Discovery reveals fragile X syndrome begins developing even before birth

The energy-making organelles called mitochondria (shown in green) that work inside cells to make energy aren’t working as they should in the neurons (shown in red) of people with fragile X syndrome. UW–Madison researchers have identified a protein and gene involved in this mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as a potential treatment.
Image Credit: Minjie Shen

Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, may be unfolding in brain cells even before birth, despite typically going undiagnosed until age 3 or later.

A new study published today in the journal Neuron by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison showed that FMRP, a protein deficient in individuals with fragile X syndrome, has a role in the function of mitochondria, part of a cell that produces energy, during prenatal development. Their results fundamentally change how scientists understand the developmental origins of fragile X syndrome and suggest a potential treatment for brain cells damaged by the dysfunction.

Xinyu Zhao is a neuroscience professor and neurodevelopmental diseases researcher at UW–Madison’s Waisman Center. Four postdoctoral fellows in her lab led the study.

Stellar fountain of youth with turbulent formation history in the center of our galaxy

A multi-wavelength view of the surroundings of the supermassive black hole SgrA * (yellow X). The stars are red, the dust is blue. Many of the young stars in the IRS13 star cluster are covered by dust or covered by the bright stars.
Credits: Florian Peißker / University of Cologne

An international team led by Dr Florian Peißker at the University of Cologne’s Institute of Astrophysics has analyzed in detail a young star cluster in the immediate vicinity of the super massive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) in the center of our galaxy and showed that it is significantly younger than expected. This cluster, known as IRS13, was discovered more than twenty years ago, but only now has it been possible to determine the cluster members in detail by combining a wide variety of data – taken with various telescopes over a period of several decades. The stars are a few 100,000 years old and therefore extraordinarily young for stellar conditions. By comparison, our sun is about 5 billion years old. Due to the high-energy radiation as well as the tidal forces of the galaxy, it should in fact not be possible for such a large number of young stars to be in the direct vicinity of the super massive black hole. The study was conducted under the title ‘The Evaporating Massive Embedded Stellar Cluster IRS 13 Close to Sgr A*. I. Detection of a Rich Population of Dusty Objects in the IRS13 Cluster’ and has now appeared in The Astrophysical Journal.

Lethal Climate Change Millions of Years Ago Was Due to Volcanic Eruptions, Scientists Conclude

Earth’s Geological History Tied to Astronomical Motions—Not Just the Planet’s Interior
Illustration Credit: Scientific Frontline

Climate change that has occurred over the past 260 million years and brought about mass extinctions of life during these periods was due to massive volcanic eruptions and subsequent environmental crises, concludes a team of scientists.

Its analysis, which appears in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, shows that these eruptions released large amounts of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to extreme greenhouse climate warming and bringing about near-lethal or lethal conditions to our planet.

Significantly, these phenomena—which occur every 26 to 33 million years—coincided with critical changes in the planet’s orbit in the solar system that follow the same cyclical patterns, the researchers add.

“The Earth’s geologic processes, long considered to be strictly determined by events within the planet’s interior, may in fact be controlled by astronomical cycles in the solar system and the Milky Way Galaxy,” says Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University’s Department of Biology and the paper’s senior author. “Crucially, these forces have converged many times in the Earth’s past to foreshadow drastic changes to our climate.”

Rice-engineered material can reconnect severed nerves

Rice University doctoral alum Joshua Chen is lead author on a study published in Nature Materials.
 Photo Credit: Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University

Researchers have long recognized the therapeutic potential of using magnetoelectrics ⎯ materials that can turn magnetic fields into electric fields ⎯ to stimulate neural tissue in a minimally invasive way and help treat neurological disorders or nerve damage. The problem, however, is that neurons have a hard time responding to the shape and frequency of the electric signal resulting from this conversion.

Rice University neuroengineer Jacob Robinson and his team designed the first magnetoelectric material that not only solves this issue but performs the magnetic-to-electric conversion 120 times faster than similar materials. According to a study published in Nature Materials, the researchers showed the material can be used to precisely stimulate neurons remotely and to bridge the gap in a broken sciatic nerve in a rat model.

The material’s qualities and performance could have a profound impact on neurostimulation treatments, making for significantly less invasive procedures, Robinson said. Instead of implanting a neurostimulation device, tiny amounts of the material could simply be injected at the desired site. Moreover, given magnetoelectrics’ range of applications in computing, sensing, electronics and other fields, the research provides a framework for advanced materials design that could drive innovation more broadly.

Common diabetes drug could treat gum disease and help you age healthier

Photo Credit: Cedric Fauntleroy

In their latest publication in the Journal of Translational Medicine, a team of researchers at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences have found new ways of stopping periodontal (gum) disease and potentially reducing the incidence of diabetes and obesity. This new approach focuses on controlling inflammation and sugar levels in both the mouth and body with a common type 2 diabetes drug, Metformin.

Periodontal (gum) diseases are strikingly common across the globe and are strongly associated with systemic conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Lifestyle choices such as increased sugar intake are a common cause of gum disease, as well as diabetes and obesity. Diabetes, obesity and gum disease all develop over our lifetime, but gum disease has the potential to be picked up first as it can start at as early as 30 years old.

The only treatment strategy currently available to tackle gum disease is to deep clean the teeth to rid the mouth of bacteria, as well as prescribing antibiotics. But this treatment does not protect against the continuation and development of systemic associated diseases, such as diabetes and obesity.

Researchers identify largest ever solar storm in tree rings

Artist illustration of events on the sun changing the conditions in Near-Earth space. Suggested imagery from NASA, as recommended by our researchers.
Illustration Credit: NASA

An international team of scientists have discovered a huge spike in radiocarbon levels 14,300 years ago by analyzing ancient tree-rings found in the French Alps.

The radiocarbon spike was caused by a massive solar storm, the biggest ever identified.  A similar solar storm today would be catastrophic for modern technological society – potentially wiping out telecommunications and satellite systems, causing massive electricity grid blackouts, and costing us billions of pounds.  

The academics are warning of the importance of understanding such storms to protect our global communications and energy infrastructure for the future. 

Superconducting niobium waveguide achieves high-precision communications for B5G/6G networks

Researchers fabricated 20mm length waveguides made of the superconducting metal niobium (right).  It shows improved conductivity compared with normal metal materials such as a gold-plated tellurium copper (middle)  and aluminum alloy (left), and can transmit radio waves that are necessary for B5G/6G communications. 
Photo Credit: Taku Nakajima

A team of researchers has made a breakthrough discovery in the world of Beyond 5G/6G (B5G/6G) signal transmission. Taku Nakajima and Kazuji Suzuki of Nagoya University in Japan, along with their collaborators, created a waveguide made of niobium that speeds up the transition of B5G/6G signals.  

The frequency of data waves has continued to increase as B5G/6G technologies have been introduced. Although the currently used metal transmission lines can handle B5G/6G, research has focused on superconducting metals, such as niobium, that have lower transmission loss and can handle higher frequencies.  

Nakajima and his collaborators evaluated the use of niobium in a waveguide, a three-dimensional transmission line consisting of a metal tube that guides and confines waves along a specific path, minimizing losses due to radiation and absorption. However, working with the metal proved to be difficult as it was susceptible to deformation and damage during fabrication and handling.  

Scientists identify new pathway activated by interferon-gamma that leads to tumor cell death

Ameya Champhekar, first author of the study.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of UCLA Health

Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a new role for a protein called extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in a pathway activated by interferon-gamma that can trigger cells to self-destruct.

Researchers found that interferon-gamma signaling caused hyperactivation of ERK in human melanoma cell lines. The ERK protein, when hyperactive, causes stress in the cell, and this stress ultimately leads to cell death through specific proteins called DR5 and NOXA. Cell death could be prevented in 74% of these lines when ERK signaling was blocked.

“ERK signaling is always active at a low level in melanoma cells and is important for tumor cell survival,” said Ameya Champhekar, an adjunct assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and first author of the study. “However, our data show that interferon-gamma causes overactivation of the ERK pathway, which triggers cell death. This establishes a new paradigm in the field that the overactivation of a pathway involved in oncogenic signaling is detrimental to cancer cells. This discovery sheds light on how interferon-gamma stops tumor cell growth and why it might not always work, helping us better understand how to overcome resistance.”

How plant-derived nutrients can affect the gut and brain

PD Dr. Veronica Witte
Photo Credit: Leipzig University/Antje Gildemeister

Can plant-derived nutrients alter gut bacteria to affect brain function? Scientists from the University of Leipzig Medical Center, the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research investigated this question in a study of overweight adults. Their findings, published in the journal Gut, suggest that dietary fiber can exert influence on both the composition of gut bacteria and the reward signals in the brain and associated food decision-making.

Prebiotics are used to foster the colonization of beneficial bacteria in the gut. These indigestible dietary fibers are found in plant-derived foods such as onions, leeks, artichokes, wheat, bananas, and in high concentrations in chicory root. They support gut health by promoting the growth and activity of beneficial gut bacteria. Researchers have now investigated whether certain prebiotics can also influence brain function by improving communication between the gut microbiome and the brain.

Red Algae Could Be Used to Create a Drug for Coronavirus

Chemical research on Laurencia red algae began in 1965.
Photo Credit: 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič

Laurencia red algae can be used as a basis for new drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, biochemists have found. A team of scientists from the Ural Federal University, the Institute of Organic Synthesis of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with colleagues from Australia and Germany, carried out molecular docking of 300 bioactive components (ligands) of red algae and found seven compounds with the required activity. The scientists published a description of the experiments and results in the journal Microbiology Research. 

"Laurencia belongs to the family Rhodomelaceae, which is considered one of the largest families of marine red algae, with an estimated 125 genera and 700 species worldwide. Laurencia has recently been the subject of active research. Since 2015, a total of 1,047 secondary metabolites with various useful properties have been isolated from Laurencia species alone," explains Grigory Zyryanov, Chief Researcher of the UrFU Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Green Methods and Biotechnology.