Scientists explore whether plastic particles could be linked to significant rises in liver disease
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-May-2026 04:15 ET (27-May-2026 08:15 GMT/UTC)
Experts in environmental and human health from the University of Plymouth’s newly-established Centre of Environmental Hepatology are investigating whether the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in the liver is directly contributing to the soaring global rates of liver disease.
Researchers at the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology investigated how different isoforms of the same microRNA influence gene function in prostate adenocarcinoma. The study found that in some cases, microRNAs can reinforce each other’s effects by targeting and suppressing the same genes. This finding offers a fresh perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour development and on the search for disease biomarkers. The results have been published in PeerJ.
Human Frontier Science Program Foundation (HFSP) has awarded a highly competitive international research grant to Prof. Orna Amster-Choder of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Prof. Kerwyn Casey Huang of Stanford University and Prof. Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj of Imperial College London.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. About 10% of breast cancers are hereditary, and approximately 60% of these cases carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. Individuals harboring BRCA1 mutations exhibit a markedly increased risk of developing breast cancer. BRCA1 plays a critical role in maintaining genomic stability by repairing DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) through homologous recombination (HR).
Flinders University researchers have taken a revealing look inside the head of one of the first animals to crawl from the water to live on land more than 380 million years ago.
Using high-tech neutron imaging, they scanned the skull and braincase of the only known specimen of Koharalepis jarviki, a large fossil fish found in freshwater rivers in the vast Lashly Mountains region of Antarctica which lived during the Devonian Period or 'Age of Fishes'.
This interpretation article summarizes groundbreaking research on sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors, focusing on the structural basis of allosteric and bitopic ligand binding in S1P2 and S1P3 receptors. The study reveals novel binding mechanisms that provide a framework for designing selective therapeutic agents targeting these important G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).
Most of the carbon fixed by plants through photosynthesis is ultimately stored in the cell wall, primarily in the form of polysaccharides such as cellulose, xylan, and glucomannan. Yet how plants efficiently synthesize these wall polymers has remained unclear, particularly because polysaccharides such as glucomannan and xylan are prone to aggregation through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. A research team comprising Aina Kikuchi, who was then a master’s student in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Saitama University, Eriko Sato, a master’s student in the same graduate school, Associate Professor Daisuke Takahashi, Professor Toshihisa Kotake, Lecturer Yoshihisa Yoshimi of the Faculty of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology at Kindai University, and Professor Paul Dupree of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge has discovered that mannanases (MANs)—enzymes degrading glucomannan—are also required for normal glucomannan synthesis in plants. The study shows that glucomannan biosynthesis includes an unexpected, previously unrecognized hydrolytic step in the Golgi apparatus.