Lifeboat Foundation

Introduction: The lips fulfill various critical physiological roles besides being viewed as a fundamental aesthetic feature contributing to the perception of health and beauty. Therefore, any lip injury, abnormality, or congenital malformation, such as cleft lip, needs special attention in order to restore proper lip function and aesthetics. To achieve this goal, a better understanding of the complex lip anatomy, function, and biology is required, which can only be provided by basic research endeavors. However, the current lack of clinically relevant human lip cells and three-dimensional in vitro lip models, capable of replacing ethically questionable animal experimentations, represents a significant limitation in this area of research.

Methods: To address these limitations, we aimed to pioneer the introduction of immortalized healthy lip-and cleft lip-derived keratinocytes. Primary keratinocytes were isolated from patients’ samples and immortalized by introducing the catalytic domain of telomerase, combined with the targeted knockdown of the cell cycle inhibitor gene, p16^INK4A. We then focused on validating the newly established cell lines by comparing their genetic stability and key phenotypic features with their primary keratinocyte counterparts.

Results: The newly established immortalized keratinocyte cell lines demonstrated genetic stability and preserved the main phenotypic characteristics of primary keratinocytes, such as cellular morphology and differentiation capacity. Three-dimensional lip models, generated using these cell lines, proved to be effective and convenient platforms for screening applications, including wound healing and microbial infection of the lip epithelium.

One of the most elusive challenges oncologists encounter is why some patients respond to a particular therapy while others do not. Thus, optimizing a personalized treatment regimen that gives a patient the best odds of success has become a cornerstone of cancer research. The desire to implement more individualized therapies has brought about an increasing the focus on personalized medicine. This promising approach uses specific patient characteristics, including genetic makeup, environment, and lifestyle, to develop an individualized treatment plan.

Working towards improving the speed and accuracy of genetic screening to inform personalized medicine, a team of researchers conducted a comprehensive study. The journal NPJ Precision Oncol recently published the results. The researchers meticulously investigated the gene expression of almost 800 cancer cell lines and their response to treatment. With this thorough process, the researchers identified specific genetic patterns that correlated with drug resistance.

The study identified 36 genes correlating to resistance to multiple anti-cancer drugs. The researchers calculated a score, called UAB36, based on the correlation coefficient of the 36 genes identified. This UAB36 score, a novel predictive tool, accurately forecasted resistance to tamoxifen, an anti-cancer drug used to treat some types of breast cancer and prevent cancer progression in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Surviving Neanderthal genes in the modern genome tell a story of thousands of years of interactions.

Recent DNA studies have refined the period when Neanderthals and modern humans interbred to a span of about 7,000 years, leaving Eurasians with significant Neanderthal genetic contributions. These findings also help clarify the timeline and routes of ancient human migrations from Africa.

Genetic Insights into Ancient Human-Neanderthal Interactions.

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Continue reading “Human Skin Rejuvenation: Li Li, PhD” »

Summary: Researchers have identified a genetic mechanism that regulates behavioral adaptations to emotional experiences by forming R-loops, unique RNA: DNA structures that activate target genes. The study focused on NPAS4, a gene implicated in stress and drug addiction, showing how blocking R-loops prevents maladaptive behaviors like cocaine seeking and stress-induced anhedonia in mice.

This mechanism demonstrates how emotional experiences influence brain circuits by altering gene expression through enhancer RNA. The findings could pave the way for RNA-based therapies to treat psychiatric disorders linked to stress and substance use.

In this study, the authors present magnetoelectric nanodiscs that enable minimally invasive, remote magnetic neuromodulation with subsecond precision to drive reward and motor behaviours in genetically intact mice.

New research reshapes our understanding of the universal genetic code, revealing surprising insights into early life’s amino acid evolution.

Microorganisms produce a wide variety of natural products that can be used as active ingredients to treat diseases such as infections or cancer. The blueprints for these molecules can be found in the microbes’ genes, but often remain inactive under laboratory conditions.

A team of researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now developed a genetic method that leverages a natural bacterial mechanism for the transfer of genetic material and uses it for the production of new active ingredients. The team has published its results in the journal Science.

Continue reading “Odd, slowly repeating radio bursts traced to red dwarf star” »

The Tbx1 gene influences brain volume and social behavior in autism and schizophrenia, with its deficiency linked to amygdala shrinkage and impaired social incentive evaluation.

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry has linked changes in brain volume to differences in social behavior associated with psychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

The research, led by Noboru Hiroi, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), revealed that a deficiency in a specific gene was connected to social behavior differences in mice. These behavioral differences are similar to those often observed in psychiatric disorders.