A new study, published in Nature Communications, outlines a method of growing mineralized structures with the same properties as dental enamel. The materials could be used for repairing enamel, which – unlike other tissues of the body – is not regenerated by the human body once lost. Enamel loss Enamel is the hardest substance in
A new way to treat chronic pain without the use of opioids was found by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. The treatment is a spinal injection containing apolipoprotein A-I binding protein (AIBP), which binds to toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a receptor on the surface of cells that detects infectious
Cases of the Ebola virus have risen to levels high enough in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC) that the World Health Organization (WHO) now considers it an outbreak. Ebola was first identified in 1976 in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) and was originally called Zaire Ebolavirus. It is now one of
An international research team, led by scientists from Yale University, has identified a new immunotherapy target for treating colorectal cancer, developing an antibody that successfully reduces tumor formation in animal models. Though the antibody still needs to be tested in humans, it could eventually be used as a new immunotherapy inhibitor to treat colorectal and
Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in dogs, impacting our canine companions at the same rate as it affects humans. In both people and dogs, the estimated lifetime risk for cancer is approximately one in three. In Dr. Jaime Modiano’s lab in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, researchers
The first cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States were reported in June 1981. Since then, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic has continued to grow, and an estimated 36.7 million people were living with HIV infection in 2016. Despite decades of research and billions of dollars spent in funding research, neither a
When a bacterial toxin infects a host, barriers are often in place as a preventative to protect the host’s cells. As little as a single copy of a toxin can kill a cell, and in general, the target of the toxin is a low abundant component of the cell. New research recently published in Current
An international team of scientists has developed a new experimental technique that uses X-ray lasers to better analyze the structure of amyloids, large filamentous biomolecules implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Their method, recently outlined in the journal Nature Communications, opens up the ability to examine individual amyloid fibrils, the constituents of
A recent study has revealed new information about the inner workings of methanotrophs, bacteria that metabolize methane for their source of energy. This process requires copper, and Northwestern University researchers have pinpointed two new proteins that help methanotrophic bacteria acquire copper from their surrounding environment. These findings have a variety of potential applications, both medical
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that more than one third of the adult population within the United States is obese. Obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, are some of the leading causes of preventable death and result in billions of dollars in medical costs spent annually. Obesity is