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When older, our cells accumulate defects. Could we eliminate some of them and thus rejuvenate cells? A process observed on the oocyte provides avenues for research.
Most living organisms get older, the more DNA and proteins of their cells are damaged, particularly under the action of small molecules, reactive oxygen species, byproducts of respiration. This explains, in part, degenerative diseases and cancers are more common with age.
Sex cells, sperm cells of male and female oocytes, are not immune to this phenomenon, as the individual who is aging product. Gold embryos and newborns from fertilization – the fusion of these cells – are not old before: their cells do not rely almost damaged components, except as pathological. So there are rejuvenation process that avoid transmission to the new generation of components “aged” from the sex cells. Jerome Goudeau and Hugo Aguilaniu, École Normale Superieure de Lyon and CNRS, have highlighted one of these processes in an animal model, the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.
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The new technique overcomes a major obstacle : the change in shape epitope that allows the virus to escape the host immune system
One approach to designing a vaccine against HIV is to educate the immune system to recognize some protein structures on its surface and produce therefore antibodies that bind to these structures, by neutralizing the virus.
This strategy requires the identification of the structures of the surface viral and the presentation of these fragments to the immune system . When some parts of the surface of HIV are removed, however, they change shape , and will not be recognized by antibodies .
New research conducted at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) and now published on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS ), Has developed a technique to overcome this problem. In particular, it was set up scaffolding to extract a portion recognized by the antibodies , called epitope or antigenic determinant , and inserting it into a protein structure drawn to the computer. The latter encompasses the epitope in a form which can subsequently be recognized by the immune system.
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The super-resolution microscopy , also known as nanoscopy , allows the mapping of a population of individual molecules on the surface of living cells . Simply being genetically modified organisms to make them fluorescent , which is one drawback . Hence the interest of the new technique of ” firing “of these molecules developed by physicists at the Centre for Superconducting and Hertzian biologists and Cell Physiology Laboratory of Synapse , two units of CNRS / University of Bordeaux .
This uses the immuno – marking in real time . The living cells are placed in the presence of a fluorescent antibody solution which will bind to it . But instead of using enough antibodies to bind to the molecules to study , the researchers achieved a mark diluted under the microscope. So the few available antibodies will then bind to molecules to study and make them bright. Then , when they will be extinct , other molecules will already bind to antibodies arriving in the new sample and light up in turn.
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An international team led by the Hospital Research Institute of the Sea ( IMIM ) and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York (USA ) has identified a new molecular mechanism of antibody production by B lymphocytes This discovery opens the door to new treatments for autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis , and possibly immune system tumors such as lymphoma and multiple myeloma .
The research group IMIM B cells , led by Andrea Cerutti, ICREA research professor , has discovered a new mechanism for activation of B cells, the cells that produce antibodies through BAFF molecules and APRIL . These molecules promote the interaction of MyD88 signaling protein with TACI , a receptor that stimulates B cell activation and the production and diversification of antibodies.
It is noteworthy that MyD88 is a signaling protein that is usually not involved in the activation of B cells , but which is necessary for the innate immune system cells detect the presence of pathogens. Diversification and plasticity of the immune system are essential to achieve an adequate immune protection . The interaction between TACI and MyD88 described in this study reveals a surprising link between the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system . TACIS- MyD88 interaction increases the efficiency of the immune system by increasing the plasticity.
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Researchers at the Allergy Section of Rio Hortega Hospital carried out a project that attempts to explore the source of allergy to cannabis, the illegal drug most consumed in Spain and elsewhere. To do this work with the Faculty of Pharmacology of Vitoria in charge of one of the most complex parts, “studies of molecular biology to remove the allergen causing the allergy cannabis,” said Alicia told DiCYT Armentia, a of the specialists who make up the research team at the Hospital of Valladolid.
An allergen or antigen is a substance that induces allergy or hypersensitivity reaction in people who have previously been in contact with him and are susceptible. Scientists believe that some of the paintings attributed to an overdose of the substance could be allergic response, a field little studied. By the Faculty of Pharmacology, Vitoria part of the study and Idoia Postigo Jorge Martinez, while in the Hospital Rio Hortega some of the researchers involved are, in addition to Alicia Armentia, Manuel Herrero and Martin White.
The allergist and Blanca Martin are responsible for the analysis of specific allergy antibodies to cannabis, the source protein molecules that are responsible for detecting foreign substances found in the body and its disposal. “This is an expensive job, and spent two years working for another three or four will not get results,” says Armentia, who advances the work will be presented at a European conference which is already pending publication of an article scientist.
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Most living organisms get older, the more DNA and proteins of their cells are damaged, particularly under the action of small molecules, reactive oxygen species, byproducts of respiration. This explains, in part, degenerative diseases and cancers are more common with age.