INFORMATION:
Tracking the formation of the early heart, cell by cell
2021-01-07
(Press-News.org) Richard Tyser and colleagues have mapped the origins of the embryonic mouse heart at single-cell resolution, helping to define the cell types that make up the heart in the earliest days of development. Their techniques allowed them to identify for a first time a pool of progenitor cells that contributes to the formation of heart muscle cells as well as the early epicardium, the outermost layer of the heart. This layer provides cells and other proteins that guide the development and repair of heart tissue, so a better understanding of its origins could better inform regenerative heart therapies as well as improve our understanding of congenital heart defects. Tyser et al. performed a micro-dissection of a portion of the embryonic mouse heart to observe a very early stage streak of cells called the cardiac crescent transform into the linear heart tube. Combining single-cell RNA sequencing to identify cell types with high-resolution imaging and time-lapse microscopy, the researchers were able to follow the development of distinct populations of progenitor heart cells over about 12 hours of development.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New defense against dengue and emerging mosquito-borne viruses
2021-01-07
New treatments to cut the global death rate from dengue, Zika and West Nile viruses could result from research led by The University of Queensland.
Associate Professor Daniel Watterson from UQ's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said the team identified an antibody that improved survival rates in laboratory trials and reduced the presence of virus in the blood.
"We made a discovery in 2015 in the wake of the Zika outbreak that identified a new target for flavivirus treatments, a viral protein called NS1," Dr Watterson said.
"Now we've shown for the first time that a single NS1 antibody can be protective against multiple flaviviruses including dengue, Zika and West Nile.
"No other antibody reported has shown such a broad range of protection.
"The improved ...
Keeping sperm cells on track
2021-01-07
One essential component of each eukaryotic cell is the cytoskeleton. Microtubules, tiny tubes consisting of a protein called tubulin, are part of this skeleton of cells. Cilia and flagella, which are antenna-like structures that protrude from most of the cells in our body, contain many microtubules. An example of flagell is the sperm tail, which is essential for male fertility and thus for sexual reproduction. The flagellum has to beat in a very precise and coordinated manner to allow progressive swimming of the sperm. Failure to do so can lead to male infertility. Researchers at the Institut Curie in Paris, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology ...
Insights into the Yellowstone hotspot
2021-01-07
Boulder, Colo., USA: The Yellowstone hotspot is well known for generating supereruptions in the geologic past that are far more explosive than historic examples. The origin and sustained longevity of the hotspot is less understood but is focused on two competing models, where the ascent of hot mantle is derived from either a deep-seated mantle plume or a shallow mantle source.
In their study published this month in GSA Today, Vic Camp and Ray Wells use an integrated database that supports the idea of a deep mantle-plume origin for the Yellowstone hotspot with a robust history of magmatism that extends to at least 56 million years ago, far older than previously thought. In this scenario, hotspot ...
Energy sorghum may combine best of annual, perennial bioenergy crops
2021-01-07
Large perennial grasses like miscanthus are a primary target for use as bioenergy crops because of their sustainability advantages, but they take several years to establish and aren't ideal for crop rotation. Maize and other annual crops are easier to manage with traditional farming but are tougher on the environment.
Energy sorghum, a hefty annual plant with the ecological benefits of a perennial, may combine the best of both crops.
A study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) found that energy sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) behaves more like miscanthus in the way it efficiently captures light and uses water to produce abundant biomass. ...
Cancer cells hibernate like bears to evade harsh chemotherapy
2021-01-07
Tapping into an ancient evolutionary survival mechanism, cancer cells enter into a sluggish, slow-dividing state to survive the harsh environment created by chemotherapy or other targeted agents.
In research published January 7, 2020 in Cell, Princess Margaret Scientist Dr. Catherine O'Brien and team discovered that when under threat, all cancer cells - rather than just a subset - have the ability to transition into this protective state, where the cells "rest" until the threat, or chemotherapy, is removed.
It is the first study to identify that cancer cells hijack an evolutionary conserved program to survive chemotherapy. Furthermore, the researchers show that novel therapeutic strategies aimed at specifically targeting ...
What is surgical smoke and what can be done about it?
2021-01-07
If you've ever been in an operating room where tools are used to simultaneously cut and cauterize human flesh, you know what surgical smoke is. The heat generated by these surgical tools produces vapors made up of aerosolized chemicals and substances that can be hazardous to health.
Two new papers led by researchers in the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing suggest that policies and laws mandating the evacuation of surgical smoke from operating rooms are the best way to reduce the negative health impacts on perioperative staff as well as surgical patients.
Surgical smoke poses a health risk to everyone in the operating room. The smoke can sometimes be thick enough to obscure vision, especially during longer operations where cauterizing tools are heavily used. Perioperative ...
Research confirms increase in river flooding and droughts in US, Canada
2021-01-07
HANOVER, N.H. - January 7, 2021 - The number of "extreme streamflow" events observed in river systems have increased significantly across the United States and Canada over the last century, according to a study from Dartmouth College.
In regions where water runoff from snowmelt is a main contributor to river streamflow, the study found a rise in extreme events, such as flooding.
In drought-prone regions in the western and southeastern U.S., the study found that the frequency of extreme low-flow events has also become more common, particularly during summer and fall.
The research, published in Science Advances, analyzed records dating ...
Functional seizures associated with stroke, psychiatric disorders in EHR study
2021-01-07
In a large-scale study of electronic health records, Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have determined the prevalence of functional seizures and characterized comorbidities associated with them.
Functional seizures are sudden attacks or spasms that look like epileptic seizures but do not have the aberrant brain electrical patterns of epilepsy.
The research team, headed by Lea Davis, PhD, associate professor of Medicine and an investigator in the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, confirmed associations between functional seizures and psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety ...
MRI frequently underestimates tumor size in prostate cancer
2021-01-07
FINDINGS
A study led by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, frequently underestimates the size of prostate tumors, potentially leading to undertreatment.
The study authors found that such underestimation occurs most often when the MRI-measured tumor size is small and the PI-RADS score, which is used to classify lesions in prostate MRI analysis, is low.
For prostate tumor treatments to be successful, both the MRI size measurement and PI-RADS score must be accurate because they allow physicians to determine precisely ...
Striped or spotted? Winds and jet streams found on the closest brown dwarf
2021-01-07
A University of Arizona-led research team has found bands and stripes on the brown dwarf closest to Earth, hinting at the processes churning the brown dwarf's atmosphere from within.
Brown dwarfs are mysterious celestial objects that are not quite stars and not quite planets. They are about the size of Jupiter but typically dozens of times more massive. Still, they are less massive than the smallest stars, so their cores do not have enough pressure to fuse atoms the way stars do. They are hot when they form and gradually cool, glowing faintly and dimming slowly throughout their lives, making them hard to find. No telescope can clearly ...