Gene expression may determine time of death

International team of scientists led by Roderic Guigó at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona showed that changes in gene expression in different tissues triggered by death can be used to predict the time of death of an individual. Analyzing a few available tissues for example lung or skin tissue, the post-mortem interval-time elapsed since death can be determined with considerable accuracy and may have implications for forensic analyses.

It all started with the GTEx project, which aimed at creating a reference database and tissue bank for scientists to study how genomic variants affect gene activity and disease susceptibility. GTEx was designed to sample as many tissues as possible from a large number of individuals in order to understand the causal effects of genes and variants, and which tissues contribute to predisposition to disease.

To understand the tissue-specific changes to gene expression following the death of a person, Roderic Guigó and his colleagues studied RNA-sequencing data of over 7,000 samples from 36 different tissues obtained from 540 donor. They show that the time since death has an effect on gene expression and that this effect varies from tissue to tissue. Models for the prediction of the post-mortem interval based on these tissue-specific gene expression changes using high-throughput sequencing of the cell.
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Managing antibiotics can not reverse the resistance

Researchers have discovered that reducing the use of antibiotics will not be enough to reverse the growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance for some types of bacteria. Besides passing along the genes bestowing antibiotic resistance to their offspring, many bacteria can also swap genes among themselves through a process called conjugation.

The bacteria tested by researchers have fast conjugation rate, even if you don't use antibiotics the resistance can be maintained. Most resistance to antibiotics arises and spreads through natural selection. Some bacteria have genes that help them survive around of antibiotics, they quickly parent the next generation and pass on those genes.

Many of these genes, however, come at a cost. For example, a mutation may allow a bacterium to build a thicker membrane to survive a particular antibiotic, but that mutation might also make it more difficult for the cell to reproduce. Without the selective pressure of antibiotics killing off the competition, bacteria with this mutation should disappear over time.

The results indicate that for bacteria that swap resistance genes simply managing the amount of antibiotics being used will not turn the tide on the growing problem of resistance. To make any headway, drugs will also be needed that stop the sharing of genes and decrease the rate at which they are passed on through reproduction. One of the drugs is a benign natural product and FDA-approved antipsychotic.
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Source of ageing process

Genes belong to a process called autophagy - this one of the cells most critical survival processes, it promotes health and fitness in young worms but drive the process of ageing later in life.

 Promoting longevity by closing down autophagy in old worms improves neuronal and subsequent whole body health. Getting old happens to every species, natural selection results in the fittest individuals for a given environment surviving to breed and pass on their genes to the next generation.

The more fruitful a trait is at promoting reproductive success, the stronger the selection for that trait will be. Some genes encourage ageing while still being essential for development, there are series of genes involved in regulating autophagy, which accelerate the ageing process.

The process of autophagy is a critical recycling process in the cell. Autophagy is known to become slower with age and closing it down in the initiation of the process allows the worms to live longer.

There are severe negative consequences when it breaks down and then you are better off bypassing it all together. In young worms, autophagy is working properly and is essential to reach maturity but after reproduction, it begins to malfunction causing the worms to age.

 By inactivating autophagy in the neurons of old worms they were able to prolong the worms life and increased the total health of the worms. Turning autophagy off only in one tissue and the whole animal gets a boost. The neurons are much healthier in the treated worms and keeps the muscles and the rest of the body in good shape.
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Cell segregation prevents cancer spread

Proper development of organs leads to cells segregation. In many tissues, ephrins are present in one cell population and Eph receptors in the other.

When these cells come into contact, ephrins bind to their receptors, triggering signalling inside both cells that stops them from mixing.

 When cells of different types contacted each other, they rebounded in opposite directions, this repulsion is the main force separating the cell types to form different borders.

In a normal condition, N-cadherin suppresses repulsion between 'like' cells. This suppression is vital for 'like' cells to stick together, and to prevent them from invading 'non-like' cells enabling a sharp border to form between different cell.

Ephrins and their receptors work to keep cells in the right places, and the critical role of N-cadherin to keep like-cells together. But cancer cells cross borders and spread through the body.
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Effects of endometriosis on fertility

According to the latest research, women who suffer painful endometriosis are more likely to have lesions deep in their bodies and intestines.

Endometriosis occurs when cells in the uterus are located in another parts of the body and cause bleeding every month.

Common symptoms of endometriosis are painful and irregular menstruation, pain during or after sex, infertility, painful bowel movements and fatigue.

The cause of endometriosis is unknown and there is no cure. The painful symptoms can be reduced by surgery, hormone treatment or use of pain relief drugs.

Women with this condition may experience delay before conception, fertility treatment can increase the chance of becoming pregnant.
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Antibody against cancer cell

 An antibody that can target regulatory T cells which in turn unleashes the immune system to kill cancer cells has been discovered.

The antibody decreased tumor growth in models of melanoma, glioblastoma and colorectal carcinoma, making it effective for cancer immunotherapy.

Tregs can be targeted by using an antibody that locks in on a molecular complex that's uniquely expressed on the cell surface of Tregs.

 anti-LAP antibodies is used to investigate the development of multiple sclerosis, but realized that it has implications on cancer.

Previous studies have shown that LAP+ cells are increased in human cancer and predict a poor prognosis. Being able to target these cells could offer a new way to treat the disease.

In the current study, the team used preclinical models to investigate how well anti-LAP antibodies could work in blocking the essential mechanisms of Tregs and restoring the immune system's ability to fight cancer.

They found that anti-LAP acts on multiple cell populations to promote the immune system's ability to fight cancer, including increasing the activity of certain types of T cells and enhancing immune memory.

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Effects of sleep deprivation on memory formation

Nicolette Ognjanovski of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Development Biology at Michigan and colleagues discovered that sleep deprivation interfere with the rhythm of neuronal firing in hippocampus part of the brain that is responsible for formation of long-term memories.

National Sleep Foundation recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night for sound health.  Sleep deprivation prevents memory formation because it prevents brain from converting short-term memory to long-term memory.

The researchers examined the hippocampal of mice and discovered that those that had sufficient sleep displayed better sleep-related oscillations than sleep-deprived mice.

This discovery shows that memories are not stored in one cell, but distributed through the network. The dominant oscillatory activities for learning is being controlled by cells in hippocampus.

Vitamin C can kill cancer stem cells

Abnormal cells division in an uncontrollable way is cancer, it can occur in any parts of the body.

Cancer can be treated by surgery, Chemotherapy, radiation therapies, hormonal therapy and synthetic lethality.

Some of these treatments are not effective and are associated with variety of side effects. In some cases, the cancer does not respond to treatment, it is believed that cancer steam-like cells are the reason  for reoccurrence and metastasizes.

Vitamin C disrupt the growth of cancer stem cells; in a recent study by Dr Gloria Bonuccelli, Vitamin C proves effective in killing cancer steam-like cells. It is more effective than experimental drugs.

Vitamin C has been proved to be a potent anticancerous agent, it neutralizes cancer steam cells.

Sources of vitamin C are:
Acerola Cherry, Strawberries, Citrus fruits, Papaya, Kiwi, Bell Peppers, Guava, Brussels sprouts, Melon, Dark leafy greens, Tomatoes and Vitamin C tablet.

Sickle Cell Trait increase rate of Kidney Failure for Blacks

Sickle cell disease occurs when a person inherits two abnormal copies of the haemoglobin gene from each parent.

The most common type is sickle cell anemia, it results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells and this leads to a rigid sickle-like shape of cell.

Someone who has one gene from one parent have a trait for sickle cell, sickle cell trait are common among black people

Sickle - cell crisis are acute conditions occurring in patients with sickle-cell disease.

Studies have shown that sickle cell trait is found in eight percent of black people. Black people with sickle cell trait are at the risk of kidney disease.