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Originally published by University of Lausanne on September 6, 2023   Credit: Public Domain A research team from University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Wyss Center, has discovered a new type of cell essential for brain function . Hybrid in composition and function, in between the two types of brain cells known so far—the neurons and the glial cells—these cells of a new order are present in several brain regions in mice and humans . The study published in the journal Nature shows that these cells promote the ability to memorize , the brain control of movements , and contrast the insurgence of epileptic seizures . Neuroscience is in great upheava l. The two major families of cells that make up the brain, neurons and glial cells, secretly hid a hybrid cell, halfway between these two categories. For as long as neuroscience has existed, it has been recognized that the brain works primarily thanks to the neurons and their ability to rapidly elaborate and transmit info...

  Originally published by Bob Yirka, Phys.org, on September 8, 2023 Pteropus rufus, the Malagasy Flying Fox, in flight over Madagascar. Credit: Michael McGuire (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) A small team of biologists and evolutionists from the University of Chicago, York University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Exeter reports why bats carry viruses that cause higher fatality rates when jumping to humans than those that come from any other mammal. In their study, reported on the open-access site PLOS Biology , the group used data from past research efforts to model the growth of viruses within bat populations as well as their spread to other animals. Prior research has shown that when a virus jumps from bats to humans, the results can be deadlier for humans than when viruses jump from other mammals. The reason has been a matter of debate. In this new effort, the team used data from prior research efforts , along wi...

  Originally published by Kanazawa Universit at www.phys.org, on September 5, 2023 Overview of the method for observing actin fibers in living cells using nanoendoscopy-AFM. Credit: STAR Protocols (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102468 Images of nanoscale structures inside living cells are in increasing demand for the insights into cellular structure and function that they can reveal. So far, the tools for capturing such images have been limited, but researchers led by Takeshi Fukuma and Takehiko Ichikawa at Kanazawa University have now devised and reported a full protocol for using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to image inside living cells . The research is published in the journal STAR Protocols . AFM was first developed in the 1980s and uses the changes in the forces between a sample surface and a nanoscale tip attached to a cantilever to identify surfaces and produce images of the topography with nanoscale resolution. The technique has grown increasingly sophistica...

Originally published by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress, on August 30, 2023 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Losing the activity of a key ion channel in the brain may contribute to the buildup of a devastating and toxic protein responsible for the clumps of plaque that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease , a team of neurobiologists in China has found. Stunningly, this team has also shown—at least in animal-model studies—that this protein, a key hallmark of Alzheimer's, can be diminished in the living brain by manipulating the ion channel . The suspect protein is amyloid-beta , which becomes pervasive in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Toxic, gooey amyloid-β accumulates in wads between neurons and disrupts the function of these vital brain cells . The ion channel is known simply as TRPM7 , and it may contribute to the buildup of toxic amyloid-β when the channel itself ceases to function properly, according to scientists at State Key Laborator...