Research breakthrough could see HIV drugs used to treat low-grade brain tumors

Drugs developed to treat AIDS and HIV could offer hope to patients diagnosed with the most common form of primary brain tumor.

The breakthrough, co-funded by the charity Brain Tumor Research, is significant because, if further research is conclusive, the anti-retroviral drugs could be prescribed for patients diagnosed with meningioma and acoustic neuroma brain tumors (also known as schwannoma).

More effective approaches are urgently needed as there are very few treatment options for these tumor types which frequently return following surgery and radiotherapy.

Meningioma is the most common form of primary brain tumor. Mostly low-grade, it can become cancerous over time, and develops from cells located in the meninges which protect the brain and spinal cord. Acoustic neuroma is a different type of low-grade, or non-cancerous brain tumor, which develops in nerve-protecting cells called Schwann cells. Both tumors may occur spontaneously, usually in adulthood, or in the hereditary disease Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) in childhood/early adolescence.

Researchers at the Brain Tumor Research Centre at the University of Plymouth have shown previously that a tumor suppressor, named Merlin, contributes to the development of meningioma, acoustic neuroma and ependymoma tumors. It can also contribute to neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). Tumor suppressor genes play important roles in normal cells by controlling division or repairing errors in DNA. However, when tumor suppressors do not work properly or are absent, cells can grow out of control, leading to cancer.

In this latest study Dr Sylwia Ammoun, Senior Research Fellow, and her collaborator, Dr Robert Belshaw investigated the role that specific sections of our DNA play in tumor development. Named ‘endogenous retrovirus HERV-K’, these sections of DNA are relics of ancient infections that affected our primate ancestors, which have become stable elements of human DNA.

New drone type transports life-saving defibrillator

The prototype of the life-saving drone from TUM Horyzn during the test flight
Image: Andreas Heddergott / TUM

For cardiac arrest victims, minutes can mean the difference between life and death. It’s vital that medical emergency response teams get to them quickly, but in more remote, rural areas this can sometimes be difficult. “HORYZN” is an initiative of students at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and has developed a remote-controlled, AI-supported rescue drone with a defibrillator on board for just such emergencies.

The fixed-wing drone – nearly 2 meters long with a wingspan of 3 meters – can reach areas that are difficult or even impossible to access with an ambulance. As soon as the aircraft reaches the coordinates received via emergency call, it goes into hover mode and lowers the defibrillator with a winch to the ground, where it can be easily deployed by first-aiders, including non-professionals, at the scene. This rapid deployment considerably increases the survival chances of the heart-attack patient.

With the help of the Bavarian Red Cross and a simulated emergency, the HORYZN team was able to demonstrate the technical capabilities of their prototype with a test flight in Ottobrunn on Wednesday. The demonstration was watched by TUM President, Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann, alongside Bavarian Science Minister Bernd Sibler and other guests.

Common ‘Core’: Using molecular fragments to detect deadly opioids

A photo illustrating 2 milligrams of fentanyl, a lethal dose for most people, compared to a penny. Matthew Moorman, a Sandia National Laboratories researcher, has developed a new method to detect tiny amounts of fentanyl analogs based on their common molecular structures.
Photo courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a method to detect trace amounts of synthetic opioids. They plan to combine their approach with miniaturized sensors to create a hand-portable instrument easily used by law enforcement agents for efficient detection in the field.

Fentanyl is a fast-acting, opioid-based pain reliever that is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Illegally produced fentanyl often is mixed with other drugs such as cocaine or heroin and minuscule amounts can cause death by overdose. Drug overdose deaths, predominantly due to synthetic opioids such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The chemical structure of fentanyl can be modified to create molecular analogs. These analogs can have different potencies, and it can be difficult for law enforcement agencies to keep up with emerging analogs.

A potential protector against a mild heart attack’s aftereffects on metabolism

Illustration by Kateryna Kon
Science Photo Library
Getty Images

A new study in mice shows transplanted brown fat can reduce type 2 diabetes risk factors after a heart attack, an encouraging finding for scientists who hope to apply the so-called “good” fat’s beneficial properties to drugs that can help prevent health problems.

In the study, transplanting brown fat tissue into the abdomens of obese mice protected the animals from developing glucose intolerance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, after a mild heart attack.

Gene activation linked to negative effects after the heart attack was dampened in the transplanted mice, suggesting that brown fat – or adipose – tissue “talks” to other tissue in the body in ways that affect a variety of metabolism-related processes. The research team is continuing to tease out the substances and mechanisms behind that cross talk and how it affects whole-body physiology.

“In this study, the mice transplanted with brown adipose tissue were still obese but more metabolically healthy. The heart attack-induced glucose intolerance was negated by brown adipose tissue. The findings make a pretty powerful statement,” said senior study author Kristin Stanford, associate professor of physiology and cell biology in The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

“We think brown fat is secreting something, and if we can identify what’s being released we can target that as a therapeutic.”

The research is published online in the International Journal of Obesity.

Clinical research has shown that after a mild heart attack, people are more likely to develop insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, and are consequently more susceptible to having a second heart attack. Stanford said that what remains unclear is the cause for those increased risks: Does the first cardiac event itself make people more insulin resistant, or does the condition develop because people tend to be more sedentary after a heart attack?

New research could hold the key to tackling global crisis of malnutrition

The University of Bristol is today (15 December) launching an ambitious research project which promises to address the common drivers of both obesity and under-nutrition in China and Southeast Asia.

Malnutrition is the leading cause of disease and mortality globally in Southeast Asia and carries substantial social and economic burdens.

The multi-nation project: Systems Actions to Malnutrition in All Its Forms in Chinese and Southeast Asian Cities – Developing Double Duty, Population-Level Interventions (SYSTAM CHINA-SEACS) is funded by the Medical Research Council in the UK and will be led by Dr Bai Li at the University of Bristol.

Through this world-first initiative, Dr Li plans to demonstrate that by developing systemic solutions to tackle under nutrition, governments and policy-makers can also prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes and stroke.

This approach is known as double-duty, and involves identifying interventions, programs and policies that can simultaneously reduce the burden of both undernutrition (including wasting, stunting and micronutrient deficiency or insufficiency) and overweight, obesity or diet-related NCDs.

The study will be piloted in the Chinese city of Fang Cheng Gang, which has been designated an international medical innovation city by President Xi Jinping and is the permanent host of the China-ASEAN Nutrition forum.

Dr Li said: "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with China Guangxi and Fang Chang Gang local authorities, world-leading academics and other partners, to demonstrate the power of a systems approach to improving population nutrition. Our world-first research will build empirical evidence for and practical understanding of this new approach, so policy-makers and researchers in Asia and other parts of the world can better address the double burden of malnutrition."

Local decision makers will own the process of intervention development and form local ‘delivery Action Groups’ to maximize feasibility, impact and sustainability. The aim is to close the gap between intervention development and delivery, allow a more coordinated use of existing resources and introduce a new way of working. Researchers will report practical lessons learnt in Fang Cheng Gang to policy makers of 11 SEA countries with a vision to scale up the work in this region.

Childhood trauma linked to psychotic symptoms in young cannabis users

Childhood trauma may increase the chance of young people experiencing psychotic symptoms when using cannabis, University of Queensland research has found.

UQ School of Psychology Honorary Fellow, Dr Molly Carlyle, said childhood trauma was a major factor in cannabis use problems and psychosis in young people.

“Our research found cannabis use was associated with more psychotic-like experiences, and this association was stronger for people with more experiences of childhood trauma,” Dr Carlyle said.

“Similarly, people who experienced more childhood trauma were more likely to engage in more harmful cannabis use.

“They also experienced more dysphoria/paranoia when using cannabis, which was also linked to psychotic-like experiences.

“Any history of childhood trauma should be addressed as part of treatment services for cannabis use problems and psychotic disorders.”

The research team analyzed responses from 2630 young people about their use of the drug, history of childhood trauma, psychotic-like experiences and subjective effects such as euphoria, dysphoria or paranoia when using cannabis.

Protein test could lead to earlier and better diagnosis of Parkinson’s

Scientists at the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) have been able to use a highly-sensitive method called α-synuclein real-time quaking-induced conversion (αSyn-RT-QuIC) to observe the clumping of alpha-synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) taken from people with Parkinson’s. The findings offer hope that a pioneering new clinical test could be developed to diagnose Parkinson’s correctly in its early stages.

Alpha-synuclein is a protein known to form sticky clumps, known as Lewy bodies, in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s and some types of dementia. These clumps are associated with the death of dopamine producing nerve cells which causes the motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s, including freezing, tremors and slowness of movement along with the ‘hidden’ symptoms such as anxiety and memory problems.

Funded by the charity Parkinson’s UK, the study investigated whether the αSyn-RT-QuIC method could be used as an early diagnostic test or measure of progression for Parkinson’s. The study was carried out in people with Parkinson’s taking part in the Discovery study of the OPDC, which is collecting a wealth of data from a specific group of people over time to better understand Parkinson's. Previous studies have shown potential for this test as a way to identify people with the conditions.¹

In a recent survey of more than 2,000 people with Parkinson’s carried out by Parkinson’s UK, more than a quarter (26 per cent) reported they were misdiagnosed with a different condition before receiving the correct Parkinson’s diagnosis.² The signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s can overlap with other conditions such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and essential tremor. By having a tool for diagnosis that can be used in the clinic to distinguish between people who have MSA and Parkinson’s but also measure the progression of the condition, delayed diagnosis can be avoided.

Europe’s Earliest Female Infant Burial Reveals a Mesolithic Society that Honored Its Youngest Members

Photo Credit: TK

Working in a cave in Liguria, Italy, an international team of researchers uncovered the oldest documented burial of an infant girl in the European archaeological record. The richly decorated 10,000-year-old burial included over 60 pierced shell beads, four pendants, and an eagle-owl talon alongside the remains. The discovery offers insight into the early Mesolithic period, from which few recorded burials are known, and the seemingly egalitarian funerary treatment of an infant female.

“The evolution and development of how early humans buried their dead as revealed in the archaeological record has enormous cultural significance,” says Jamie Hodgkins, PhD, paleoanthropologist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver.

The new study is published in Scientific Reports.

The crew first discovered the burial in 2017 and fully excavated the delicate remains in July 2018. Hodgkins worked alongside her husband Caley Orr, PhD, paleoanthropologist and anatomist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Their team of project co-directors included Italian collaborators Fabio Negrino, University of Genoa, and Stefano Benazzi, University of Bologna, as well as researchers from the University of Montreal, Washington University, University of Ferrara, University of Tubingen, and the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University.

Marathon experiment reveals quirks of quarks

University of Adelaide experts, who are part of the international community of researchers investigating the fundamental physical properties of atoms, may have come across a new paradigm for the way atomic nuclei are built.

“We have been working on the theoretical analysis of an amazing experiment, Marathon, which took 20 years from conception to publication,” said Professor Anthony Thomas, Elder Professor of Physics, the University of Adelaide.

“The original aim was to accurately measure the distribution of quarks, especially the down quark, as a function of momentum.”

A quark is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. All commonly observable matter is composed of up quarks, down quarks and electrons.

“Understanding how quarks work in relation to a proton’s momentum is a fundamental property which defied measurement ever since quarks were discovered 50 years ago,” said Professor Thomas.

“It tests our understanding of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the fundamental theory of the strong force.”

All the known forces of nature can be traced to four fundamental forces: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong, and weak. They govern how objects or particles interact and how certain particles decay.

"Our analysis of the Marathon data that we started 20 years ago has provided the first experimental hint for the existence of this isovector EMC effect."Professor Anthony Thomas

Argonne scientists advance global climate models by embarking on two new field campaigns

Climate projections suggest that rising global temperatures will increase the intensity of extreme weather, such as droughts, hurricanes and heat waves. But when, where or how specifically these events will emerge is still uncertain.

To better predict future changes, scientists need to improve the accuracy of their weather and climate models, and for that they need data. One way they’re obtaining this data is through the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, a multi-laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility.

“One of the scientific goals of SAIL is to understand, from the top of the Earth’s atmosphere to the bedrock of the Rocky Mountains, how moisture, rainfall and snowfall make their way through the atmosphere into the layers of rock and soil, and then eventually into the Colorado River.” — Argonne atmospheric scientist Scott Collis

Scientists from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, and from laboratories and universities across the country, use ARM to obtain data to better represent climate-related processes in global-scale models. Through two new field campaigns — Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL) and Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) — Argonne researchers will work with multidisciplinary teams to gather data on key climate-related processes such as precipitation, cloud formation and aerosols interactions.

“These insights will serve to enhance our basic understanding of climate and be used to improve the accuracy of climate and weather models and simulations,” said Argonne atmospheric scientist Scott Collis, a co-investigator in both campaigns.

Mountain watersheds provide 60 to 90% of water resources worldwide, but there is still much that scientists don’t know about the physical processes and interactions that affect hydrology in these ecosystems. (Video by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.)

Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL)

Video by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

SAIL will deploy more than four dozen instruments across the East River Watershed in Crested Butte, Colorado. The region includes portions of the Rocky Mountains and tributaries that drain into the Colorado River, which supports over 40 million people.

Mountainous watersheds, like the one at East River, hold the majority of the world’s water reserves. Scientists need to learn a lot more about how climate change will impact their future water supply to make models more precise. Addressing this gap, the SAIL campaign will focus on analyzing the full life cycle of water within the region.

“One of the scientific goals of SAIL is to understand, from the top of the Earth’s atmosphere to the bedrock of the Rocky Mountains, how moisture, rainfall and snowfall make their way through the atmosphere into the layers of rock and soil, and then eventually into the Colorado River,” Collis said. In order to accomplish this goal, SAIL will collocate ARM atmospheric observations with the ongoing surface and subsurface hydrologic observations from the DOE Watershed Function Science Focus Area (SFA) managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

During the two-year campaign, scientists will analyze atmospheric processes and land-atmosphere interactions that impact water delivery. These include things like cloud formation, precipitation, snowfall or rainfall interactions with plants and roots, and the mechanics of underground water transport.