Yearly Archives: 2015
A new mouse model to study the biology of depression in cancer
Patients with advanced cancers often experience depression, which can significantly reduce their quality of life and increase mortality. Currently, the lack of a valid and useful animal model is the greatest obstacle for studying the basic biology
Can smart tech help incentivise and target shifts in mobility behaviour?
Motorised transport use causes 13% of all global GHG emissions, 23% of global carbon dioxide emissions and more than 80% of air pollution in developing countries, contributing to deaths arising from poor air quality. Hence, a main
Potential health benefits from the consumption of berry seed oils
Fats together with carbohydrates and proteins are the main nutrients of our diet. In public opinion, a diet rich in fats is not associated with healthy life style, which is a result of their high caloric value
The master puppeteer? – Impact of microbes on brain and behaviour
For the longest time microbiology & neuroscience used to be studied independently and with limited overlap. Recently, however, research on the microbiome and its interaction with our organs, including the brain, is increasingly gaining momentum. With more
Participation of secreted protein L5 in formation of outer membrane vesicles produced by Lysobacter sp. XL1
Formation of outer membrane vesicles is a physiological feature of Gram-negative bacteria. Vesicles formation is result of splitting off the evagination of bacterial outer membrane. Its size varies from 20 to 300 nm. During formation of vesicles,
A variant RNA polymerase controls bacterial pathogenicity and stress responses
In order for cells to carry out normal functions, the genetic information stored in DNA needs to be first converted to RNA. This conversion – known as transcription – is carried out by a class of enzymes
Dogs with lymphoma have better therapeutic responses and longer lifespans if they revealed lower white blood cell count after chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is effective against rapidly growing neoplasm. Chemotherapeutic drugs also damage other rapidly dividing cells, such as bone marrow stem cells. Because white blood cells have the shortest life spans in the hemocyte, bone marrow suppression commonly
Over-expression of TRX2 reduces p53-mediated cell death in yeast
The p53 gene is a human tumor suppressor which is involved in cell cycle regulation. It has an efficient ability to inhibit cell proliferation, by both blocking cell cycle progression and promoting apoptotic cell death in order
The future of Laron syndrome
Laron syndrome (LS) first described 50 years ago in 1966 is with few exceptions a genetic form of severe short stature, found in the majority of instances in patients originating from the Mediterranean, Middle East and South Asian
One for two – one medicine against two diseases
Superficial fungal skin infections belong to the most common infections worldwide. They affect more than 20 – 25 % of the world’s population with an increasing trend due to an increasing life expectancy and decreasing immunity of
An internal granuloma investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy
Caries and Periodontitis are not the only reasons why patients may suffer from problems with their teeth. There are far less frequent occuring phenomena causing dental treatment need, which however are of research interest in respect to
How cancer cells resist the action of microtubule-targeting chemotherapeutic drugs? A study of β-tubulin mutations
Microtubules (MTs) are essential structural components of cells. They are made up of polymers of protein subunits of α,β-tubulin and are highly dynamic, undergoing rapid phases of assembly and disassembly. The dynamic behavior of MTs is essential
Prostate cancer: prognostic impact of adenosine-generating CD73
Traditionally, most cancers were treated with surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy (or a combination of these options). Using the immune system to fight cancer has long been the objective of many researchers, but convincing success in the clinic
Improving the mathematical estimation of the epidemic threshold on networks
Infectious diseases spreading via person-to-person contacts, such as plague, flu, and Ebora, have threatened humanity since the beginning of the recorded history. Societies have long been using the power of sciences to understand and mitigate the impacts
A Tat ménage a trois – when it comes to Tat secretion two Tat’s are essential, but the third one makes it that much better
The membrane is the cellular barrier that keeps the inside of a cell separate from the outside, but in order to survive molecules and proteins do need to cross this barrier. Water and small molecules can do
Post-surgery early aerobic exercise: reduces lung complications and hospital stay
Lung related complications like infections and clots are common after complex abdominal surgery. These have a negative effect on the patient’s recovery, can prolong hospital stay and can even lead to death. We performed a study to
The thinner, the glassier
Polymers are a key component of our technologies. The diversity of uses and forms of these inexpensive materials is impressive: polymers are present in almost all the aspect of everyday life. Polymers are also intensively studied at
Mycotoxin triggered cell suicide in plant
Plants are regularly victims of infections by pathogens, particularly by fungi. Crops as barley could be infected by phytopathogenic Fusarium species (Fig. 1) what triggers a lot of damages and money cost. The Fusarium fungi have the
A link between reduced blood oxygenation and failure in learning and memory in a mouse model of Down syndrome
Down Syndrome (DS) is the most frequent genetic cause of cognitive disability in humans, affecting more than 6 million people worldwide. Triplication of more than 300 genes on chromosome 21 results in gene dosage imbalance that affects
Can we create easy-to-use software to capture the complex behaviors of proteins?
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins enabled by mass spectrometry technology. Much like a fingerprint can place someone at a scene despite the lack of an eye witness, a mass spectrometer records protein fingerprints that are
