Monthly Archives: July 2022

How COVID-19, Long COVID, and COVID Vaccines Differ Between Males and Females – CreakyJoints

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:36 am

Throughout the pandemic, scientists have discovered that being biologically male or female might impact you when it comes to COVID-19 outcomes, long COVID, and vaccine responses but the reasons for these differences have yet to be fully understood.

While experts investigate this topic (many are calling for more studies that look at outcomes based on sex), its important to know how your sex may affect your risk, particularly if youre immunocompromised. This should be part of the ongoing conversation you have with your doctor to determine your risk level and your strategy for protecting yourself against COVID-19.

Heres what we know about the differences in COVID-19 between males and females so far and what it may mean for you.

While researchers agree that males die of COVID-19 at a higher rate than females, its not entirely clear why. A series of social factors may play a bigger role than biological differences, per a February 2022 Harvard GenderSci Lab study of more than 30 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.

The team found that males were infected and died at higher rates than females in some states, but these rates were about even in other states. And at certain points during the pandemic, females outpaced males in cases and fatalities. Because of this, looking at the aggregate data for the nation could be misleading.

Whats more, the gap between males and females was smaller than what experts originally thought: Early on, it was reported that males were dying of COVID-19 at twice the rate of females. However, the data from the teams tracker showed that males in the United States had a mortality rate that was just 10 to 20 percent higher than that of females between April 2020 and May 2021.

After statistical modeling, the researchers found that 30 percent of this variation was due to state-level factors, such as differences in public health policies, timing and length of mask mandates, and other social factors like gendered health behaviors, occupational exposures, pre-existing health conditions, and demographics including race, age, and education.

The model also showed that 10 percent of the difference was based on when a measurement was taken during the pandemic.

The remaining 60 percent of the variation was not explained by either time or state. Still, researchers dont believe that interventions centered on sex-related biological factors like the use of testosteron blockers or estrogen would have a significant impact on outcomes.

Without considering [social and contextural] factors, youre missing part of the picture of why people might be getting exposed or getting a more severe case, Tamara Rushovich, a graduate student at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and part of the GenderSci Lab research team, told The Harvard Gazette. For example, when you see numbers that show different rates of cases or deaths, its not just biology, but what was your exposure risk? And thats influenced by things like your occupation or your income.

Gendered behaviors can also play a role in the different outcomes between males and females.

Thereve been studies that look at things like adherence to mask policies or social-distancing guidelines, added Rushovich. They saw differences in gender adherence to those, so men being less likely to wear masks properly or to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

For instance, an October 2020 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America looked at the gender differences in COVID-19 attitudes and behavior from eight countries. Researchers found that 59 percent of females considered COVID-19 to be a very serious problem during the first wave of the pandemic (March 16-30, 2020) across all eight countries studied (Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States), compared to just 48.7 percent of the males.

In both periods studied (including the second period from April 15-20, 2020), individuals were asked to evaluate how strictly they were following seven recommended rules, including keeping physical distance from others or staying at home. Compliance was markedly higher in females (by 5 to 6 percent), but smaller than the differences in beliefs about the pandemic.

And even after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and employment status, females were much more likely than males to believe that the health consequences of the pandemic were very serious and were also more supportive of restraining measures and more compliant with public health and social distancing measures, per the researchers.

The risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes may be further heightened in certain immunocompromised populations. In an April 2021 review in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, researchers found that individuals who were hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients had a 68 percent rate of 28-day survival after COVID-19 with risk factors for mortality including being male, being older than 50 years, and getting infected within 12 months after HCT.

Likewise, the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) has looked at factors associated with COVID-19 mortality in 3,729 patients with rheumatic diseases. Being male, having an older age, and living with certain comorbidities (hypertension, heart disease, and chronic lung disease) were risk factors for COVID-19-related death. More rheumatic disease activity and certain medications (like rituximab) also raised risk.

On the other hand, some research shows that females might be more likely to encounter long COVID than males but additional studies are needed to confirm this.

A June 2022 review in Current Medical Research and Opinion found that the likelihood of having long-COVID syndrome was 22 percent greater among females. In particular, female patients were significantly more likely to have long-COVID symptoms in the categories of psychiatric and mood (i.e. depression); ear, nose, or throat; musculoskeletal (i.e. myalgia); and respiratory.

That said, male patients were significantly more likely to have long COVID in the category of renal disorders (i.e. acute kidney injury).

Differences in immune system function between females and males could be an important driver of sex differences in long COVID-19 syndrome, note the researchers. Females mount more rapid and robust innate and adaptive immune responses, which can protect them from initial infection and severity. However, this same difference can render females more vulnerable to prolonged autoimmune-related diseases.

As with Lyme disease, the COVID-19 pathogen might remain hidden and generate greater levels of inflammatory cytokines in females than males, per a February 2022 review in the European Respiratory Journal. Some experts believe that fragments of SARS-CoV-2 could hang around areas of the body like the kidneys or brain, sparking a chronic inflammation-associated cascade. This may result in symptoms like pain or brain fog.

In general, 80 percent of all individuals affected by autoimmune disorders are females, due to variation within the sex chromosomes and hormonal changes, per a May 2020 review in Cureus. (An increasing body of research has pointed toward the possibility that COVID-19 causes the development of autoantibodies linked to other autoimmune diseases and may be tied to long-COVID symptoms.)

All of this said, most studies on long COVID do not evaluate or report granular data by sex, so more research in this area will be key for better understanding the risk of long COVID.

The lack of studies reporting sex-disaggregated outcomes for COVID-19 speaks to the need for further, large-scale research that includes sex as an analytical variable and that reports data by sex, note the researchers of the Current Medical Research and Opinion review.

Its important to talk to your doctor about your risk of long COVID as an immunocompromised patient and how your sex might play a role in that risk.

I have not seen data to suggest confirming that immunocompromised patients are more likely to develop long COVID than patients who are not immunocompromised, Samoon Ahmad, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told us previously. That said, its clear that immunocompromised patients are more likely to develop severe COVID if they get it and research suggests that people who have severe COVID are more likely to develop long COVID.

Read more about what you should know about long COVID.

Individuals who are biologically male or female also have differences when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, whether its in regards to vaccine hesitancy or risk of adverse effects.

Initially, females were more hesitant than males to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In a review of 60 studies published in the Journal of Public Health, researchers found that 58 percent of papers reported males having higher intentions to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Significantly fewer females stated that they would get vaccinated than males during the time period studied (November 2020 to January 2021).

Overall, males were on average 41 percent more likely to report that they intended to receive a vaccine rather than being unwilling or undecided compared with females. The gender effects were even higher among health care workers compared with unspecified population samples. (That said, this result requires cautious interpretation, given that gender proportions in the health care worker samples were highly unbalanced and the number of studies with health care worker samples was comparatively small.)

However, many of the studies included in this review asked individuals about their intentions to get vaccinated before a vaccine was available.

By April 2021, more females than males had gotten vaccinated in many states, per the Kaiser Family Foundation. The vaccine breakdown between males and females was generally close to 60 percent and 40 percent for instance, 58 percent of those vaccinated in Alabama were females and 57 percent were females in Florida.

There may be many reasons for this difference: For instance, females make up three-quarters of the workforce in health care and education, which were sectors prioritized for initial vaccines. Females also tend to have longer life spans, so older individuals initially eligible for vaccines were more likely to be female. However, the gender gap continued even as eligibility expanded to all adults.

When it comes to rare adverse reactions to the vaccines, males and females also appear to be affected differently. In a February 2022 review in the journal Vaccines, researchers found that the risk of adverse events after the Pfizer-BioNTeach COVID-19 vaccine were consistently higher in females of all ages. This included local responses such as pain at the injection site, systemic events such as fever, and sensory events such as paresthesia (a burning, prickling sensation) in the hands and face.

Females may have increased reactogenicity of vaccines and are at higher risk of anaphylaxis, per the review.

The remarkably consistent excess in the rates of adverse events in females following immunization with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, in all age groups, suggests that gender-specific factors influence the response to the vaccine, note the researchers. These findings indicate that different doses of the vaccine for men and women should be explored.

Females also report more vaccine side effects in general. More than 79 percent of nearly 7,000 reports processed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from December 14, 2020 to January 13, 2021 came from females, per the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The most frequently reported symptoms were headache, dizziness, and fatigue.

This could be due to females greater immune response. From a biological perspective, women and girls produce sometimes twice as many infection-fighting antibodies from vaccines, said Rosemary Morgan, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told USA TODAY.

Whats more, male sex hormones like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) have immunosuppressive qualities because of the way they modulate the breakdown of fat, per St. Lukes Health. Some research has shown that males have lesser antibody responses and lesser inflammatory cytokine expression when given the flu shot than females.

However, this doesnt appear to affect COVID-19 vaccine efficacy rates which were actually slightly higher for males than females in clinical trials. For instance, clinical trials showed that the Moderna vaccine was 95.4 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 in males, compared to 93.1 percent for females. For the Pfizer vaccine, efficacy was 96.4 percent in males and 93.7 percent in females.

One study in the journal Molecular Pharmacology looked at whether fat-based nanoparticles could be the cause behind the difference in vaccine efficacy. Researchers found that there were significant differences in the uptake of these nanoparticles between male and female natural killer cells (a type of immune cell that has small particles with enzymes that can kill cells infected with a virus).

The results of this proof-of-concept study show the importance of recipient sex as a critical factor which enables researchers to better consider sex in the development and administration of vaccines for safer and more-efficient sex-specific outcomes, note the researchers.

If youre immunocompromised, youre likely already mindful of mitigation efforts to protect yourself against COVID-19. While being biologically male or female isnt likely to make a major impact on your risk of severe disease (unless you partake in behavior that increases your risk), it might affect your chances of long COVID.

And while its possible you may have a slightly higher risk of an adverse reaction to the vaccine if youre female, such reactions are rare. In most cases, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks.

Of course, as an immunocompromised patient, its important to be aware of every tool you have to protect yourself and to stay aware of your risks. For instance, you should have a conversation with your doctor about your risk level for long COVID should you get infected (and how your sex may play a role in that risk).

Although we still have much to learn about the differences between females and males when it comes to COVID-19, you can use the clues available to create the best-informed strategy to protect yourself in partnership with your doctor.

Join the Global Healthy Living Foundations free COVID-19 Support Program for chronic illness patients and their families. We will be providing updated information, community support, and other resources tailored specifically to your health and safety.Join now.

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Self-organized anteroposterior regionalization of early midbrain and hindbrain using micropatterned human embryonic stem cells – Newswise

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Abstract: To develop into the central nervous system, neuroepithelial cells must first form a neural tube consisting of a series of patterned neural progenitor cells along the anterior-posterior (AP) axis. Based on studies using model organisms, it has been revealed that AP spatial regionalization is dominated by gradients of morphogens that regulate retinoic acid (RA), sonic hedgehog (SHH), bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and Wingless/int1 (WNT) signaling pathways. Recently, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) were successfully induced into a patterned neural tissue with differential AP gene expression levels by a gradient of WNT activity controlled by a microfluidic device. However, the midbrain and hindbrain boundaries were not as sharp as observed in vivo, likely due to the lack of additional important morphogenic factors, such as RA and SHH. Here, we induced micropatterned hPSCs into AP patterned neural tissue by activating not only WNT but also RA and SHH signals under fully defined culture conditions. We found that hPSCs self-organized into spatially patterned midbrain (FOXG1-OTX2+) and hindbrain (HOXB4+) progenitors with a sharp boundary after 6 days of induction. Following the initial induction, the cells with midbrain identities near the pattern boundary folded inwardly to form a 3D structure, maintaining a distinct boundary between OTX2+ and HOXB4+ zones. To investigate the mechanism of cell fates patterning, we found that the reaction-diffusion of BMP/Noggin played a role in AP regionalization, while differential mechanical stress and cell sorting were unlikely to be involved. Then, we validated our model by investigating the effects of exposure to two known teratogens including valproic acid and isotretinoin. Drug treatment results successfully predicted that valproic acid inhibited the development of both midbrain and hindbrain development while isotretinoin disrupts the normal AP patterning of the midbrain and hindbrain. In conclusion, by integrating engineering approaches and chemically defined culture conditions, we have developed an in vitro AP patterned model of early human midbrain and hindbrain development, and we have revealed its potential to be employed as a high throughput drug discovery system.

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Self-organized anteroposterior regionalization of early midbrain and hindbrain using micropatterned human embryonic stem cells - Newswise

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Synthetic Stem Cells Market 2022 Size, Share, Future Plans, Competitive Landscape and Forecast to 2030 This Is Ardee – This Is Ardee

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Global Synthetic Stem Cells Market is valued at approximately USD $billion in 2021 and is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than % over the forecast period 2022-2028.

Stem cell therapies work by promoting endogenous repair that is, they help damaged tissue in repairing itself by secreting paracrine factors, including proteins and genetic materials. While stem cell therapies can be effective, they are also associated with some risks of both tumor growth and immune rejection. The increasing incidences of various cardiovascular diseases and government investment in research & development activities have led to the adoption of Synthetic Stem Cells across the forecast period.

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For Instance: as per the WHO, An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke. Also, with the development of stem cells for stem line banking, the adoption & demand for Synthetic Stem Cells is likely to increase the market growth during the forecast period. However, unclear and unstructured regulations impede the growth of the market over the forecast period of 2022-2028.

The key regions considered for the Global Synthetic Stem Cells Market study include Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading region across the world in terms of market share owing to the growing investment in research and development activities. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is also anticipated to exhibit the highest growth rate over the forecast period 2022-2028. Factors such as rising population, rising incidences of injuries and improving healthcare infrastructure would create lucrative growth prospects for the Synthetic Stem Cells Market across Asia-Pacific region.

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Major market players included in this report are:

The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:

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By Application:

Cardiovascular Disease

Neurological Disorders

Cancer

Diabetes

Gastrointestinal

Musculoskeletal Disorder

By End Use:

Hospitals and Surgical Centers

Academic Institutes

Research Laboratories

Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies

Others

By Region:

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

UK

Germany

France

Spain

Italy

ROE

Asia Pacific

China

India

Japan

Australia

South Korea

RoAPAC

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of the World

Table of Content

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Synthetic Stem Cells Market 2022 Size, Share, Future Plans, Competitive Landscape and Forecast to 2030 This Is Ardee - This Is Ardee

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Global Research Antibodies & Reagents Markets, 2022-2027 – Growth in Stem Cell and Neurobiology Research / Increasing Focus on Biomarker Discovery…

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

DUBLIN, July 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 'Global Research Antibodies & Reagents Market by Product (Antibodies (Type, Form, Source, Research Area), Reagents), Technology (Western Blot, Flow Cytometry, ELISA), Application (Proteomics, Genomics), End-user (Pharma, Biotech, CROs), and Region - Forecast to 2027'report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The global research antibodies and reagents market is projected to reach USD 16.1 billion by 2027 from USD 11.6 billion in 2022, at a CAGR of 6.7%

The research antibodies and reagents market evolved owing to factors such as increasing proteomics and genomics research, growing demand for antibodies for research reproducibility, and increasing R&D expenditure in the life sciences industry.

Driven by the increasing demand for personalized medicine and structure-based drug design. It is expected that the global research antibodies and reagents market will witness significant growth in the coming years.

On the basis of product, the reagents segment holds the highest market share during the forecast period

On the basis of product, the research antibodies and reagents market are segmented into reagent and antibodies. In 2021 the reagent segment accounted for the larger market share. Factors such as increasing applications of biosciences and biotechnology within the healthcare and pharmaceutical fields is driving the market.

On the basis of technology, the flow cytometry segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period

On the basis of technology, the research antibodies and reagents market is segmented into western blotting, flow cytometry, ELISA, Immunohistochemistry, Immunofluorescence, Immunoprecipitation, and other technologies. During the forecast period the flow cytometry segment is expected to witness the highest growth.

Factors such as advantages of this technique, its ability to perform simultaneous multi-parameter analysis on single cells within a heterogeneous mixture, offering high throughput along with technological innovations in flow cytometry and increasing oncology research, are driving the growth of this segment.

On the basis of application, the proteomics segment holds the highest market share during the forecast period

On the basis of application, the research antibodies and reagents market is segmented into proteomics, drug development and Genomics. In 2021, Proteomics held the largest share of the global research antibodies and reagents market. Factors such as increasing efficiency maps drug-protein and protein-protein interactions.

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Additionally, proteomic technologies have minimized the cost, time, and resource requirements for chemical synthesis and biological testing of drugs and are highly efficient. Such factors are driving the market.

On the basis of end-user, the pharmaceutical & biotechnology segment holds the highest market share during the forecast period

The research antibodies and reagents market is divided into the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, academic & research institutions and Contract Research Organizations.

In 2021 the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies held the largest share of the global research antibodies and reagents end-user market. Factors such as growing use of research antibodies in drug development for the identification and quantification of biomarkers and other techniques are driving the market.

By Region, Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period

During the forecast period (2022 to 2027), the Asia Pacific research antibodies and reagents market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR. Factors such as increasing research in proteomics and genomics and growing research funding, investments by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and growing awareness in the region are driving the market in the region.Key Players

The key players operating in the research antibodies and reagents systems include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. US), Merck KGaA (Germany), Abcam plc (UK), Becton, Dickinson and Company (US), Bio-Rad Laboratories (US), Cell Signaling Technology (US), F. Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), Danaher Corporation (US), Agilent Technologies (US), PerkinElmer (US), Lonza (Switzerland), GenScript (China), and BioLegend (US).

Premium Insights

Increasing R&D Expenditure in the Life Science Industry to Drive Market Growth

Proteomics Accounted for the Largest Share of the Asia-Pacific Research Antibodies and Reagents Market in 2021

China Shows the Highest Revenue Growth Opportunities During the Forecast Period

North America Will Continue to Dominate the Research Antibodies and Reagents Market Until 2027

Developing Markets to Register a Higher Growth Rate in the Forecast Period

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Emerging Markets

Personalized Medicine and Protein Therapeutics

Growth in Stem Cell and Neurobiology Research

Increasing Focus on Biomarker Discovery

Rising Interest in Outsourcing

Challenges

Industry Trends

Increasing Research on Therapeutic Antibodies

Recombinant Antibodies Supporting the Smooth Transition from in Vitro to in Vivo

Growing Consolidation of the Life Sciences Market for Antibodies and Reagents

Stakeholder Analysis

Impact of COVID-19 on the Research Antibodies and Reagents Market

Supply Chain Analysis

Technology Analysis

Regulatory Analysis

Porter's Five Forces

Companies Mentioned

Abcam plc

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Analytik Jena AG

Atlas Antibodies

BD

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.

Biolegend

Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.

Danaher Corporation

Dovetail Genomics

F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Fujirebio Diagnostics AB

Genscript

Illumina, Inc.

Immunoprecise Antibodies Ltd

Lonza

Merck KGaA

Omega Bio-Tek

Perkinelmer, Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ocfjjw

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Global Research Antibodies & Reagents Markets, 2022-2027 - Growth in Stem Cell and Neurobiology Research / Increasing Focus on Biomarker Discovery...

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DNA recombinations are widespread in human genomes and are implicated in both development and disease – EurekAlert

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan in collaboration with other researchers from around the world have discovered that recombinations of specific genomic sequences that are repeated millions of times in the genome of each of our cells are pervasively found in both normal and in disease states. Identifying the mechanisms that lead to this myriad of recombinations involving DNA sequences that were once considered as junk, may be crucial to understanding how our cells develop and what can make them unhealthy.

Following the discovery of DNA, it was long believed that all the cells in our body share the same genetic code, safely guarded within the nucleus. However, modern advances in DNA sequencing have challenged this view: we now know that mutations accumulate in the genome of single cells starting from the very early stages of development. However, the magnitude of this phenomenon and how it contributes to disease is not well understood.

In this work, published in Cell, the authors looked at certain repeated genomic sequences, called Alu and L1, and developed a method to study these specific sequences of DNA that are repeated millions of times in the genome of each cell. It was already known that they recombine with each other, generating mutations often found in cancer and other genetic disorders. By analyzing the DNA of donors unaffected by disease, the researchers identified millions of DNA mutations caused by the recombination of these repeated sequences, and further discovered that different tissues in the body are characterized by different recombination signatures.

The researchers also found that the differentiation of human stem cells into neuronal cells is accompanied by distinct changes of recombination of repeat sequences. This indicates that this particular type of DNA mutation may be a physiological phenomenon involved in human development.

Finally, the researchers looked at the recombination of repeated sequences in samples from people affected by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disorders, the two most prominent neurodegenerative disorders in the developed world. They found signatures of recombination that are specific to each disease, suggesting that genomic recombinations caused by these repeated sequences are involved in brain diseases.

According to Giovanni Pascarella, first author of the study, "We have shown in this study that the recombination of repeat elements in the human genome is a widespread phenomenon that contributes to the complex constellation of genomic variants making up our genomes."

According to, Piero Carninci, Principal Investigator and co-corresponding author of the study, "We hypothesize that it might be that random recombinations of Alu and LI in somatic cells may occasionally prime the genome of individual cells at vulnerable sites and drive the transition from healthy to pathological states."

"However," he continues, "what is difficult to know at this point is to determine whether the recombinations in disease are truly causative or if they are effects of the disease state. Further studies need to be done to understand this important question."

Experimental study

Cells

Recombination of repeat elements generates somatic complexity in human genomes

25-Jul-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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DNA recombinations are widespread in human genomes and are implicated in both development and disease - EurekAlert

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What lab-grown cerebral organoids are revealing about the brain – New Scientist

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Blobs of human brain cells cultivated in the lab, known as brain organoids or mini-brains, are transforming our understanding of neural development and disease. Now, researchers are working to make them more like the real thing

By Clare Wilson

Neil Webb

A DOZEN tiny, creamy balls are suspended in a dish of clear, pink liquid. Seen with the naked eye, they are amorphous blobs. But under a powerful microscope, and with some clever staining, their internal complexity is revealed: intricate whorls and layers of red, blue and green.

These are human brain cells, complete with branching outgrowths that have connected with one other, sparking electrical impulses. This is the stuff that thoughts are made of. And yet, these collections of cells were made in a laboratory in this case, in the lab of Madeline Lancaster at the University of Cambridge.

The structures, known as brain organoids or sometimes mini-brains, hold immense promise for helping us understand the brain. They have already produced fresh insights into how this most mysterious organ functions, how it differs in people with autism and how it goes awry in conditions such as dementia and motor neurone disease. They have even been made to grow primitive eyes.

To truly fulfill the potential of mini-brains, however, neuroscientists want to make them bigger and more complex. Some are attempting to grow them with blood vessels. Others are fusing two organoids, each mimicking a different part of the brain. Should they succeed, their lab-grown brains could model development and disease in the real thing in greater detail than ever before, paving the way to new insights and treatments.

But as researchers seek to make mini-brains genuinely worthy of the name, they move ever closer to a crucial question: at what point will their creations approach sentience?

The key to developing organoids was the discovery of stem cells,

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Cerebrospinal fluid from young mice improved memory in older mice – National Institute on Aging

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from young mice improved the ability of older mice to recall recent memories, according to an NIA-funded study published in Nature. The findings suggest that at least one CSF protein may trigger the growth and maturation of cells that help protect brain function in older mice. The study results appear to underscore the therapeutic potential of CSF proteins found in young mice fluid as well as the role that these helper cells play in brain aging.

CSF is a clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, providing protection as well as vital nutrients, including proteins, fats, sugars, and vitamins. The composition of CSF changes with age, and it is not clear whether these changes contribute to age-related memory loss.

Previously, scientists discovered that blood from young mice may rejuvenate the brains of older mice. In this more recent study, an international team of scientists from Stanford University; Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research; Saarland University, Germany; University of Gothenburg, Sweden; and University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology explored whether CSF from young mice might have similar effects.

To address this possibility, the researchers first tested whether CSF from young mice influenced the ability of older mice to recall memories of foot shocks. Mice are considered adults at two months old and have a life expectancy of approximately two years. First, a group of 20-month-old mice was trained with foot shocks to freeze in motion when presented with a light and sound cue. Then CSF, drawn from three-month-old mice, was injected into the brains of some of the older mice. The mice that received the CSF froze in motion more often when presented with the cue than those that received a control fluid, suggesting the young CSF helped the older mice remember better.

Next, the researchers searched for clues to how this happened by examining the brains of the older mice. Their results suggest that the young CSF caused stem cells, called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), to multiply and mature. Mature oligodendrocytes help neurons by creating myelin, which is a waxy material that insulates long, stringy axons, a part of neurons that relays signals to other cells. Much of this was observed in the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in memory. Other studies of mice have also found links between brain myelin and memory.

Further experiments revealed that a protein called Fgf17 may have played a critical role in improving memory and triggering OPC growth. Mice injected with Fgf17 performed better on the foot shock memory tests and had greater OPC growth and maturation than those that received a control solution. In contrast, mice treated with a blocker of Fgf17 activity performed worse on the memory tests than those receiving a control drug. Moreover, the Fgf17 blocker inhibited the OPC growth in the presence of young CSF.

The results support the idea that the CSF and myelinating helper cells may play a critical role in the aging brain. Furthermore, by studying Fgf17 and other factors found in younger CSF, scientists may discover new clues to treating age-related brain disorders.

This research was supported in part by NIA grants RF1-AG064897-02 and T32AG000266.

Reference: Iram T, et al. Young CSF restores oligodendrogenesis and memory in aged mice via Fgf17. Nature. 2022;605(7910):509-515. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04722-0.

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Patient with rare blood disorder successfully treated at SUM – Odisha News In English

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Bhubaneswar, July 26: A 30-year-old woman suffering from a very rare blood disorder has been successfully treated at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital recently.

The woman, hailing from Jajpur, was admitted into the hospital in the last week of May for anemia and bleeding requiring repeated blood and platelet transfusions spread over one month.

The patients bone marrow, the site of blood cell formation, was biopsied for diagnosing the disease and investigations revealed that she was suffering from Severe Aplastic Anemia, a rare blood disorder, where the bone marrow was found completely empty and unable to form new blood cells, Dr. Priyanka Samal, Head of the department of Hematology in the hospital, said.

Such patients have very low hemoglobin, low total white blood cell count and very low platelet count, she said adding they complain of severe weakness, bleeding from orifices or menorrhagia which does not stop unless platelets are transfused.

These patients also get infected frequently requiring hospitalization and administration of intra-venous antibiotics and often succumb to sepsis, Dr. Samal said.

She said the very severe form of Aplastic Anemia had a very poor prognosis and such patients survived only a few months. The incidence of this disease is higher in Asia compared to the west and the only cure is available through stem cell transplantation, she added.

The woman underwent stem cell transplantation on July 5 with stem cells donated by her 28-year-old brother though they had a major blood group discrepancy which was taken care of very delicately, Dr. Samal said while pointing out that stem cells in the donors body get replaced within 4-6 weeks without any adverse effect to the donor.

A growth factor of 4-5 days is required for the stem cells to get mobilized from the bone marrow to peripheral blood. Following this, apheresis was done for 4-5 hours for harvesting only stem cells from the blood and it was just like a normal platelet donation process, she said.

The patient was then subjected to high dose chemotherapy after which the donors stem cells were infused into her body like normal blood transfusion. It took 12-13 days for these donor cells to make the new blood cells in the patients body.

The woman, whom the disease might not have given a few months to live, was discharged from the hospital on July 23 in good condition and full blood count recovery though she needs to be closely observed for the next few months for complete immunological recovery, Dr. Samal said.

The patient can now hope to lead an uneventful life, at least from this ailments aspect, she said.

She also thanked the Medical Superintendent Prof. Pusparaj Samantasinhar, Additional Medical Superintendent Dr. Rajesh Lenka, the department of transfusion medicine, laboratory and radiology teams as also the nursing staff whose tireless efforts led to the success of the procedure.

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Patient with rare blood disorder successfully treated at SUM - Odisha News In English

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Meet the U of T neuroscientist helping the brain heal itself – Toronto Star

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:35 am

Back in the early 1990s, when 30,000 eager attendees filed into the Society for Neurosciences annual meeting, the talk of the conference was Samuel Weisss jaw-dropping discovery of neural stem cells. At the time, scientific dogma insisted the brain had no regenerative capacity: you do drugs, you bump your head, you lose neurons and they never come back. Weisss research showed that cells in the adult brain could make new neurons, opening the door to dramatic possibilities for neural repair.

There was just one hitch.

They had kind of taken this melon-ball scoop of the brain, so they didnt really know where the stem cells were, says Cindi Morshead, who arrived at the conference as a University of Toronto graduate student and full-fledged neuro nerd.

Her research, however, focused on the lateral ventricles of the forebrain, and she had a sneaking suspicion thats where they were hiding. I just walked up to Sams graduate student and said, I know where the stem cells are. A handful of experiments later, she was proved right.

Morshead wasnt a brash student, brimming with confidence. In fact, as one of just five female scientists currently at U of Ts Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, she says she still contends with impostor syndrome. But ever since taking a third-year undergraduate course in neuro-psychopharmacology where she first became enamoured with the brain Morshead has seized any opportunity to work in the field she loves.

I kicked ass on this one neuroanatomy exam, and that meant I got to do research with Derek van der Kooy, who ended up being my mentor, she recalls. Her graduate work involved using viral vectors for cell lineage tracing, a new technique at the time.

There were people who needed the expertise that I had people like Weiss and Bryan Kolb, both titans in Canadian neuroscience so I literally called them up and said, I know this is what you should do, and I can do it for you, Morshead says. The whole idea of putting myself out there was hard, but I really had no choice. I had to break into that field.

Now the chair of the anatomy division in the department of surgery at U of T, Morshead is once again helping upend expectations about brain cells. As part of the regenerative medicine hub Medicine by Design, which receives funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, shes exploring the possibility of using gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative disorders, particularly strokes.

For the 50,000-plus Canadians who have a stroke each year, cutting off the blood supply to their brains, time is of the essence. Neurons are very greedy cells and require constant oxygen and glucose, so they start to die within minutes to hours, she says. A stroke can often cause certain brain cells called astrocytes which play a key role in supporting the transmission of neural messages and keeping the brain in equilibrium to become toxic, killing even more neurons.

What if, Morshead and her team wondered, we could make new neurons in the brain to take their place? To do so, they infected astrocytes in mice brains with a nonreplicating virus containing the DNA code for NEUROD1, a transcription factor that expresses genes typically found in neurons. Within a matter of weeks, those astrocytes had transformed into functioning neurons. Were able to replace a lost cell and were able to get rid of a toxic cell, Morshead says. Its sort of a double whammy.

Following a stroke, people tend to have motor impairments and weakened grip strength. But Morshead found that after the mice were given the transcription factors, all of these behaviours improved, and it was correlated with this new production of neurons, she says. So that was phenomenal.

It points to the possibility of treatment that might profoundly help stroke patients, who are often given very little reason to hope. Even small changes can have an enormous impact on the quality of their lives. Being able to pick up a utensil or scratch the itch on their neck rather than asking someone else to scratch it that can make such a difference, she says.

This gene therapy has implications for other neurodegenerative diseases, too: Morshead is collaborating with Sunnybrook scientists like Carol Schuurmans (whose group studies ALS) and JoAnne McLaurin (whose team works in Alzheimers disease). Theyre finding that using gene therapy to turn astrocytes into neurons is showing improved outcomes in their animal models, which is huge.

When Morshead first pursued brain research as an undergraduate student, she told herself shed just keep doing the work until she didnt like it anymore and then maybe shed go to teachers college or try dentistry. But Ive been really lucky, she says. My work has taken many turns, but I still love the brain.

Four ways tech can help diagnose and manage neurodegenerative diseases

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Meet the U of T neuroscientist helping the brain heal itself - Toronto Star

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WVXU: UC scientists are deep-freezing molecules. Here’s why they’re so excited about it – University of Cincinnati

Posted: July 27, 2022 at 2:34 am

The University of Cincinnati is making a significant commitment of funds and resources to establish the latest innovation in microscopy as the focal point of the Center for Advanced Structural Biology in the College of Medicine. The project will be built out in three phases over the next five years. WVXU covered the story by interviewing Desiree Benefield, PhD, the lab manager and researcher Rhett Kovall, PhD, both of the Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology at the UC College of Medicine.

Cryo-EM technologyallows researchers to prepare and image samples at very cold temperatures to visualize them in a near-native hydrated state. This helps them get a look at proteins at the atomic level.

Were actually visualizing a single protein, says Kovall. This is quite different from other structural techniques where you dont get this direct visualization.

For research scientist and facility manager Benefield, PhD, its valuable for studying any kind of proteins that are related to human disease. She first learned about cryo-EM in graduate school.

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WVXU: UC scientists are deep-freezing molecules. Here's why they're so excited about it - University of Cincinnati

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