News by Subject Medicine & Health

Whether a sick cell dies, divides, or travels through the body is regulated by a sophisticat-ed interplay of signal molecules and receptors on the cell membrane. One of the most im-portant molecular cues in the immune system is Tumour Necrosis Factor α (TNFα). Now, for the first time, researchers from Goethe University have visualised the molecular organ-isation of individual TNFα receptor molecules and the binding of TNFα to the cell mem-brane in cells using optical microscopy.

Scientists at EPFL have published two papers showing how genetics affects the ability of different individuals to fight off gut infections.

Two different UC San Diego research teams identified the same molecule -- αvβ5 integrin -- as Zika virus' key to brain cell entry. They found ways to take advantage of the integrin to both block Zika virus from infecting cells and turn it into something good: a way to shrink brain cancer stem cells.

The research, published in The Lancet Digital Health journal, demonstrates the potential of data from wearable devices to improve surveillance of infectious disease. Resting heart rate tends to spike during infectious episodes and this is captured by wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, that track heart rate.

Twice as many people as previously believed are dying of sepsis worldwide, according to an analysis published today in The Lancet and announced at the Critical Care Reviews annual meeting in Belfast. Among them are a disproportionately high number of children in poor areas. Led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Washington schools of medicine, the study revealed 48.9 million global cases of sepsis in 2017 and 11 million deaths, representing 1 in 5 deaths worldwide.

An international team of scientists has synthetically engineered mosquitoes that halt the transmission of the dengue virus. Led by biologists at UC San Diego, the researchers developed a human antibody for dengue suppression in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the insects that spread dengue. The development marks the first engineered approach in mosquitoes that targets the four known types of dengue, improving upon previous designs that addressed single strains.

Blood culture surveillance programs are critical for estimating the prevalence of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, but cases can be missed when patients don't seek medical care, or seek medical care and don't have a blood culture test. Researchers writing in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have now calculated inflation factors that can be used to adjust these incidence rates to account for under-detection.

Taenia solium -- also called pork tapeworm -- is a parasite which causes disease around the world, particularly in very poor communities with deficient sanitation and where pigs roam free. Researchers have now analyzed the efficacy and adverse effects of three chemotherapeutics against T. solium and report their results in a review published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Researchers have for the first time demonstrated what happens at the molecular level when two compounds known to inhibit crystal growth were combined, yielding new insights into malaria treatments and, more broadly, improving the process of drug development.

The first animal study of a pig virus' potential to jump to another species shows that the virus, once introduced to a select group of birds, is easily transmitted to healthy chickens and turkeys.