Biology Biochemistry

News

20 Oct 2022
An Osaka Metropolitan University researcher has provided a review article regarding INSL3, a circulating hormone secreted from the gonads, in domestic animals, in comparison to rodents and humans. In this review article, the author describes his research group’s work that (1) developed immunoassays, for the first time, that can measure circulating INSL3 in multiple domestic mammals, including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, and dogs, (2) provided evidence in studies with bulls and bucks that INSL3 offers more reliable and stable values by a single blood collection than testosterone, a conventional and well-known testicular hormone, and (3) suggested that blood INSL3 concentrations would be a good biomarker for testicular and reproductive functions in normal and abnormal male domestic animals. These findings suggest that the INSL3 assay might simplify the evaluation of reproductive functions in various male domestic animals. In particular, the assay method may facilitate earlier selection of valuable male animals such as beef sire bulls (Image) with higher reproductive performance, contributing to reductions in the labor and costs required for sire production.
Alzheimer’s disease model mice (Photo: Kohei Yuyama).
07 Oct 2022
Researchers from Hokkaido University and Toppan have developed a method to detect build-up of amyloid β in the brain, a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, from biomarkers in blood samples.
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23 Aug 2022
Two new approaches could help scientists use existing sequencing technology to better-distinguish RNA changes that affect how their genetic code is read.
29 Jun 2022
The skin’s top layer contains a diverse set of hundreds of lipid molecules called ceramides with varying chain lengths that play a vital role in its barrier function.
Schematic illustrations of cargo transport by a swarm of molecular robots (top) and fluorescence images of a molecular robot transporting blue sphere-like cargo (bottom). The scale bar is 20 micrometers. By specifying the position of the light irradiation, it is possible to accumulate the cargo at the designated destination (right). The scale bar is 50 micrometers (Mousumi Akter, et al. Science Robotics. April 20, 2022).
20 Apr 2022
In a global first, scientists have demonstrated that molecular robots are able to accomplish cargo delivery by employing a strategy of swarming, achieving a transport efficiency five times greater than that of single robots.
12 Apr 2022
Researchers at Kanazawa University elucidate in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences how small biocontainers enclosed by membranes are involved in a disease called ATTRv amyloidosis.
07 Apr 2022
The molecule trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) can be used to reversibly modulate the rigidity of microtubules, a key component of molecular machines and molecular robots.
The cancer stem cells cultured on the DN gel formed a tumor when injected into mice brain.
11 Mar 2022
A soft hydrogel could help scientists find treatments for drug-resistant cancer stem cells.
Pain neuron-derived Reg3γ protects brain metabolism of LPS challenged mice (Kenta Maruyama).
08 Mar 2022
A research team led by the National Institute for Physiological Sciences and joined by Hokkaido University explored the role of pain neurons in the regulation of endotoxic death. They found that peptide named Reg3γ acts as a pain neuron-enriched brain-targeted hormone that protects the host from endotoxic death.
(Top) The star-polymer-DNA-gel (left) liquifies when its temperature is increased to more than 70˚C (center), and returns to a gel when the temperature drops back to 25˚C (right). (Bottom) Under UV light, the star-polymer-DNA-gel fluoresces green (left, right), but does not fluoresce when liquified (Photo: Xiang Li).
16 Feb 2022
Simulations have led to the fabrication of a polymer-DNA gel that could be used in tissue regeneration and robotics.
Giants in History: Eminent Filipina scientist and educator Clara Lim-Sylianco
10 Feb 2022
Giants in History: Eminent Filipina scientist and educator Clara Lim-Sylianco (18 August 1925 – 23 July 2013) is remembered for her extensive research on mutagens – often-carcinogenic agents that permanently alter genetic materials such as DNA – antimutagens and bioorganic mechanisms.
Kamala Sohonie
26 Jan 2022
Giants in History: In 1939, biochemist Kamala Sohonie (18 June 1911 – 28 June 1998) became the first woman to be accepted into the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Figure 1. Mass Imaging.
06 Jan 2022
Enzymatic hydrolysis of planteose: α-Galactosidase is a promising molecular target for root parasitic weed control
Allergic reaction and immune tolerance mechanism
22 Dec 2021
Scientists have identified a series of molecular candidates for those parts of dog allergens that cause immune reactions in people—the first step in developing a vaccine against most causes of dog allergies.
Julian Banzon
07 Dec 2021
Julian Arca Banzon (13 March 1908 – 13 September 1988) was a biochemist from the Philippines who was a pioneer in alternative fuel research.
Answering a century-old question on the origins of life
27 Sep 2021
The missing link isn’t a not-yet-discovered fossil, after all. It’s a tiny, self-replicating globule called a coacervate droplet, developed by two researchers in Japan to represent the evolution of chemistry into biology.
15 Sep 2021
Using the lamprey, researchers from Japan analyzed the photosensory mechanism of the pineal organ, also called the pineal gland, in non-mammalian vertebrates and discovered a novel mechanism of pineal color discrimination (two-cell system) in which two types of photoreceptor cells, each containing two different opsins, are used to detect color. This discovery may provide insight into the evolution of color detection in other animals, including color vision in humans.
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13 Sep 2021
iCeMS scientists and colleagues have designed a molecular code that powers up cancer-fighting immune cells.
26 Aug 2021
A multi-functional, small molecule can tag mutant genetic sequences inside mitochondria for removal.
Model of translation initiation and its control by 5MP
17 Aug 2021
Cells translate their genetic material at rapid rates with exquisite precision to reproduce, repair damage or even combat disease. But the process can deregulate and give rise to disease. Byproducts of errant processes can build up like gunk in the gears, especially around neurons, breaking down the repair mechanisms and causing further damage and even neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
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14 Jul 2021
Researchers have found a way to enhance radiation therapy using novel iodine nanoparticles.
13 Jul 2021
Researchers from Osaka City University show the benefits of mixing alginic acid with calcium phosphate cement (CPC), a common bone replacement material, with in vitro and in vivo studies. The biopolymer is shown to improve the setting time and compressive strength of CPC, as well as help it acquire porosity – which allows cells to enter the defected area and grow new bone.
08 Jul 2021
Researchers at The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science use artificial intelligence to predict the size of cells over time without the need for simplifying assumptions, which may lead to a new understanding of microbiology principles and improved drug manufacturing from recombinant bacteria
05 Jul 2021
Researchers analyze bone marrow-derived and peripheral blood-derived fibrin clots showing that the former contains more growth factors. They then show that bone marrow-derived fibrin clots can be used for meniscus suturing, even in the inner-most avascular regions, and with a 2-year post-operative follow-up, they show bone marrow-derived fibrin clots support healing better than their peripheral blood counterparts.
Schematic view of hypoxic transcriptome meta-analysis
09 Jun 2021
Publication bias, or the tendency of researchers and journals to not publish uninteresting findings, plagues much of the natural sciences and especially biomedical research. Hiroshima University researchers have developed a meta-analytic technique exploiting publicly available transcriptome databases that avoids the problem—and in so doing, discovered four genes previously unknown to be associated with responding to low-oxygen stress.
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31 May 2021
High-resolution genome structural analyses combined with large-scale simulations show the arrangements of the genome’s spool-like structures affecting gene expression.
14 May 2021
Upcoming Solar System exploration missions will search for extraterrestrial (ET) life, but ET life may not be like Earth life. A new mass spectrometry analysis technique may allow for process-based ways to find ET life that is compositionally alien.
PD-L1 immunohistochemical staining in typical oral malignant melanoma (left) and squamous cell skin cancer (right)
22 Apr 2021
Scientists have shown that the biological molecule PD-L1 is a potential target for the treatment of metastasized oral malignant melanoma in dogs.
15 Apr 2021
Researchers from The University of Tokyo develop a novel device for the safe and effective transplantation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived pancreatic beta-cells in type I diabetes mellitus
Human brain cancer cells forming spherical structures on the DN gel
29 Mar 2021
A hydrogel, a type of soft matter, developed at Hokkaido University successfully reverted cancer cells back to cancer stem cells within 24 hours, in six different human cancer types. This could lead to the development of anti-cancer stem cell drugs and personalized medicines.

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