PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Presenting a new GRAB sensor toolkit for neuropeptides

2023-11-16
(Press-News.org) New biosensors have helped reveal the activity of neuropeptides in the brain, researchers report, providing novel tools for studying the release, function, and regulation of these crucial signaling molecules in vivo. According to the study, the approach has the potential to address key questions regarding neuropeptides and their roles in health and disease. In the brain, neuropeptides are key signaling molecules in the body that regulate many critical physiological functions, including digestion, metabolism, sleep, and higher cognitive processes. Because of this, neuropeptide signaling, which is primarily mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), provides a key site for drug targeting for a wide range of diseases and conditions such as obesity, diabetes, insomnia, and chronic pain. Although the ability to measure the spatial and temporal dynamics of neuropeptides in vivo is essential for understanding their functions and the mechanisms underlying their regulation, current tools for detecting these molecules in the brain and monitoring their effects are lacking. As a result, the precise spatiotemporal dynamics and release patterns of neuropeptides in the brain remain poorly understood. Here, Huan Wang and colleagues present a generalized method for engineering genetically encoded fluorescent neuropeptide biosensors. Wang et al. developed and characterized a series of highly selective and sensitive GPCR activation-based sensors (GRABs) for detecting several neuropeptides, including somatostatin (SST), corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), cholecystokinin (CCK), neuropeptide Y (NPY), neurotensin (NTS), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). In in vitro and in vivo experiments in cultured cells and mice, the authors showed that the GRABs were highly sensitive and could detect specific neuropeptide release with a high spatiotemporal resolution without affecting signaling pathways. According to Wang et al., their approach could be used to design a GRAB sensor for almost any neuropeptide and study organism-wide neuropeptide signaling. In a related Perspective, Roman Romanov and Tibor Harkany discuss the study in greater detail.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UCSC doctoral graduate wins prestigious Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists

UCSC doctoral graduate wins prestigious Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists
2023-11-16
Jessica Kendall-Bar, who received her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology last year from UC Santa Cruz with co-advisors Terrie Williams and Dan Costa, was named a recipient of the prestigious Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists for her research on elephant seal sleep habits while they are at sea. The Science & SciLifeLab Prize is an international prize awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the journal Science to early career scientists for their outstanding thesis research in the life sciences. As ...

How cell identity is preserved when cells divide

2023-11-16
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Every cell in the human body contains the same genetic instructions, encoded in its DNA. However, out of about 30,000 genes, each cell expresses only those genes that it needs to become a nerve cell, immune cell, or any of the other hundreds of cell types in the body.   Each cell’s fate is largely determined by chemical modifications to the proteins that decorate its DNA; these modification in turn control which genes get turned on or off. When cells copy their DNA to divide, however, they lose half of these modifications, leaving the question: How do cells maintain the memory of what kind of cell they are supposed ...

Liverpool’s chemists awarded Queen’s Anniversary Prize for pioneering research to address global challenges

2023-11-16
The University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of its pioneering research and innovation work to address global challenges and benefit society.   The Queen’s Anniversary Prize is the highest national honour in Higher Education. It is awarded in recognition of world-class excellence and achievement to a small selection of UK institutions every two years.   The Department of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool carries out world-leading research that pushes forward the frontiers of ...

Technique enables AI on edge devices to keep learning over time

Technique enables AI on edge devices to keep learning over time
2023-11-16
Personalized deep-learning models can enable artificial intelligence chatbots that adapt to understand a user’s accent or smart keyboards that continuously update to better predict the next word based on someone’s typing history. This customization requires constant fine-tuning of a machine-learning model with new data.  Because smartphones and other edge devices lack the memory and computational power necessary for this fine-tuning process, user data are typically uploaded to cloud servers where the model is updated. But data ...

Department of Chemical Engineering receives $3.5 million award to study impact of adolescent exposure to opioids

Department of Chemical Engineering receives $3.5 million award to study impact of adolescent exposure to opioids
2023-11-16
Opioid addiction is a pressing public health crisis with far-reaching implications. More than 100,000 deaths a year have been linked to drug overdoses since 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more people died from drug overdoses in 2021 than from firearm and motor vehicle deaths combined. Three-quarters of these overdose deaths were attributable to opioids. A five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse will fund the Virginia Tech Department of Chemical Engineering’s pioneering research to understand how adolescent ...

Terrorism rather than pandemics more concerning for those with those with authoritarian views, analysis shows

2023-11-16
Those with authoritarian political views are more likely to be concerned about terrorism and border control than a future new health pandemic, new research shows. During the pandemic, rather than a desire for a stronger government with the ability to impose measures to address the pandemic and its consequences, people with authoritarian views rejected this and embraced individual autonomy. Researchers analysed public perceptions of security threats in 2012 and in 2020. They believe COVID-19 belongs to a distinct category of threats of which those with authoritarian views are less ...

University of Miami receives $1.8 million NOAA grant to study South Florida’s coastal ecosystems

University of Miami receives $1.8 million NOAA grant to study South Florida’s coastal ecosystems
2023-11-16
The University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has been awarded a nearly $1.8 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of an anticipated four-year, $4.2 million project to support research on the impacts to South Florida’s coastal ecosystems from a multitude of climate change stressors.  The newly funded project, co-led by the University of Miami Rosenstiel School and NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) will focus on climate impacts to South Florida’s coastal and marine ecosystems, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ...

USF researchers help reduce lead levels in Madagascar drinking water

USF researchers help reduce lead levels in Madagascar drinking water
2023-11-16
TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 16, 2023) -- A team of engineers and public health experts from the University of South Florida is helping Toamasina, Madagascar, residents reduce their exposure to lead – a major global environmental pollutant that causes more than 1 million premature deaths each year. By combining efforts to replace water pumps and educate city technicians, USF researchers helped decrease the blood lead levels of 87 percent of the children tested during their study. “They were taking old car batteries and melting them down to make check ...

UofL law professor developing generative AI toolkit to aid legal writing instruction

UofL law professor developing generative AI toolkit to aid legal writing instruction
2023-11-16
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While many are wary of artificial intelligence and its feared effect of supplanting the human creation of content, one University of Louisville professor is leading an effort to help her colleagues use it in the classroom. Susan Tanner, assistant professor of law at UofL’s Brandeis Law School, has won a teaching grant from the Association of Legal Writing Directors to develop a toolkit that law professors anywhere can use to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (genAI) into their legal writing curricula. GenAI is technology that can create text, images, videos and other media in response to prompts inputted by a user – otherwise known ...

Novel predictor of prediabetes in Latino youth identified in new USC study

2023-11-16
A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have identified two metabolites, substances produced by the body during metabolism, that may help predict which young Latino people are most likely to develop prediabetes, a precursor to developing type 2 diabetes. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in Diabetes Care, is the first large-scale study to look at metabolites as possible predictors of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes in young Latino people. The researchers found that when they added these two metabolites to current prediction models, they could more accurately ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] Presenting a new GRAB sensor toolkit for neuropeptides