While there is known to be an association between inflammation and depression, it is not known if there is cause and effect. Now, the power of the UK Biobank has been brought to bear to show that when all genetic, health and environmental factors are accounted for, people with depression have higher levels of inflammation in their bodies than controls.

Single-cell gene studies at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have shown that gene expression signatures underlie the microglial phagocytosis of beta-amyloid (Abeta) plaque in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the authors reported in the May 20, 2021, edition of Nature Communications.

LONDON – New guidelines for stem cell research open the door to extending the legal limit on human embryo research beyond the current 14-day maximum set down 40 years ago.

The Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity for Children Act is leading to deep changes in pediatric cancer research. Passed in 2017 and fully implemented in 2020, the RACE Act requires companies to investigate targeted drugs for adult cancers in pediatric cancers as well “when the molecular target of the drugs are substantially related to a pediatric cancer.”

A Japanese study led by researchers at Osaka University has discovered a previously unknown molecular mechanism by which the hepatitis C virus (HCV) interacts with the human immune system to cause chronic liver infection.

LONDON – New guidelines for stem cell research open the door to extending the legal limit on human embryo research beyond the current 14-day maximum set down 40 years ago. In revised guidelines, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has moved research on human embryos from category 3, which explicitly bans their study in culture post 14 days in any circumstances, to category 2B, in which research post 14 days would be permissible if there is a clear scientific rationale – and after a thorough specialized review.

Researchers at the Center for Inflammation Research, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh reported in the May 19, 2021, issue of Science Translational Medicine that the Bcl2/w/xL targeting senolytic compound, ABT-263 (navitoclax) could reverse the age-related fibrosis characteristic of and improve kidney function.

With the support of the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers at Duke University’s Center for Autism and Brain Development have developed a mobile app that can quickly screen toddlers for autism spectrum disorder without the need for specialized skills.

Japanese scientists led by Shin Kaneko, an associate professor in the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University, have developed the first practical bioengineering strategy for generating a universal pluripotent stem cell.

Collectively, lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are caused by malfunctions in metabolic enzymes in the lysosome system. Depending on which enzyme is missing, toxic metabolites accumulate. While the LSDs are highly heterogenous – even within one disease, presentation can vary widely – neurodegeneration is a common feature in these disorders.