A new technique enables scientists to break down the collective atomic motion in a molecule into elementary components. (Image: KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

Every molecule holds a complex landscape of moving atoms – and the ability to single out and examine individual nuclear vibrations may unlock to the secret to predicting and controlling chemical reactions. Now a new method, developed by researchers in Sweden, enables biotech researchers to do just that. The new method offers unprecedented detail in measuring molecular motion and energy – enabling better control and understanding of chemical reactions in the field of biotechnology research. The technique, which was recently published in Nature Communications, uses X-ray scattering to measure the specific movements of atoms in a molecule with extreme energy resolution.

Immagini: (Sinistra) Modello molecolare del farmaco (in grigio) in interazione con alcune strutture della proteina disordinata (in verde e arancio); (Centro) Diminuzione 'in vitro' della proliferazione delle cellule tumorali con l'uso del farmaco, comparata con l’uso di due tipici farmaci chemioterapici, o in assenza di trattamento. (Destra) Diminuzione 'in vivo' della crescita del tumore con l’uso del farmaco (dose di 10 mg/kg), comparata con una dose ridotta o in assenza di trattamento.

Da un farmaco antipsicotico nuove speranze contro il tumore al pancreas Il carcinoma del dotto pancreatico è il più comune tumore che colpisce questa ghiandola. Le sue percentuali di guarigione sono minime, non solo a causa delle difficoltà di una diagnosi precoce, ma anche per l’assenza di un trattamento farmacologico specifico. Nuove speranze giungono da uno studio pubblicato su Scientific Reports dall’Istituto di nanotecnologia del Cnr, sede di Rende (Cs), in collaborazione con un team di ricercatori francesi e spagnoli. Una molecola utilizzata da tempo per curare gli stati d’ansia si è rivelata utile ad interferire nell’attività di una proteina a struttura disordinata, coinvolta nei processi di sviluppo del tumore al pancreas

Jeroen Brijs

Why do trout spend so much time in potentially dangerous estuaries before migrating to sea? In a new thesis published at University Gothenburg, Jeroen Brijs reveals that the answer may lie in the gut. Trout migrate to sea to grow as much as possible before returning to the rivers to spawn. But they must undergo a wide range of changes so that they can survive in the salty waters of the sea. By investigating the essential physiological changes necessary for trout to maintain salt and water balance, we can now better understand how a fish prepares for a life at sea.

Genes in albino orchids may hold clues to parasitic mechanism used by non-photosynthetic plants (fig 2)

How do plants give up photosynthesis and become parasites? A research team in Japan are using comprehensive analysis of gene expression in albino and green orchids to investigate the evolution of parasitic plants. The research was carried out by Project Associate Professor SUETSUGU Kenji (Kobe University Graduate School of Science), Associate Professor KAMINAKA Hironori and Research Fellow MIURA Chihiro (Tottori University Faculty of Agriculture), Associate Professor YAMATO Masahide (Chiba University Faculty of Education), and Special Associate Professor SHIGENOBU Shuji (National Institute for Basic Biology).

Nei 30 Paesi dell’Unione europea e dello Spazio economico europeo, Escherichia coli e Klebsiella pneumoniae continuano a mostrare un aumento delle percentuali di resistenza alle cefalosporine di 3a generazione, ai fluorochinoloni e agli aminoglicosidi, con fenomeni spesso combinati tra loro a generare batteri multi-resistenti. Una situazione aggravata dal diffondersi delle resistenze ai carbapenemi (antibiotici di ultima risorsa per trattare infezioni da batteri multi resistenti), soprattutto in K. pneumoniae (nel 2015 la percentuale media dei ceppi resistenti è stata dell’8,1%). Per quanto riguarda i batteri gram-positivi, la Staphylococcus aureus resistente alla meticillina (Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - Mrsa) rappresenta una priorità di salute pubblica nonostante la sua diffusione mostri un trend in diminuzione, passando dal 18,8% del 2012 al 16,8% del 2015. Sono alcuni dei dati del “Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Europe 2015” (pdf 10 Mb), pubblicato dallo European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc) a gennaio 2017, che presenta i dati 2015 e il trend 2012-2015. Per maggiori informazioni consulta anche la pagina sulla diffusione delle antiobiotico resistenze in Europa.

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

A special issue on progress toward a cure for HIV includes a description of a previously unreported study started in the early 2000s that describes AIDS patients currently ages 51-67 in good health. These nine individuals were treated with a unique formula of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) from 2001-2006 or longer, with or without occasional antiviral therapy added later. The fact that the patients currently have low or undetectable HIV in their systems is unexpected and intriguing, and suggests a potential promise of TCM as a functional cure for HIV/AIDS, as discussed in a Letter to the Editor in the special issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The Letter to the Editor is available open access on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website.

Lipid nanoparticles(UPV/EHU)

25 years have passed since the publication of the first work on solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) as a system for delivering drugs. So the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics has prepared a special edition for which it asked the PharmaNanoGene group of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country to produce a piece of work reviewing the application of SLNs and NLCs in gene therapy since the group’s significant contributions made in this area have been included in various international scientific publications.

MicroRNA as anti-aging molecule in brain

The older we get, our brain ages. Cognitive abilities decline and the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease or having a stroke steadily increases. A possible cause is the accumulation of iron molecules within neurons, which seems to be valid for all vertebrates. In a collaborative research project within the consortium JenAge, researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena, Germany, and the Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, found that this iron accumulation is linked to a microRNA called miR-29. This little molecule has so far been known to act as a tumor suppressor, hindering the proliferation of cancer cells. However, clearly, miR-29 also regulates whether or not iron can be deposited in neurons. Using the African fish Nothobranchius furzeri – the shortest-living vertebrate that can be kept under laboratory conditions – the team of Alessandro Cellerino showed a large increase of iron deposits in fish where miR-29 had been suppressed, which led to premature brain aging. In contrast, healthy fish showed the more miR-29 in their neurons, the older they were. Hence, miR-29 acts as a kind of anti-aging molecule during aging, inhibiting the accumulation of iron in neurons.

The geneticist David Vendrami from Bielefeld University is studying ways in which populations of scallops differ. Photo: Bielefeld University

Biologists at Bielefeld University publish analysis

The scallop is one of the largest edible molluscs, and gourmets consider it to be a great delicacy. To meet this demand, the fishing industry cultivates these shellfish in coastal aquafarms. In a new analysis, behavioural ecologists at Bielefeld University have confirmed that cultivated scallops developed their own genetic structure that differs from that of natural scallops. The biologists studied a total of nine populations of scallops (Pecten maximus) along the coast of Northern Ireland. They are presenting their results this Wednesday (8.2.2017) in the research journal ‘Royal Society Open Science’.

Researchers from VIB, UGent, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and several collaborators developed a new antiviral strategy to fight human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children. The approach hinges on the use of single-domain antibodies, also known as Nanobodies®, which target and neutralize a vital protein in the virus, rendering it unable to enter lung cells. The research, published in the leading scientific journal Nature Communications, elucidates how these Nanobodies® interact with and neutralize the virus and demonstrates their ability to successfully protect mice from RSV infection and related inflammation.