Two studies published this January by separate research teams have conclusively identified Epstein-Barr virus infection as the cause of multiple sclerosis, and the mechanism by which the immune response to EBV infection triggers an attack on the myelin sheath, the insulation that enables high-speed neuronal transmission.
By using a new method to model ovarian cancer, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have gained new insights into the role of senescence in therapy response of high-grade serous ovarian cancers.
Tau protein aggregates are present in a group of disorders, collectively termed the tauopathies. Alzheimer's disease is the most common of those disorders, while frontotemporal dementia is most strongly linked to tau. Now, a map of the proteins that interact with tau and how those interactions differ between normal and disease-associated tau protein could give new clues on how the protein causes damage in neurodegenerative disorders, and on how to treat or prevent that damage.
Antibodies to the EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus can cross-react with glial cell adhesion molecule (GlialCAM), a component of the myelin sheath. The findings are the first to report a mechanism for how viral infections can cause autoimmune disorders.
The enzyme poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP1) is well known for its role in DNA damage repair, and multiple FDA-approved PARP inhibitors are used to treat BRCA-mutated tumors. Now, researchers at the Wistar Institute have described a role for PARP in regulating the genome of Epstein-Barr virus.
Investigators have identified structural differences between amyloid-beta (Abeta) aggregates in the postmortem brains of patients with inherited and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), respectively. Moreover, both were different from the aggregates that form when Abeta assembles in vitro.
A team led by researchers from the ETH Zürich and the University of Basel has used a combination of mass spectrometry data and machine learning to predict antibiotic resistance of clinical bacterial samples. The results, which were published in the Jan. 10, 2022, issue of Nature Medicine, could speed the identification of optimal antibiotic regimens for patients.
By using data collected over decades in a database of more than 10 million active-duty military personnel, researchers have managed to nail down the connection between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Clinicians at the University of Maryland have transplanted a heart from a genetically modified pig bred by Revivicor Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corp., into a patient with end-stage heart failure.
