Mice injected with spinal fluid from ALS patients offer potential therapeutic target August 23, 2022 -- Injecting mice with cerebrospinal fluid from patients with the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) induces permanent motor disability associated with the pathological features of the disease, according to a study published on August 22 in Brain Communications.Read More
Researchers uncover how T and B cells learn to attack liver cells in metabolic diseases August 19, 2022 -- Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have identified a protein that is instrumental in activating both T and B cells to attack liver cells in metabolic disorders, helping to further understanding of the dynamics underlying liver damage that can accompany type 2 diabetes and obesity.Read More
Key vulnerability discovered across all major SARS-CoV-2 variants August 18, 2022 -- Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered a “weak spot” across all major variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the recently emerged BA.1 and BA.2 omicron subvariants, using cryo-electron microscopy to reveal the atomic-level structure of the vulnerability on the spike protein.Read More
Scientists capture first image of antigen-bound T-cell receptor at atomic resolution August 18, 2022 -- Using cryo-electron microscopy, scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt (in collaboration with the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics) have for the first time been able to visualize the whole T-cell receptor complex with bound antigen at atomic resolution.Read More
Researchers use human serum to detect gut microbes that activate immune cells August 18, 2022 -- Using human serum, investigators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have devised a new method that allows the identification of gut microbes that activate immunity after breaching the gut barrier.Read More
Innovative approach keeps cells alive during RNA extraction August 17, 2022 -- Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich have jointly developed an innovative single-cell transcriptome profiling approach, called Live-seq, that keeps cells alive during RNA extraction for further study while also being minimally invasive.Read More