The cells combating a deadly lung disease
A subset of fibroblasts located in small foci of tissue on the edges of extensive scarring produce a protein that protects against cell aging.
2021-07-15
(Press-News.org) Single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed a subset of cells that could provide protection from a rare, but severely debilitating and fatal, lung disease. The findings were published by Nagoya University researchers and colleagues in the European Respiratory Journal. Further research could lead to new therapeutic strategies for the disease, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Approximately 15 in every 100,000 people worldwide develop IPF. Its prognosis and five-year survival rate can be worse than many types of cancer. It involves the development of scar tissue on the lung, impairing gas exchange and making it difficult to breath. The disease currently has no cure and scientists do not know exactly what causes it.
"Our research, led by a collaborative team from Nagoya University in Japan and Yale University in the US, found a special cell population of protective fibroblasts in lungs of people with IPF," says Nagoya University's Naozumi Hashimoto, who specializes in respiratory medicine.
The team examined around 250,000 cells from lung tissue belonging to 29 normal and 32 IPF lungs. The examinations involved sequencing the RNA of each individual cell to find which genes they expressed. The analysis pinpointed one specific subset of fibroblast cells that were significantly more prevalent in IPF lungs than in normal ones. Fibroblasts are the most common type of cell in the supportive tissue in and around organs. This particular subset of fibroblasts produced a protein called meflin.
Interestingly, these meflin-producing fibroblasts were mainly found within acute focal lung lesions on the edges of dense scarring. The surrounding dense scar tissue contained very few of these cells.
Turning off meflin and inducing lung fibrosis in mice triggered cell aging, which led to more extensive pulmonary fibrosis than would have been expected. This process was counteracted in laboratory-studied cells by inserting the gene that codes for meflin.
"We anticipate that our discovery will promote better understanding of the unsolved disease mechanisms of IPF and ultimately lead to the development of novel therapies for lung fibrosis," says Hashimoto.
The team next plans to further investigate how meflin protects lungs from fibrosis and if meflin-positive cells can be used to diagnose and treat IPF.
INFORMATION:
This study, "Fibroblasts positive for meflin have anti-fibrotic property in pulmonary fibrosis," was published in European Respiratory Journal on May 28, 2021, at DOI: 10.1183/13993003.03397-2020.
About Nagoya University, Japan
Nagoya University has a history of about 150 years, with its roots in a temporary medical school and hospital established in 1871, and was formally instituted as the last Imperial University of Japan in 1939. Although modest in size compared to the largest universities in Japan, Nagoya University has been pursuing excellence since its founding. Six of the 18 Japanese Nobel Prize-winners since 2000 did all or part of their Nobel Prize-winning work at Nagoya University: four in Physics - Toshihide Maskawa and Makoto Kobayashi in 2008, and Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano in 2014; and two in Chemistry - Ryoji Noyori in 2001 and Osamu Shimomura in 2008. In mathematics, Shigefumi Mori did his Fields Medal-winning work at the University. A number of other important discoveries have also been made at the University, including the Okazaki DNA Fragments by Reiji and Tsuneko Okazaki in the 1960s; and depletion forces by Sho Asakura and Fumio Oosawa in 1954.
Website: http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-07-15
Austin, Texas (July 15, 2021)
Access to high-quality public transportation can make communities more equitable by increasing access to critical opportunities such as employment, health care and healthy food, particularly for low-income individuals and people of color. A END ...
2021-07-15
INDIANAPOLIS -- Nursing homes throughout the United States have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic with many perceptions and misperceptions but little documentation about what has happened on a day-by -day basis to residents in these facilities. A study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine research scientists is one of the first to describe and identify patterns in the course of COVID-19 in the typically frail individuals who reside in nursing homes.
Much has been written about number of deaths, vaccine uptake and ...
2021-07-15
Bone density, skin and hair health, and the mobility of joints depend to a great extent on the microelement of silicon. We mostly get it with food, but silicon is also consumed with some biologically active additives that promise beauty, longevity, and youth. The element can also be found in drinking water of a natural origin: usually, it is included in the compound of sodium salt and metasiliconic acid. However, in the case of microelements, one should be extremely careful: a deficiency could lead to diseases, but an overdose could bring negative effects too.
Together with colleagues from the Chuvash State University and the Hamburg Medical University, scientists of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University studied the effect of prolonged silicon consumption in relatively ...
2021-07-15
To date, there are no effective antidotes against most virus infections. An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new approach: they engulf and neutralize viruses with nano-capsules tailored from genetic material using the DNA origami method. The strategy has already been tested against hepatitis and adeno-associated viruses in cell cultures. It may also prove successful against corona viruses.
There are antibiotics against dangerous bacteria, but few antidotes to treat acute viral infections. Some infections can be prevented by vaccination but developing new vaccines is a long and laborious process.
Now an interdisciplinary research team from the Technical University of Munich, the Helmholtz Zentrum München and ...
2021-07-15
A new study finds that resilience is a dynamic process, rather than a fixed trait - and suggests this may have significant ramifications for the business world.
"Organizations are interested in cultivating a resilient workforce, because they want people who are able to remain committed to an organization and its goals over time," says Patrick Flynn, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of human resources management at North Carolina State University's Poole College of Management.
"Our work here does a couple things," Flynn says. "First it finds that resilience is more of a process than a characteristic. Second, it identifies some of the ...
2021-07-15
RUDN University chemists obtained a metal-containing complex with an unusual planar architecture. The unexpected structure was formed due to the spontaneous fixation of carbon dioxide from the air during the reaction. This compound exhibits unusual magnetic properties (spin glass behaviour). This can be useful for creating memory storage devices. The results are published in the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry
Coordination polymers are hybrid crystalline coordination compounds contained of infinitely repeating fragments (structural elements). These structural ...
2021-07-15
The mitochondrion has garnered quite the reputation for its role as the "powerhouse of the cell." These tiny, but mighty organelles play various life-sustaining roles, from powering our own cells and organs to fueling chemical and biological processes. But when they aren't working properly, a number of rare diseases can occur.
Mitochondrial diseases are a group of debilitating genetic disorders that affect one in 5,000 people throughout the world, most of them being children. Along with these diseases come a variety of health concerns including, but not limited to, heart ...
2021-07-15
The pandemic has taught us that almost all companies have to sell on the internet. Bots are a technology that facilitates e-commerce. They are digital assistants that can answer customer queries about products that are sold or help to locate them, as well as supporting customers in the purchasing process. "In whatever language; and moreover, chatbots never get tired: They're available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year", said Jordi Cabot, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) researcher who created Xatkit, a company specialized in their development. This technology has existed for some time in big companies and is now also helping improve the digital competitiveness ...
2021-07-15
The RUDN University chemists have discovered a reaction for the synthesis of acetimidamides, heterocyclic compounds with biological activity that can be used for the synthesis of hormones, anti-inflammatory and other medical drugs. The reaction goes in one step with an efficiency of up to 96%. The results are published in the journal Molecules.
Traditional chemical synthesis goes in several stages and requires the isolation and purification of intermediates at each stage. It is not efficient and not environmentally friendly as it increases the loss of substances and the consumption of solvents, and there is a problem of waste disposal. ...
2021-07-15
Scientists have uncovered a way to control many genes in engineered yeast cells, opening the door to more efficient and sustainable production of bio-based products.
The study, published in Nucleic Acids Research by researchers from DSM's Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center in Delft, the Netherlands, and the University of Bristol, has shown how to unlock CRISPR's potential for regulating many genes simultaneously.
Baker's yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae to give it it's full name, is considered as a workhorse for biotechnology. Not only has it been used for producing bread and beer for thousands of years, but today it can also be engineered to produce an array of other useful compounds that form the basis of pharmaceuticals, fuels, and food additives. However, achieving ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] The cells combating a deadly lung disease
A subset of fibroblasts located in small foci of tissue on the edges of extensive scarring produce a protein that protects against cell aging.
