cells

4Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE

When It Comes To Heart Disease The Sex Of Your Cells Matter

Most mammals, including humans, have two sex chromosomes, X and Y. One sex chromosome is usually inherited from each parent, and they pair up as either XX or XY in every cell of the body. People with XX chromosomes typically identify as female, and people with XY chromosomes typically identify as male. The genes on these chromosomes play a key role in development and function – including how heart disease develops. Before I became a biomedical engineer studying how sex chromosomes affect the heart, I learned about one curious function of X chromosomes in my high school science class, with the calico cat example. Female calico cats almost always have orange and black splotches of fur, because the gene that defines coat color is found on the X chromosome. When an orange cat mates with a bl...

In The Fruit Fly Brain Are Astrocyte Cells An On-Off Switch That Controls When Neurons Can Change And Grow

12Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE

In The Fruit Fly Brain Are Astrocyte Cells An On-Off Switch That Controls When Neurons Can Change And Grow

Neuroplasticity – the ability of neurons to change their structure and function in response to experiences – can be turned off and on by the cells that surround neurons in the brain, according to a new study on fruit flies that I co-authored. The colors in this microscope photo of a fruit fly brain show different types of neurons and the cells that surround them in the brain. Sarah DeGenova Ackerman, CC BY-ND As fruit fly larvae age, their neurons shift from a highly adaptable state to a stable state and lose their ability to change. During this process, support cells in the brain – called astrocytes – envelop the parts of the neurons that send and receive electrical information. When my team removed the astrocytes, the neurons in the fruit fly larvae remained plastic longer, hinting that...

Stem Cells Genetically Engineered Transformed Into Working Mini-Livers Extended The Life Of Mice With Liver Disease

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

Stem Cells Genetically Engineered Transformed Into Working Mini-Livers Extended The Life Of Mice With Liver Disease

Imagine if researchers could program stem cells, which have the potential to grow into all cell types in the body, so that they could generate an entire human organ. This would allow scientists to manufacture tissues for testing drugs and reduce the demand for transplant organs by having new ones grown directly from a patient’s cells. A cross section of lab-grown human liver tissue. The green shows the network of blood vessels. Velazquez et al. Cell Systems , CC BY-SA Takeaways Scientists have made progress growing human liver in the lab. The challenge has been to direct stems cells to grow into a mature, functioning adult organ. This study shows that stem cells can be programmed, using genetic engineering, to grow from immature cells into mature tissue. When a tiny lab-grown liv...

How gene editing a person’s brain cells could be used to curb the opioid epidemic

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

How gene editing a person’s brain cells could be used to curb the opioid epidemic

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic cripples the economy and kills hundreds of people each day, there is another epidemic that continues to kill tens of thousands of people each year through opioid drug overdose. Opioid analgesic drugs, like morphine and oxycodone, are the classic double-edged swords. They are the very best drugs to stop severe pain but also the class of drugs most likely to kill the person taking them. In a recent journal article, I outlined how a combination of state-of-the-art molecular techniques, such as CRISPR gene editing and brain microinjection methods, could be used to blunt one edge of the sword and make opioid drugs safer. I am a pharmacologist interested in the way opioid drugs such as morphine and fentanyl can blunt pain. I became fascinated in biology at the tim...

Why hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine don’t block coronavirus infection of human lung cells

24Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE

Why hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine don’t block coronavirus infection of human lung cells

The big idea A paper came out in Nature on July 22 that further underscores earlier studies that show that neither the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine nor chloroquine prevents SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – from replicating in lung cells. Most Americans probably remember that hydroxychloroquine became the focus of numerous clinical trials following the president’s statement that it could be a “game changer.” At the time, he appeared to base this statement on anecdotal stories, as well as a few early and very limited studies that hydroxychloroquine seemed to help patients with COVID-19 recover. Many in the antiviral field, including myself, questioned the validity of both, and in fact, one of the papers was later disparaged by the scientific society and the editor of the jo...

Synthetic odors created by activating brain cells help neuroscientists understand how smell works

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE, VIDEO REELS

Synthetic odors created by activating brain cells help neuroscientists understand how smell works

When you experience something with your senses, it evokes complex patterns of activity in your brain. One important goal in neuroscience is to decipher how these neural patterns drive the sensory experience. For example, can the smell of chocolate be represented by a single brain cell, groups of cells firing all at the same time or cells firing in some precise symphony? The answers to these questions will lead to a broader understanding of how our brains represent the external world. They also have implications for treating disorders where the brain fails in representing the external world: for example, in the loss of sight of smell. To understand how the brain drives sensory experience, my colleagues and I focus on the sense of smell in mice. We directly control a mouse’s neural activit...