in their report that some cancers are more controllable than others.For example, preventable factors account for a large part of the formation of tumors of the bladder and skin. However, they found that prostate cancers and gliomas are largely attributable due to internal age-associated processes.

Attribution of cancer origins to endogenous, exogenous, and preventable mutational processes, Molecular Biology And Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac084

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-cancer.html?utm_source=nwlet...

Heat flow shown to be more efficient when temperature is oscillatin...

A team of researchers from the Institute of Scientific Instruments working with a colleague from Charles University, both in the Czech Republic, has shown that heat flows more efficiently when the temperature of the material through which it is flowing oscillates, as opposed to remaining steady. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes experiments they conducted with heating and cooling helium in a container and its relevance to a theory proposed just two years ago.

--

Discovery of the one-way superconductor, thought to be impossible

Associate professor Mazhar Ali and his research group at TU Delft have discovered one-way superconductivity without magnetic fields, something that was thought to be impossible ever since its discovery in 1911—up until now. The discovery, published in Nature, makes use of 2D quantum materials and paves the way toward superconducting computing. Superconductors can make electronics hundreds of times faster, all with zero energy loss. Ali: "If the 20th century was the century of semiconductors, the 21st can become the century of the superconductor."

New evidence of how exercise can counter diabetes damage

 One way exercise can counter the damage of diabetes is by enabling activation of a natural system we have to grow new blood vessels when existing ones are ravaged by this disease, scientists report.

Angiogenesis is the ability to form new blood vessels, and diabetes not only damages existing blood vessels, it hinders this innate ability to grow new ones in the face of disease and injury, say experts.

Endothelial cells line our blood vessels and are essential to that new blood vessel growth.

Now the MCG scientists have the first evidence that in the face of diabetes, even one 45-minute session of moderate intensity exercise enables more exosomes, submicroscopic packages filled with biologically active cargo, to deliver directly to those cells more of the protein, ATP7A, which can set angiogenesis in motion, they report in The FASEB Journal.

Kareem Abdelsaid, Varadarajan Sudhahar, Ryan A. Harris, Archita Das, Seock‐Won Youn, Yutao Liu, Maggie McMenamin, Yali Hou, David Fulton, Mark W. Hamrick, Yaoliang Tang, Tohru Fukai, Masuko Ushio‐Fukai. Exercise improves angiogenic function of circulating exosomes in type 2 diabetes: Role of exosomal SOD3. The FASEB Journal, 2022; 36 (3) DOI: 10.1096/fj.202101323R

https://researchnews.cc/news/12860/New-evidence-of-how-exercise-can...

How the James Webb Space Telescope Will Unfold the Universe

Antibiotics diminish babies’ immune response to key vaccines

The drugs disrupt gut bacteria, which appear to play a part in the body’s response to vaccines

Taking antibiotics in the first two years of life can prevent babies from developing a robust immune response to certain vaccines. The new finding provides another cautionary tale against overusing antibiotics, researchers say.

Babies get immunized in their first six months, and receive booster doses in their second year, to protect against certain infectious diseases. Antibiotic use during that time was associated with subpar immune responses to four vaccines babies receive to ward off whooping cough, polio and other diseases, researchers report online April 27 in Pediatrics.

And the more rounds of antibiotics a child received, the more antibody levels to the vaccines dropped below what’s considered protective. Levels induced by the primary series of shots for the polio, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal vaccines fell 5 to 11 percent with each antibiotic course. In the children’s second year, antibody levels generated by booster shots of these vaccines dropped 12 to 21 percent per course.

If anyone needed yet another reason why overprescription of antibiotics is not a good thing, this research results offers that reason.

Taking antibiotics disrupts the population of bacteria that live in the gut. That’s well known, but researchers are still learning about how that disruption can affect a person’s health. The new study adds to evidence that diminishing the amount and diversity of gut bacteria impacts vaccination. In studies in mice, antibiotics hampered the immune system’s response to vaccines. And a small study in humans found that antibiotics dampened adults’ response to the flu vaccine in those whose prior immune memory for influenza had waned. (1)

The study in Pediatrics is the first to report an association between antibiotic use and compromised vaccine responses in children. 

The type and length of antibiotic treatment also made a difference. Broad spectrum drugs were associated with antibody levels below what is protective, while a more targeted antibiotic was not. Furthermore, a 10-day course, but not a five-day course, reduced vaccine-induced antibody levels.

T.J. Chapman et al. Antibiotic use and vaccine antibody levels. Pediatrics. Published online April 27, 2022. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-052061

T. Hagan et al. Antibiotics-driven gut microbiome perturbation alters immunity to v.... Cell. Vol. 178, September 2019, p. 1313. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.010

All of the bases in DNA and RNA have now been found in meteorites

The discovery adds to evidence that suggests life’s precursors came from space

More of the ingredients for life have been found in meteorites.

Space rocks that fell to Earth within the last century contain the five bases that store information in DNA and RNA, scientists report April 26 in Nature Communications.

These “nucleobases” — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil — combine with sugars and phosphates to make up the genetic code of all life on Earth. Whether these basic ingredients for life first came from space or instead formed in a warm soup of earthly chemistry is still not known. But the discovery adds to evidence that suggests life’s precursors originally came from space, the researchers say.

Y. Oba et al. Identifying the wide diversity of extraterrestrial purine and pyrim.... Nature Communications. April 26, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29612-x.

Researchers discover new function performed by nearly half of brain cells

Researchers  have discovered a previously unknown function performed by a type of cell that comprises nearly half of all cells in the brain.

The scientists say this discovery in mice of a new function by cells known as astrocytes opens a whole new direction for neuroscience research that might one day lead to treatments for many disorders ranging from epilepsy to Alzheimer's to traumatic brain injury.

It comes down to how astrocytes interact with neurons, which are fundamental cells of the brain and nervous system that receive input from the outside world. Through a complex set of electrical and chemical signaling, neurons transmit information between different areas of the brain and between the brain and the rest of the nervous system.

Until now, scientists thought astrocytes were important, but lesser cast members in this activity. Astrocytes guide the growth of axons, the long, slender projection of a neuron that conducts electrical impulses. They also control neurotransmitters, chemicals that enable the transfer of electrical signals throughout the brain and nervous system. In addition, astrocytes build the blood-brain barrier and react to injury.

But they did not seem to be electrically active like the all-important neurons—until now. 

The electrical activity of astrocytes changes how neurons function.

Neuroscientists now have discovered a new way that two of the most important cells in the brain talk to each other. Because there is so much unknown about how the brain works, discovering new fundamental processes that control brain function is key to developing novel treatments for neurological diseases.

Neuron-to-neuron communication occurs through the release of packets of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Scientists knew that astrocytes control neurotransmitters, helping to make sure that neurons stay healthy and active. But the new study reveals that neurons also release potassium ions, which change the electrical activity of the astrocyte and how it controls the neurotransmitters.

So the neuron is controlling what the astrocyte is doing, and they are communicating back and forth. Neurons and astrocytes talk with each other in a way that has not been known about before.

Moritz Armbruster, Neuronal activity drives pathway-specific depolarization of peripheral astrocyte processes, Nature Neuroscience (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01049-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01049-x

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-function-brain-cells.html?ut...

Scientists call for cap on production to end plastic pollution

Now, after the United Nations' historic decision to adopt a global treaty to end plastic pollution earlier this year, governmental negotiations on the agreement are set to begin on May 30th. These will foster intense debates on what kind of measures will be needed to end the pollution of the air, soils, rivers and oceans with plastic debris and microplastics.

In a letter to the journal Science, an international group of scientists and experts now argue for tackling the issue right at the source, by regulating, capping, and in the long term phasing out the production of new plastics. because, they think, recycling is not enough.

Even if we recycled better and tried to manage the waste as much as we can, we would still release more than 17 million tons of plastic per year into nature. If production just keeps growing and growing, we will be faced with a truly Sisyphean task.

 Melanie Bergmann et al, A global plastic treaty must cap production, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abq0082

Winnie W. Y. Lau et al, Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution, Science (2020). DOI: 10.1126/science.aba9475

Nils Simon et al, A binding global agreement to address the life cycle of plastics, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abi9010

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-scientists-cap-production-plastic-pol...

Osteoarthritis: Realigning bad knees may prompt the body to generate cartilage again

Osteoarthritis is a wear-and-tear disorder marked by bone thickening and cartilage degeneration, an excruciatingly painful disability and a major cause of impaired mobility as people age. But scientists have begun viewing this form of arthritis differently with a deeper understanding of the disorder's causes and an eye toward personalized medicine as a treatment option.

Although for decades medical experts have focused on problems such as the pain caused by bone thickening and the disappearance of cartilage, scientists conducting research in Homburg, Germany at the Institute of Experimental Orthopedics and Osteoarthritis Research, say bone malalignment may play a critical role in osteoarthritis. In a novel clinical study, medical scientists demonstrate how the alignment problem can contribute to osteoarthritis—and they also suggest that correcting it can protect cartilage and reverse its degeneration.

Researchers launched a two-pronged approach to the problem demonstrating in both animal research and in a human case study that relieving a troublesome misalignment of the joint can help alleviate pain and restore the shock-absorbing role of cartilage in the knee. They report that malalignment of a joint can cause excessive pressure to be placed on it in a manner similar to a condition known as varus malalignment, more commonly known as bow-leggedness. People with severe forms of that condition can suffer cartilage loss and impaired mobility.

By correcting the misaligned joint—unloading pressure on it—the team discovered they could restore function and reduce pain.

Tamás Oláh et al, Axial alignment is a critical regulator of knee osteoarthritis, Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn0179

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-osteoarthritis-bad-knees-pro...

Study identifies how blood stem cells maintain their fate

Understanding the molecular mechanisms that specify and maintain the identities of more than 200 cell types of the human body is arguably one of the most fundamental problems in molecular and cellular biology, with critical implications for the treatment of human diseases. Central to the cell fate decision process are stem cells residing within each tissue of the body.

When stem cells divide, they have the remarkable ability to choose to self-renew—that is, make a copy of themselves—or mature into defined lineages. How a specific lineage identity is maintained every time a stem cell divides can now be better understood thanks to the work of  biochemists. 

The study shows how a protein complex, called chromatin assembly factor-1, or CAF-1, controls genome organization to maintain lineage fidelity. The report appears today in Nature Communications. Each time a cell divides, it has to create a replica of its genome—not only its DNA sequence but also how the DNA is packaged with proteins into chromatin. Chromatin is organized into genomic sites that are either open and easily accessible or more densely packed and less accessible (or closed). Identities of different cells rely heavily on the genome sites that are more open because only genes located in those regions can potentially become expressed and turned into proteins.

To maintain cell identity during cell division, the locations of open and closed chromatin, or "chromatin organization," must be faithfully passed onto the new replica of the genome, a task largely entrusted to CAF-1.

To help CAF-1 secure correct chromatin organization during cell division, a host of transcription factors are attracted to open regions in a DNA sequence-specific manner to serve as bookmarks and recruit transcription machinery to correct lineage-specific genes, ensuring their expression.

The authors took as a study paradigm immature blood cells that can either self-renew or turn into neutrophils, which are non-dividing cells that present our body's first line of defense against pathogens. Intriguingly, they found CAF-1 to be essential not only for maintaining the self-renewal of these immature blood cells, but for preserving their lineage identity. Even a moderate reduction of CAF-1 levels caused the cells to forget their identity and adopt a mixed lineage stage.

Neutrophil stem cells missing CAF-1 become more plastic, co-expressing genes from different lineages, including those of red blood cells  and platelets.

Part 1

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At the molecular level, the team found that CAF-1 normally keeps specific genomic sites compacted and inaccessible to specific transcription factors, especially one called ELF1.

By looking at chromatin organization, we found a whole slew of genomic sites that are aberrantly open and attract ELF1 as a result of CAF-1 loss. This study further points to a key role of ELF1 in defining the fate of several blood cell lineages.

The UCR researchers used immature blood cells derived from mouse bone marrow and engineered for growth in tissue culture. They validated their findings in vivo using a mouse model.

Regulation of Chromatin Accessibility by the Histone Chaperone CAF-1 Sustains Lineage Fidelity., Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29730-6

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-blood-stem-cells-fate.html?utm_source...

Part 2

The breakthrough science of mRNA medicine

The secret behind medicine that uses messenger RNA (or mRNA) is that it "teaches" our bodies how to fight diseases on our own, leading to groundbreaking treatments for COVID-19 and, potentially one day, cancer, the flu and other ailments that have haunted humanity for millennia. RNA researcher Melissa J. Moore -- Moderna's chief scientific officer and one of the many people responsible for the rapid creation and deployment of their COVID-19 vaccine -- takes us down to the molecular level, unraveling how mRNA helps our bodies' proteins maintain health, prevent disease and correct errors in our genetic code. "We have entered an entirely new era of medicine

https://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_j_moore_the_breakthrough_science_...

Researchers identify 'super-calculating' network in the human brain

Are you impressed when Scientists manage to calculate the time and speed of a rocket's trajectory? A new study shows that your brain has a "nerd center" capable of even more complex calculations.

If, late on your way to work, you see the bus coming and run to catch it while carrying your cup of coffee, you have probably beaten rocket scientists. Nerve cells in your brain perform billions of complicated mathematical calculations to work out your speed, position and direction. For years, this ability of the brain to calculate such parameters has been a mystery.

After five years of research into the theory of the continuous attractor network, or CAN, a group of scientists have made a breakthrough.
They are the first to clearly establish that the human brain actually contains such 'nerd cells' or 'super-calculators' put forward by the CAN theory. They also found nerve cells that code for speed, position and direction all at once.

The CAN theory  had been widely popular among scientists for decades. In a nutshell, it proposes that when we move around, our mental map or representation of the place in which we find ourselves constantly updates itself according to our new position. The CAN theory hypothesizes that a hidden layer of nerve cells perform complex math and compile vast amounts of information about speed, position and direction, just as space scientists do when they are adjusting a rocket trajectory.

At all times, the brain is bombarded with sensory experiences (sight, feelings, hearing). It must make sense of this chaos to create an image coherent with memories of similar situations previously experienced in order to adjust one's actions. For example, we see that the bus is coming, we can feel that the coffee is hot; at which speed can we run to reach the bus without burning ourselves?

In recent years, the research community has proven that these brain areas is involved in many more tasks beyond mapping spatial position. The nerve cells there can also map sounds and rewards. Now,scientists wonder whether the cells they found are capable of performing other tasks, in addition to calculating speed and direction.

Davide Spalla et al, Angular and linear speed cells in the parahippocampal circuits, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29583-z

https://researchnews.cc/news/12939/Researchers-identify--super-calc...

A gravity telescope that could image exoplanets

In the time since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, astronomers have detected more than 5,000 planets orbiting other stars. But when astronomers detect a new exoplanet, we don't learn a lot about it: We know that it exists and a few features about it, but the rest is a mystery.

To sidestep the physical limitations of telescopes, Stanford University astrophysicists have been working on a new conceptual imaging technique that would be 1,000 times more precise than the strongest imaging technology currently in use. By taking advantage of gravity's warping effect on space-time, called lensing, scientists could potentially manipulate this phenomenon to create imaging far more advanced than any present today.

In a paper published on May 2 in The Astrophysical Journal, the researchers describe a way to manipulate solar gravitational lensing to view planets outside our solar system. By positioning a telescope, the sun, and exoplanet in a line with the sun in the middle, scientists could use the gravitational field of the sun to magnify light from the exoplanet as it passes by. As opposed to a magnifying glass which has a curved surface that bends light, a gravitational lens has a curved space-time that enables imaging far away objects.

In order to capture an exoplanet image through the solar gravitational lens, a telescope would have to be placed at least 14 times farther away from the sun than Pluto, past the edge of our solar system, and further than humans have ever sent a spacecraft. But, the distance is a tiny fraction of the light-years between the sun and an exoplanet.

By unbending the light bent by the sun, an image can be created far beyond that of an ordinary telescope. So, the scientific potential is an untapped mystery because it's opening this new observing capability that doesn't yet exist.

The solar gravitational lens opens up an entirely new window for observation. This will allow investigation of the detailed dynamics of the planet atmospheres, as well as the distributions of clouds and surface features, which we have no way to investigate now.

Alexander Madurowicz et al, Integral Field Spectroscopy with the Solar Gravitational Lens, The Astrophysical Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5e9d

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-scientists-gravity-telescope-image-ex...

Change Is Happening to Earth's Water Cycle

Climate change is throwing Earth's water cycle severely out of whack. According to new satellite data, freshwaters are growing fresher and salt waters are growing saltier at an increasingly rapid rate all around the world. If this pattern continues, it will turbocharge rainstorms.

The findings indicate a severe acceleration of the global water cycle – a sign that isn't as clearly observed in direct salinity measurements from ocean buoys, which typically measure a little below the surface of the ocean. However, it's commonly predicted in climate models. 

As global temperatures increase, climate scientists expect there will be greater evaporation on the ocean surface, which will make the top layer of the sea saltier and add moisture to the atmosphere.

This, in turn, will increase rainfall in other parts of the world, diluting some bodies of water to make them even less salty.

The pattern can basically be described as "wet-gets-wetter-dry-gets-drier", and it's a real cause for concern. If the water cycle accelerates with global warming, it could have profound impacts on modern society, driving drought and water shortages, as well as greater storms and flooding. 

It might even have started speeding up snow melt, as rainfall has been increasing in polar regions.

This higher amount of water circulating in the atmosphere could also explain the increase in rainfall that is being detected in some polar areas, where the fact that it is raining instead of snowing is speeding up the melting.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10265-1

Why is the 100-year-old BCG vaccine so broadly protective in newborns?

The century-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis is one of the world's oldest and most widely used vaccines, used to immunize 100 million newborns every year. Given in countries with endemic TB, it has surprisingly been found to protect newborns and young infants against multiple bacterial and viral infections unrelated to TB. There's even some evidence that it can reduce severity of COVID-19.

What's special about BCG vaccine? How does it protect infants so broadly? It turns out little is known. To understand its mechanism of action, researchers at the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital partnered with the Expanded Program on Immunization Consortium (EPIC), an international team studying early life immunization, to collect and comprehensively profile blood samples from newborns immunized with BCG, using a powerful "big data" approach.

Their study, published online May 3 in Cell Reports, found that the BCG vaccine induces specific changes in metabolites and lipids that correlate with innate immune system responses. The findings provide clues toward making other vaccines more effective in vulnerable populations with distinct immune systems, such as newborns.

BCG is an 'old school' vaccine—it's made from a live, weakened germ—but live vaccines like BCG seem to activate the immune system in a very different way in early life, providing broad protection against a range of bacterial and viral infections. There's much work ahead to better understand that and use that information to build better vaccines for infants.

Joann Diray-Arce, Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine reprograms human neonatal lipid metabolism in vivo and in vitro, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110772. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(22)00536-8

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-year-old-bcg-vaccine-broadly...

Recurrent UTIs linked to gut microbiome, chronic inflammation

One of the greatest frustrations regarding urinary tract infections (UTIs) is that they so often recur. UTIs are caused by bacteria in the urinary tract and characterized by frequent and painful urination. A round of antibiotics usually clears up the symptoms, but the relief is often temporary: A quarter of women go on to develop a second UTI within six months. Some unfortunate individuals get UTIs over and over, and require antibiotics every few months.

A new study suggests that women who get recurrent UTIs may be caught in a vicious cycle in which antibiotics given to eradicate one infection predispose them to develop another. The study, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, showed that a round of antibiotics eliminates disease-causing bacteria from the bladder but not from the intestines. Surviving bacteria in the gut can multiply and spread to the bladder again, causing another UTI.

At the same time, repeated cycles of antibiotics wreak havoc on the community of helpful bacteria that normally live in the intestines, the so-called gut microbiome. Similar to other disorders in which gut microbes and the immune system are linked, women with recurrent UTIs in the study had less diverse microbiomes that were deficient in an important group of bacteria that helps regulate inflammation, and a distinct immunological signature in their blood indicative of inflammation.

The study is published May 2 in Nature Microbiology.

The difference between the women who got repeated UTIs and those who didn't, surprisingly, didn't come down to the kind of E. coli in their intestines or even the presence of E. coli in their bladders. Both groups carried E. coli strains in their guts capable of causing UTIs, and such strains occasionally spread to their bladders.

The real difference was in the makeup of their gut microbiomes. Patients with repeat infections showed decreased diversity of healthy gut microbial species, which could provide more opportunities for disease-causing species to gain a foothold and multiply. Notably, the microbiomes of women with recurrent UTIs were particularly scarce in bacteria that produce butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid with anti-inflammatory effects.

Women in the control group were able to clear the bacteria from their bladders before they caused disease, and women with recurrent UTI were not, because of a distinct immune response to bacterial invasion of the bladder potentially mediated by the gut microbiome.

The findings highlight the importance of finding alternatives to antibiotics for treating UTIs.

this study clearly demonstrates that antibiotics do not prevent future infections or clear UTI-causing strains from the gut, and they may even make recurrence more likely by keeping the microbiome in a disrupted state.

Scott Hultgren, Longitudinal multi-omics analyses link gut microbiome dysbiosis with recurrent urinary tract infections in women, Nature Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01107-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41564-022-01107-x

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-recurrent-utis-linked-gut-mi...

Humanity will need to survive about 400,000 years if we want any chance of hearing from an alien civilization

If there are so many galaxies, stars, and planets, where are all the aliens, and why haven't we heard from them? Those are the simple questions at the heart of the Fermi Paradox. In a new paper, a pair of researchers ask the next obvious question: How long will we have to survive to hear from another alien civilization?

Their answer? 400,000 years.

Four-hundred-thousand years is a long time for a species that's only been around for a couple hundred thousand years, and only discovered farming about 12,000 years ago. But 400,000 years is how long we'll need to keep this human experiment going if we want to hear from any alien civilizations. That's according to some new research into communicating extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations (CETIs.)

The paper is "The Number of Possible CETIs within Our Galaxy and the Communication Probability among These CETIs." The authors are Wenjie Song and He Gao, both from the Department of Astronomy at Beijing Normal University. The paper is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Wenjie Song et al, The Number of Possible CETIs within Our Galaxy and the Communication Probability among These CETIs, The Astrophysical Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac561d

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-humanity-survive-years-chance-alien.h...

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Fecal transplants reverse hallmarks of aging

In the search for eternal youth, poo transplants may seem like an unlikely way to reverse the aging process.

However, scientists  have provided evidence, from research in mice, that transplanting fecal microbiota from young into old mice can reverse hallmarks of aging in the gut, eyes, and brain.

In the reverse experiment, microbes from aged mice induced inflammation in the brain of young recipients and depleted a key protein required for normal vision.

These findings show that gut microbes play a role in the regulating some of the detrimental effects of aging and open up the possibility of gut microbe-based therapies to combat decline in later life.

It has been known for some time that the population of microbes that we carry around in our gut, collectively called the gut microbiota, is linked to health. Most diseases are associated with changes in the types and behavior of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes in an individual's gut.

Some of these changes in microbiota composition happen as we age, adversely affecting metabolism and immunity, and this has been associated with age-related disorders including inflammatory bowel diseases, along with cardiovascular, autoimmune, metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.

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To better understand the effects of these changes in the microbiota in old age, scientists  transferred the gut microbes from aged mice into healthy young mice, and vice versa. They then looked at how this affected inflammatory hallmarks of aging in the gut, brain and eye, which suffer from declining function in later life.

Part 1

The study, published in the journal Microbiome, found that the microbiota from old donors led to loss of integrity of the lining of the gut, allowing bacterial products to cross into the circulation, which results in triggering the immune system and inflammation in the brain and eyes.

Age-related chronic inflammation, known as inflammaging, has been associated with the activation of specific immune cells found in brain. These cells were also over-activated in the young mice who received aged microbiome transplants.

In the eye, the team also found specific proteins associated with retinal degeneration were elevated in the young mice receiving microbiota from old donors.

In old mice, these detrimental changes in the gut, eye and brain could be reversed by transplanting the gut microbiota from young mice.

In ongoing studies, the team are now working to understand how long these positive effects can last, and to identify the beneficial components of the young donor microbiota and how they impact on organs distant from the gut.

The microbiota of young mice, and the old mice who received young microbiota transplants were enriched in beneficial bacteria that have previously been associated with good health in both mice and humans.

The researchers have also analyzed the products which these bacteria produce by breaking down elements of our diet. This has uncovered significant shifts in particular lipids (fats) and vitamin metabolism, which may be linked to the changes seen in inflammatory cells in the eye and brain.

Similar pathways exist in humans, and the human gut microbiota also changes significantly in later life, but the researchers caution about extrapolating their results directly to humans until similar studies in elderly humans can be performed.

Aimée Parker et al, Fecal microbiota transfer between young and aged mice reverses hallmarks of the aging gut, eye, and brain, Microbiome (2022). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01243-w

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-fecal-transplants-reverse-ha...

Part 2

1. Aimée Parker, Stefano Romano, Rebecca Ansorge, Asmaa Aboelnour, Gwenaelle Le Gall, George M. Savva, Matthew G. Pontifex, Andrea Telatin, David Baker, Emily Jones, David Vauzour, Steven Rudder, L. Ashley Blackshaw, Glen Jeffery, Simon R. Carding. Fecal microbiota transfer between young and aged mice reverses hallmarks of the aging gut, eye, and brain. Microbiome, 2022; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01243-w

Evidence that a DNA change made humans more susceptible to cancer

A team of researchers at the Sloan Kettering Institute working with a group at the American Museum of Natural History has found evidence of a change in human DNA after diverging from other primates that has made humans more susceptible to the development of cancerous tumors. In their paper published in the journal Cell Reports, the group compares human genes to those of other primates to learn more about why humans are more prone to developing cancer.

Prior research has shown that humans are more likely to develop cancerous tumors than any other primate, but the reason has remained a mystery until now. To find the answer, the researchers compared parts of the human genome with similar parts of 12 non-human primate genomes. They found a small difference in the BRCA2 gene that had to have arisen after humans diverged from other primates. The BRCA2 gene plays a role in tumor suppression due to coding for DNA repair.

The researchers then looked at the impact of the letter change in the human DNA and found that it lessened its effectiveness at coding for DNA repair by approximately 20%. And that, the researchers suggest, could explain why humans are more susceptible to the development of tumors. The findings align with results from prior research that has shown that humans with a certain BRCA2 variant are more likely to develop tumors, particularly of the ovaries and breast.

Part 1

What still remains a mystery is why humans evolved to have a BRCA2 gene that increases the risk of developing cancer, though there is the possibility that it was a tradeoff between an increased risk of cancer and an increase in fertility rates. Prior research has shown that women with a BRCA2 variant that makes them more susceptible to developing cancer can more easily become pregnant. The work also suggests that a means for treating cancer in the distant future may involve altering the BRCA2 gene to make it more like other primates, thereby reducing the overall risk of developing cancer.

 Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, Evidence for Reduced BRCA2 Functional Activity in Homo Sapiens After Divergence from the Chimpanzee-Human Last Common Ancestor, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110771. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(22)00535-6

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-evidence-dna-humans-susceptible-cance...

Part 2

Cancer origin identified through cell 'surgery'

Research sheds new light on a key cause of cancer formation during cell division (or mitosis), and points towards potential solutions for preventing it from occurring.

When a cell divides normally, it makes a copy of every chromosome and then shares them equally between the two new cells. This function is carried out by a complex machine in the cell called the mitotic spindle. If something goes wrong at this stage, the two new cells will be aneuploid, meaning that they will not have the correct number of chromosomes and will make mistakes when sharing genetic information.

Cancer cells are aneuploid, so understanding how and why this happens is hugely significant in finding out how the disease originates. This new work has identified exactly this.

Researchers found that some chromosomes can get lost and trapped in a tangle of membranes that exist in an area around the cell's spindle, preventing the chromosomes from being shared properly and leading to the abnormal cell division that can cause cancer.

They made their discovery by performing a sort of "surgery" on living cells. The researchers invented a way to remove the tangle of membranes in which chromosomes get trapped, and as a result the chromosomes were rescued by the spindle, thus enabling normal healthy cell division.

Researchers  found that chromosomes can get trapped in membranes and this is a disaster for the dividing cell. It has the potential to change a normal cell into a cancer cell. Preventing this process may be a way to treat disease.

This proved, for the first time, that chromosomes getting caught in these membranes is a direct risk factor for the formation of cancerous cells. Understanding this risk can lead to more effective cancer prevention.

Nuria Ferrandiz et al, Endomembranes promote chromosome missegregation by ensheathing misaligned chromosomes, Journal of Cell Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202203021

https://researchnews.cc/news/12986/Cancer-origin-identified-through...

Miracle plant seagrass

Drugs targeting cell recycling could be used to suffocate cancer cells

Pancreatic cancers recycle resources to fuel their survival and growth, opening up the possibility of new treatments aimed at stopping them from doing so, scientists report.

New findings show that pancreatic cancers make use of a key "recycler" protein to keep pace with their constant demand for oxygen and energy, as they grow and spread. Blocking the recycler could suffocate pancreatic cancer cells by starving them of oxygen and energy—and the researchers now plan to create new drugs aimed at suffocating tumors. The new study is the first to investigate the role in pancreatic cancer of "deubiquitylating enzymes" (DUBs)—which stop other proteins from being "binned" by the body so they can be recycled instead.

Researchers identified a DUB called USP25 as a key "recycler" protein which supported the survival and growth of cancer cells.

Pancreatic tumors are known to have low oxygen "micro-environments." This is because the rapid growth of pancreatic cancer often outstrips the oxygen supply, which cancer cells need to survive and grow. Researchers found that USP25 can regulate a protein known as HIF-1a to help pancreatic cancer cells adapt to low oxygen levels in the tumor. USP25 does this by preventing HIF-1a from being "binned," so it can form new blood vessels to supply the cancer with oxygenated blood.

Scientists showed that genetically deleting USP25, or blocking it using drugs, meant mini-tumors were unable to grow, as they were starved of oxygen. They believe that by acting as a "recycler" protein, USP25 can reverse the protein modifications on HIF-1a that destine it to be degraded by the body, stabilizing HIF-1a and allowing it to continue supplying oxygen and nutrients to cancer cells. In this way, USP25 plays a role in helping pancreatic cancer grow and spread. Researchers think the mechanism may also be important for other low-oxygen tumor types, such as breast cancer, and plan to explore it further. They will seek to design USP25 inhibitors and ultimately to assess the new approach to treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer. They are also planning to investigate the role of other druggable DUBs in pancreatic cancer.

Jessica K. Nelson et al, USP25 promotes pathological HIF-1-driven metabolic reprogramming and is a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29684-9

Global bird populations steadily declining

Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world. So concludes a study from scientists at multiple institutions, published recently in the journal Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species are cited as the key threats to avian biodiversity. Climate change is identified as an emerging driver of bird population declines.

We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird species. Avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics and it is there that we also find the highest number of threatened species.

The study says approximately 48% of existing bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines. Populations are stable for 39% of species. Only 6% are showing increasing population trends, and the status of 7% is still unknown. The study authors reviewed changes in avian biodiversity using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List" to reveal population changes among the world's 11,000 bird species.

Because birds are highly visible and sensitive indicators of environmental health, we know their loss signals a much wider loss of biodiversity and threats to human health and well-being.

The fate of bird populations is strongly dependent on stopping the loss and degradation of habitats.

Alexander C. Lees et al, State of the World's Birds, Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2022). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-112420-014642

Model finds COVID-19 deaths among elderly may be due to genetic limit on cell division

 Your immune system's ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease. These cloned immune cells cannot be infinitely created, and a key hypothesis of a new University of Washington study is that the body's ability to create these cloned cells falls off significantly in old age.

According to a model created by UW research professor James Anderson, this genetically predetermined limit on your immune system may be the key to why COVID-19 has such a devastating effect on the elderly. Anderson is the lead author of a paper published March 31 in The Lancet eBioMedicine detailing this modeled link between aging, COVID-19 and mortality.

"When DNA split in cell division, the end cap—called a telomere—gets a little shorter with each division," explains Anderson, who is a modeler of biological systems in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "After a series of replications of a cell, it gets too short and stops further division. Not all cells or all animals have this limit, but immune cells in humans have this cell life."

The average person's immune system coasts along pretty good despite this limit until about 50 years old. That's when enough core immune cells, called T cells, have shortened telomeres and cannot quickly clone themselves through cellular division in big enough numbers to attack and clear the COVID-19 virus, which has the trait of sharply reducing immune cell numbers, Anderson said. Importantly, he added, telomere lengths are inherited from your parents. Consequently, there are some differences in these lengths between people at every age as well as how old a person becomes before these lengths are mostly used up.

Anderson said the key difference between this understanding of aging, which has a threshold for when your immune system has run out of collective telomere length, and the idea that we all age consistently over time is the "most exciting" discovery of his research.

Part 1