Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.
The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.
The introduction of magnetogenetics provides a noninvasive technique to modulate brain circuits, paving the way for innovative therapies in neuromodulation.
In human, animal, and plant cells, calcium ions play a crucial role as messengers. They support the regulation of essential functions like heartbeats, stress reactions, and nerve impulses.
Research by Stony Brook Medicine nephrology specialists may help prevent or reduce diabetic kidney disease progression by targeting cellular signaling between kidney cells and inducing a specific gene.
In a recent discovery, a study team from Kyushu University in Japan has shed light on how the systems defend against illness and injury by identifying a calcium-based mechanism that is essential to the removal of dead cells.
In 2021, the Janelia group leaders reported that they had developed a way to combine Schreiter's engineered protein biosensors and Lavis's bright, fluorescent Janelia Fluor dyes.
Researchers at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS) at Kyoto University have discovered new information regarding how cells control the distribution of lipids in their cell membrane.
Potassium isotope ratios in serum show promise as biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease, revealing significant differences between patients and healthy controls.
Study of python cardiac responses to feeding uncovers structural and epigenetic changes, enhancing understanding of heart disease and therapeutic applications.
When it comes to survival, plants have a huge disadvantage compared to many other living organisms: they cannot simply change their location if predators or pathogens attack them or the environmental conditions change to their disadvantage.
To understand the brain better, we need new methods to observe its activity.
Mitochondria, the so-called "powerhouse of the cell," depend on a newly discovered recycling mechanism identified by scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
Researchers have developed a new two-photon fluorescence microscope that captures high-speed images of neural activity at cellular resolution. By imaging much faster and with less harm to brain tissue than traditional two-photon microscopy, the new approach could provide a clearer view of how neurons communicate in real time, leading to new insights into brain function and neurological diseases.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine claim to have identified multiple molecular pathways linked to diarrhea caused by COVID-19, offering possible therapeutic interventions utilizing human stem cells to create a sort of “mini intestine-in-a-dish.
Plants are powerhouses of molecular manufacturing. Over the eons, they have evolved to produce a plethora of small molecules -; some are beneficial and valuable to humans, others can be deadly.
Neuroscientists have discovered how the brain bidirectionally controls sensitivity to threats to initiate and complete escape behavior in mice.
Using animals to study heart disease doesn't always translate well to human health outcomes, and human heart cells available for research don't work outside the human body.
Whether forcing adult cardiomyocytes to reverse from the oxidative phosphorylation phenotype to the glycolysis phenotype would also restore their mitotic ability.
From the outside, most T cells look the same: small and spherical. Now, a team of researchers led by Berend Snijder from the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zurich has taken a closer look inside these cells using advanced techniques.
The use of brain organoids in screening for drugs against mitochondrial diseases, which have hitherto presented challenges in treatment.
A small antibiotic called plectasin uses an innovative mechanism to kill bacteria. By assembling into large structures, plectasin latches onto its target on the bacterial cell surface comparable to how both sides of Velcro form a bond.
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