General

A team of scientists at UC San Francisco and the National Institutes of Health have achieved another CRISPR first, one which may fundamentally alter the way scientists study brain diseases. In a paper published in the journal Neuron, the researchers describe a technique that uses a special version of CRISPR […]

When a muscle or lung cell gets damaged beyond repair, self-destruct enzymes, known as caspases, spring into action, safely dismantling the cell. But in neurons, which are essentially irreplaceable, one of those enzymes actually helps to recycle old proteins instead of destroying the cell, a process that seems to stall […]

A combination of heart cells derived from human stem cells could be the answer to developing a desperately-needed treatment for heart failure, according to new research by scientists at the University of Cambridge, published in Nature Biotechnology. Researchers have found that, by transplanting an area of damaged tissue with a combination […]

New research reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state. The results, published in Nature, have far-reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop much-needed […]

A team at the University of Cambridge has shown how, in osteoarthritis patients, the viscous lubricant that ordinarily allows our joints to move smoothly triggers a pain response from nerve cells similar to that caused by chilli peppers. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It causes joint pain […]

Brain cells, or neurons, constantly tinker with their circuit connections, a crucial feature that allows the brain to store and process information. While neurons frequently test out new potential partners through transient contacts, only a fraction of fledging junctions, called synapses, are selected to become permanent. The major criterion for […]

A new model developed at MIT can help predict if patients at risk for Alzheimer’s disease will experience clinically significant cognitive decline due to the disease, by predicting their cognition test scores up to two years in the future. The model could be used to improve the selection of candidate […]

We receive half of our genes from each biological parent, so there’s no avoiding inheriting a blend of characteristics from both. Yet, for single-celled organisms like bacteria that reproduce by splitting into two identical cells, injecting variety into the gene pool isn’t so easy. Random mutations add some diversity, but […]

The microtubule-binding protein tau in neurons of the central nervous system can misfold into filamentous aggregates under certain conditions. These filaments are found in many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and progressive supranuclear palsy. Understanding the molecular structure and dynamics of tau fibrils is important […]

A stealthy new drug-delivery system disguises chemotherapeutics as fat in order to outsmart, penetrate and destroy tumors. Thinking the drugs are tasty fats, tumors invite the drug inside. Once there, the targeted drug activates, immediately suppressing tumor growth. The drug also is lower in toxicity than current chemotherapy drugs, leading […]

An international team of researchers led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a pair of genes that influence risk for both late-onset and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Most genes implicated thus far in Alzheimer’s affect neurons that transmit messages, allowing different regions of the […]

A crucial signaling pathway that can tell the immune system to fight off cancer can also be co-opted by cancer cells to put the brakes on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers say this increased understanding […]