News by Subject Biology

The progressive decline in brain function that can follow traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with complement activation, part of the immune system that contributes to inflammation and clears damaged cells. Inhibiting complement even two months after injury reduced brain cell inflammation and reversed mental losses, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Journal of Neuroscience. These findings provide evidence for complement-inhibitor therapeutics for TBI management at all stages of disease.

A new study from the University of California, Irvine shows that compounds in both green and black tea relax blood vessels by activating ion channel proteins in the blood vessel wall. The discovery helps explain the antihypertensive properties of tea and could lead to the design of new blood pressure-lowering medications.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Biosensors and Bioelectronics a successful test of a sensor for measuring hydrogen peroxide concentrations near cell membranes. The sensor has the potential to become a tool for new cancer therapies.

Scientists reporting in the journal Current Biology on March 8 have discovered two species of sacoglossan sea slug that can do even better, shedding and then regenerating a whole new body complete with the heart and other internal organs. The researchers also suggest that the slugs may use the photosynthetic ability of chloroplasts they incorporate from the algae in their diet to survive long enough for regeneration.

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process of cytosolic materials and damaged organelles. Targeted cargo are engulfed by membranes called autophagosome, then delivered to lysosomes where they are degraded. This process is complex, especially in mammals, with many regulatory factors. Researchers in the Ubiquitin Project of Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (TMIMS) discovered mammalian BCAS3-C16orf70 as novel proteins that associate with the autophagosome membranes via interaction with phosphoinositide. These studies were published in Autophagy.

* Natural compound found in catnip is at least as effective as synthetic insect repellents such as DEET * Catnip can easily be grown in a home garden and made into oil or extract * New type of deterrent targets pain receptors in insects while maintaining no impact on humans