Metabolism News and Research

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Metabolism is the means by which the body derives energy and synthesizes the other molecules it needs from the fats, carbohydrates and proteins we eat as food, by enzymatic reactions helped by minerals and vitamins.

PI3K Enzyme's Dual Accelerator and Brake Mechanisms Uncovered

A group of researchers have expanded conventional knowledge on a critical enzyme that controls cell migration. In a recent publication in the journal Nature Communications, they reported that phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) not only acts as an accelerator to prompt cell motility, but it also has a built-in brake mechanism that impedes migration.

25 Apr 2024

Study Unravels How Tumors Evade Immune Response by Targeting T Cells

Tumors actively prevent the formation of immune responses by so-called cytotoxic T cells, which are essential in combating cancer.

25 Apr 2024

Using State-of-the Art Imaging to Understand Lipid Dysfunction in Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease causes significant problems with memory, thinking and behavior and is the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 50 million people around the world each year.

24 Apr 2024

Understanding How the Human Forebrain Develops at the Cellular Level

A group of researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine led an investigation that offers new insight into the development of the human forebrain.

17 Apr 2024

Exercise Intervention Reduces Fat Accumulation Associated with Aging

Scientists have discovered that a type of fat accumulates as tissue ages and that this accumulation can be reversed through exercise.

16 Apr 2024

How Glucocorticoids Quell Inflammation

Cortisone and other related glucocorticoids are extremely effective at curbing excessive immune reactions.

13 Apr 2024

Understanding Prostate Cancer Disparities Through Proteogenomics

Certain proteogenomic signatures in the prostate cancers of men of African and European ancestries were associated with higher risk of metastasis and/or recurrence of the disease, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10.

10 Apr 2024

Study Reveals Early Development of Circadian Rhythms in Infant Gut Microbiomes

Infant gut microbiomes oscillate with a circadian rhythm, even when they are cultivated outside of the body.

3 Apr 2024

Acidic Fortress of Tumors Could Rebuff Immune Cells

Cancer cells release a significantly more concentrated level of acid than previously known, forming an "acid wall" that could deter immune cells from attacking tumors, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists show in a new study.

2 Apr 2024

Study Investigates Links Between Gene Expression and Primate Brain Evolution

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published the results of a first-of-its-kind study investigating the links between gene expression and brain evolution across 18 primate species.

1 Apr 2024

Autofluorescence Reveals Clues to Stem Cell Dormancy

With the help of a tool created at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, researchers can better study the various states of stem cells in the nervous system by utilizing the light naturally emitted by biological specimens.

28 Mar 2024

New Theory Links Gene Length to Cellular Decline

A gene’s length may have more to do with aging than particular “aging genes.” Reduced expression of long genes may be the cause of many aging-related changes, according to researchers writing an opinion piece that was published in the journal Trends in Genetics on March 21st, 2023.

25 Mar 2024

New Study Sheds Light on Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Aging

The central nervous system requires a tightly controlled environment for the neurons in the brain to function properly and be able to process information. The blood-brain barrier, which is maintained by specific brain endothelial cells lining blood vessel inner walls, controls the exchange of chemicals between the neurological and circulatory systems.

25 Mar 2024

Unraveling the Role of Gene Length in Aging

Aging may be less about specific "aging genes" and more about how long a gene is. Many of the changes associated with aging could be occurring due to decreased expression of long genes, say researchers in an opinion piece publishing March 21 in the journal Trends in Genetics.

22 Mar 2024

Role of Candidalysin in Gut Microbiome Dynamics

The fungus Candida albicans commonly inhabits the human gastrointestinal tract. This versatile species can switch between existing as single-celled yeast and multicellular hyphae to adjust to its surroundings.

22 Mar 2024

Insulin Influences Mitochondrial Recycling in Neurons

The hormone insulin controls many cellular processes and adapts them to the body's current energy supply.

20 Mar 2024

Targeting T Cell Metabolism to Boost Cancer Therapies

Recent findings from the lab of Jessica Thaxton, PhD, MsCR, in the UNC School of Medicine's Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, as well as associates in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Immunotherapy Group, have provided new insights into T-cell metabolism that may improve immunotherapies that depend on T cells to combat cancer.

18 Mar 2024

Metabolic Insights into Immune Cell Activation and Response

Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia identified a key metabolite in cells that helps direct immune responses and explains at a single cell level why immune cells that most efficiently recognize pathogens, vaccines, or diseased cells grow and divide faster than other cells.

18 Mar 2024

Reducing Iron May Reverse Stem Cell Aging

It is fascinating to learn how researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) have discovered a way to prevent or even reverse the function of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells (HSCs) as they age.

11 Mar 2024

Bioluminescent Plants Illuminate Homes and Gardens

New findings that have been published in the journal Science Advances have revealed a naturally occurring plant gene that makes it easier for scientists to capture the fascinating glow of bioluminescent plants.

11 Mar 2024