Weng et al. investigate the function of polyglutamine (polyQ) in Runx2, demonstrating that the deletion of the polyQ repeat disrupts the interaction with KPNA3. This impairs the steric blocking effects of KPNA3 on Runx2 condensation. They revealed the unique role of polyQ repeat in modulating the liquid-like state of Runx2.
Inhaled corticosteroids are the foundation of asthma therapy and now, 50 years on from their introduction, is an appropriate time to summarise some of the key studies that have progressed the field. We can now make better decisions in selecting the optimal inhaled corticosteroid-based regimens and identifying likely responders, based on biomarkers and patient characteristics. Inhaled corticosteroids reduce the risk of asthma attacks, but do not alter the course of the disease. Asthma remission, which is as yet an undefined therapeutic goal, is the aim, but the role of inhaled corticosteroids is unclear.
In Aging Cell, researchers have elucidated the relationship between intestinal aging and age-related changes to the gut microbiome.
Two interdependent biologies
The human gut works through the interaction of two entirely different sets of cells. The first is the body’s actual cells, including the intestinal barrier between the gut and the rest of the body, various types of ordinary immune cells, and Peyer’s patches with follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) areas that contain microfold cells (M cells), which perform crucial immunoregulatory tasks [1]. The second is the gut microbiome, the various types of bacteria that help us digest food.
Researchers have developed a sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can measure forces and twisting motions in all directions using light instead of traditional electronics. The new sensor could help robotic tools and medical devices “feel” what they are touching, especially at very small scales.
“Although modern imaging systems can show structures clearly, they do not provide information about physical interaction, such as force or torque, and existing force sensors are often too bulky or complex to fit into miniature tools,” said research team leader Jianlong Yang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. “By allowing machines to measure contact force, pressure, shear and twisting, our technology could make it possible for robots to detect unsafe contact early and adjust their actions in real time, especially in small and sensitive environments.”
In Optica journal, the researchers describe their new sensor, which measures just 1.7 millimeters and uses a single optical signal to measure forces and torques in all directions at once. Proof-of-concept tests showed that the sensor can detect stiffness variations and locate hidden structures in models that mimic a tumor embedded in tissue.
A team led by researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University, in collaboration with Tohoku University and Orbray Co., Ltd., using heteroepitaxial diamond materials developed by Orbray, have shown that lab-grown diamonds might realize a radiation dosimeter compatible with both medical diagnosis and radiation therapy.
The work is published in the journal Medical Physics.
They demonstrated that a diamond-based dosimeter could accurately measure doses in the same energy range as diagnostic X-rays, with far better sensitivity per volume than conventional detectors. Using the same device for dosimetry during both diagnosis and therapies could enable improved consistency.
From a cellular perspective, senescence has been considered a binary state, wherein cells are either senescent or not. This reductionist notion, often defined as irreversible growth arrest, has guided efforts to identify universal biomarkers and senolytics, but both have consistently eluded us. This outcome is not surprising, given that the biological nature of senescence may not be strictly irreversible; the accumulated evidence suggests that growth arrest can become unstable over time, with cells acquiring alterations, occasionally regaining proliferative capacity, or undergoing partial reprogramming, and exhibiting a heterogeneous spectrum of phenotypes (“senotypes”) influenced by tissue types, stressors, temporal dynamics, and disease states.
Our memories of past events are typically not isolated, but they are linked to other related memories. This ability to establish connections between related memories is highly advantageous, as it helps us to recognize familiar patterns in new situations and make predictions that can inform our decisions.
Researchers at UCLA’s Brain Research Institute recently carried out a study on mice aimed at better understanding how the brain decides what memories are connected and which ones are not. Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, pinpoints brain regions that could play a role in the organization of memories into coherent pools of knowledge.
“Our lab has long been interested in understanding how the brain connects related memories,” André F. de Sousa, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress. “In everyday life, new experiences are rarely processed in isolation. Instead, they are often shaped by what we have learned before. This ability allows us to link related events, build knowledge, and use past experiences to guide future behavior. However, this process needs to be carefully controlled.”