Artificial DNA kills cancer

Hairpin-shaped DNA binds with microRNA in cancer cells to trigger an immune response

27-Dec-2022 - Researchers at the University of Tokyo have used artificial DNA to target and kill cancer cells in a completely new way. The method was effective in lab tests against human cervical cancer- and breast cancer-derived cells, and against malignant melanoma cells from mice. The team created a pair of ...

How fat takes over the lymph nodes as we age

23-Dec-2022 - A new study from researchers at Uppsala University presents novel findings on why human lymph nodes lose their function with age and the consequences for the effectiveness of our immune system. The article has been published in The Journal of Pathology. Lymph nodes normally serve as the ...

Acids help against airborne viruses

22-Dec-2022 - A new study by various Swiss universities shows that aerosols in indoor air can vary in acidity. This acidity determines how long viruses remain infectious in the air – with profound implications for virus transmission and strategies to contain it. Viruses such as SARS-​CoV-2, influenza virus and ...

Anatomical barriers shield the brain from SARS-CoV-2 invasion at vulnerable interfaces

Absence of evidence for neurotropism and neuroinvasion of several SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron

21-Dec-2022 - A common symptom of COVID-19 is a partial or complete loss of smell. The virus infects sustentacular cells in the olfactory epithelium and is thought to impair thereby the activity of the sensory neurons in this epithelium. Scientists at the Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics in Frankfurt ...

Microbiome composition influences depression

Disturbances in the microbiome increase the risk of numerous diseases

21-Dec-2022 - Our microbiome, the billions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies. They control many important bodily functions, including those in our brain, and, research by Amsterdam UMC, the University of Amsterdam and Erasmus MC delivers the most extensive evidence to date of a relationship ...

With light into the nanoworld: How optical microscopes allow detailed investigations of nanoparticles

The goal: the development of novel nanoparticles for biomedical applications.

21-Dec-2022 - It sounds like trying to scan a vinyl record with a hammer: Light is actually too "coarse" to image small particles on the nanometer scale. However, in their project "Supercol"- funded by the European Union - scientists want to achieve just that: The investigation of nanoparticles with light. To ...

Gaining unprecedented view of small molecules by machine learning

Applications in medicine, drug discovery and environmental chemistry

21-Dec-2022 - A new tool to identify small molecules offers benefits for diagnostics, drug discovery and fundamental research. A new machine learning model will help scientists identify small molecules, with applications in medicine, drug discovery and environmental chemistry. Developed by researchers at Aalto ...

Long COVID: New evidence for cause of fatigue syndrome

Not excessive inflammatory reaction, but anti-inflammatory substances as triggers

20-Dec-2022 - The diagnosis and treatment of long COVID syndrome (LCS) is still very difficult, and there is only little knowledge about the factors causing accompanying symptoms. Researchers at the Joint Metabolome Facility of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now presented ...

Atomic structure of a staphylococcal bacteriophage using cryo-electron microscopy exposed

20-Dec-2022 - Cryo-electron microscopy by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers has exposed the structure of a bacterial virus with unprecedented detail. This is the first structure of a virus able to infect Staphylococcus epidermidis, and high-resolution knowledge of structure is a key link between ...

Conductors in the molecule: LIKAT simplifies method that prevents premature degradation of drugs in the body

Chemical process of deuteration greatly simplified

19-Dec-2022 - What people ingest is broken down biochemically by the organism in the metabolism: valuable substances are digested, less essential ones are discarded and excreted. In the case of drugs, this degradation sometimes begins before they can fully develop their healing effect. Chemists try to prevent ...