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A hormone produced by fat cells has been shown to limit the growth of liver tumours in mice, according to a recent study from the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute.

The study’s results, which provide proof of concept for the development of medicines against hepatocellular carcinoma, the most frequent kind of liver cancer, were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Jiandie Lin and his colleagues utilise mice as a model to examine how nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects molecular and cellular alterations and how these changes ultimately contribute to the course of the illness.

While it begins as a relatively benign accumulation of fat in the liver, the disorder can develop into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, which increases the risk for liver cancer.

The liver contains scores of different cell types, including various immune cells. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, a technology for probing gene expression of individual cells within complex tissues, Lin and his team previously constructed a liver cell atlas and a blueprint of intercellular signaling in healthy and NASH mouse livers.

The scientists wanted to identify specific molecular changes in the NASH state that disrupt balance and interactions of these cell types, as potential therapeutic targets to reverse the progression from NASH to cancer.

“Liver cancer in NASH patients is different from cancers caused by viral hepatitis, in that it often develops in the absence of liver cirrhosis,” said Lin, a faculty member at the U-M Life Sciences Institute and the study’s senior author. “We suspect that different disease mechanisms may be engaged in NASH-related liver cancer.”

Lin and colleagues observed changes in two types of immune cells in particular that appear to contribute to the development of HCC. In mouse livers with NASH, T cells–the immune cells that normally fight infected or damaged cells, such as cancerous cells–showed hallmarks of functional impairments. At the same time, the team found that a second type of immune cell, called macrophages, acquired molecular features typically associated with cancers.

“These changes we saw in macrophages and T cells resemble the tumor microenvironment, but they are happening even before any cancer becomes apparent,” said Lin, who is also a professor of cell and developmental biology at the U-M Medical School. “It gives us a hint that maybe these changes in the liver microenvironment could provide fertile ground for liver cancer cells to appear and grow. It almost looks like the liver, once it develops NASH, is already preparing for cancer cells to thrive.”

The team also identified a hormone that serves as a checkpoint for disease progression, and it appears to have potential as a treatment: neuregulin 4, or NRG4.

Lin’s team previously revealed that NRG4–a hormone that is secreted primarily by fat cells–can protect mouse livers against NASH, and that a decrease or loss of this hormone leads to more severe levels of liver disease.

Now, the team has found that the hormone can suppress hepatocellular carcinoma in NASH mice. Their findings show that mice lacking the hormone NRG4 develop more severe NASH and more liver tumors than mice with normal levels of NRG4.

When the scientists boosted levels of the hormone in mice–either by genetically elevating the expression of NRG4 in fat tissues or by treating mice with a recombinant NRG4 fusion–the increased levels of NRG4 suppressed NASH liver cancer progression.

“A lot of studies on liver cancer focus on the cancerous liver cells themselves: how they proliferate and how they evade the immune system,” Lin said. “But our findings break out of this liver-centered framework, showing a fat-derived hormone could actually reprogram the liver environment and have a very big impact on liver cancer development.”

Monkeypox virus has been found in anal samples from asymptomatic males who have intercourse with men, presenting another another concern about the current viral outbreak: the likelihood of silent infection. The most recent epidemic of the monkeypox virus, which started in May, mostly impacted guys who had intercourse with other men. A recent publication in Annals of Internal Medicine showed three asymptomatic individuals with no cutaneous manifestations but positive findings, despite the fact that most infections are characterised by cutaneous lesions.

The report suggests that vaccination limited to those with known exposure to the monkeypox virus may not be an effective strategy for preventing infection.

Dengue infections increased roughly sevenfold in West Bengal till the first week of August compared to the same period last year, despite the fact that at least 11 towns have been recognised as regions where the illness is wreaking havoc.

Up till the first week of August 2021, the state health agency reported 450 dengue cases. During the same time period this year, the total has skyrocketed to 3,104.

The department has sent the chief secretary with a report that lists the districts in the state where dengue cases have exceeded all previous records during the past five years.

“The highest number of cases reported between January and August since 2017 was 89. This year it has shot up to 768. In Kalimpong, just one case was reported…. This year, the district has registered 56 cases. Other districts where records of last five years have been broken are Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum and Malda,” said a health department official.

The agency has identified many locations where the mosquito-borne disease is killing a lot of people, including Kolkata, Howrah, Bidhannagar, Panihati, Bally, Titagarh, Kamarhati, Rajpur-Sonarpur, Asansol, Englishbazar, and Siliguri.

“Three out of four members in my family, including me, my wife and my daughter were down with the disease. While I have recovered, my wife and daughter are still recovering,” said Anjan Halder, a resident of North 24 Parganas.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has identified at least 13 wards as highly prone to dengue. It has also asked private laboratories and hospitals to submit data.

“Mosquito borne diseases such as dengue are common in the monsoon as the Aedes mosquito needs very small puddles of clean stagnant water, which can accumulate in any discarded object, to breed. We need to be very alert as other diseases like swine flu may have almost the same symptoms. The classical symptoms of dengue are not prevalent now,” a daily quoted Daipayan Biswas, a doctor, as saying.

India reported a decline in Coronavirus cases with 8,813 fresh Covid-19 infections reported in the last 24 hours as compared to 14,917 cases a day before, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Tuesday.

The country recorded 15,040 recoveries in the last 24 hours which takes the total recoveries from the infection to 4,36,38,844. The current recovery rate is 98.56 per cent. According to the Health Ministry, the country’s daily positivity rate stands at 4.15 per cent, while its weekly positivity rate is 4.79 per cent.

The Ministry further informed that the country’s active caseload stands at 1,11,252 with the active cases at 0.25 per cent.

The Health Ministry also said that 88.06 crore Covid tests have been conducted in the country so far, of which 2,12,129 were conducted in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive, the Centre has administered 208.31 crore total vaccine doses which included 93.80 crore Second Dose and 12.36 crore Precaution Dose for Coronavirus infection.

In the last 24 hours, 6,10,863 doses have been administered.

A recent animal research found that testosterone can drive men to be more gregarious and friendly. The findings of Emory University neuroscientists’ study on Mongolian gerbils were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“We’ve shown that testosterone may directly enhance nonsexual, prosocial conduct, along with aggression, in the same individual, for what we believe is the first time,” says Aubrey Kelly, an assistant professor of psychology at Emory University and the study’s first author. It’s unexpected because often we associate testosterone with escalating aggressive and sexual activities. However, we’ve demonstrated that, depending on the social environment, it can have more complex impacts. The research also demonstrated how testosterone affects oxytocin cells’ brain activity, the so-called “love hormone” linked to social bonding.

The study’s co-author is Richmond Thompson, a neuroscientist at Oxford College at Emory University.

Using rodent experimental models, Kelly’s lab has recently concentrated on the brain effects of oxytocin. The effects of steroids on fish’s neurological systems are studied by Thompson’s group. Both researchers are attempting to answer the question of how hormones function in the brain to enable an animal to quickly alter its behaviour in response to its social environment.

Kelly and Thompson live together as a married couple and also have a common research interest.

We were conversing over a glass of wine when the concept for this article first came to us, Kelly claims. It combines the two spheres of our research.

Most human research have found that testosterone makes people more violent. Kelly and Thompson questioned if testosterone might also generally reduce prosocial behaviours in addition to its ability to promote hostility toward invaders.

They also speculated that it might have a more drastic effect, enhancing favourable social reactions in situations where doing good deeds is appropriate.

The Kelly lab experimented on Mongolian gerbils, rodents that create enduring pair bonds and raise their young together, to answer this question. Males can be hostile during mating and when defending their territory, but they also engage in snuggling and protective behaviour when a female gets pregnant.

In one experiment, a male and a female gerbil were introduced. The males adopted their customary snuggling behaviours toward their companions once they developed a pair connection and the female got pregnant. The male test volunteers were subsequently given an injection of testosterone by the researchers. They anticipated that since testosterone often has an antisocial effect, the consequent sharp increase in a man’s testosterone level would reduce his tendency to cuddle.

As opposed to that, Kelly notes, “we were startled that a male gerbil became even more affectionate and prosocial with his spouse.” He developed into a “great companion.”

A week later, the researchers ran a resident-intruder test as a follow-up experiment. Each male gerbil who had previously gotten a testosterone injection was left alone in his own cage after the females were taken out of the cages. The cage was then filled with an unidentified guy.

A male would typically try to avoid or chase another male that entered its cage, according to Kelly. Instead, the local males who had previously received testosterone injections were friendlier toward the visitor.

However, when the initial male patients received another injection of testosterone, the friendly behaviour rapidly altered. When the intruder approached, they started displaying typical pursuing and/or avoiding behaviours. According to Kelly, “it was like they all of a sudden realised they weren’t allowed to be nice in that situation.”

According to the researchers, because the male subjects’ testosterone levels spiked while they were with their partners, it not only quickly increased the positive social reactions to them but also primed the males to act more prosocially in the future, even when the context changed and they were around another male. The second testosterone injection, however, quickly caused them to change their behaviour and become more hostile, as befitting a male intruder.

According to Kelly, “it seems that testosterone increases context-appropriate conduct. It appears to contribute to enhancing the propensity for being cuddly, protective, or violent.”

In a sense, the laboratory tests slowed down what males might go through practically simultaneously in the wild. Kelly argues that in their natural environment, mating with a spouse raises testosterone levels, preparing them to behave affectionately in the present and the near future when residing with their partner, even if the testosterone levels fall.

The gerbil would probably suffer another spike in testosterone if a competitor entered its burrow, which would prompt him to instantly alter his behaviour in order to ward off the competitor and save his offspring. As the social environment changes, testosterone then seems to aid animals in quickly switching between prosocial and antisocial behaviours.

The biochemical interactions between oxytocin and testosterone were also examined in the current investigation. The findings demonstrated that, in comparison to men who did not receive testosterone injections, men who did so showed increased oxytocin activity in their brains during interactions with a partner.

Kelly claims that although “we know that oxytocin and testosterone systems cross in the brain, we really don’t understand why.” When seen as a whole, our findings imply that one rationale for this overlap may be so they can cooperate to encourage prosocial behaviour.

Kelly claims that hormones appear to play a more sophisticated role in behaviour modulation compared to simply switching a “on” or “off” switch. “It’s like a convoluted dashboard where one dial might need to move a little up while another one slides down,” the speaker said.

Although human behaviours are much more complex than those of Mongolian gerbils, the researchers believe that their findings will serve as a foundation for more research in humans and other animals.

According to Thompson, the parts of the brain that our hormones activate are even the same. It will be useful to discover how hormones like testosterone assist other animals adjust to quickly changing social circumstances in order to forecast and ultimately comprehend how the same chemicals in human brains help shape our own reactions to the social environment around us. This will aid us in understanding the biological roots of their behaviour.

An international research team has successfully recovered muscular mobility in a model of paralysed mice using organic neurons. Prof. Tae-Woo Lee (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea) and Prof. Zhenan Bao headed the team (Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, US).

The outcome was published in the prestigious international journal “Nature Biomedical Engineering.” The nerves are easily harmed by a variety of factors, including physical injury, genetic factors, secondary problems, and ageing. The nerves are crucial for life activities and also have a substantial impact on quality of life. Additionally, some or all of their body functions are permanently lost due to poor bio-signaling because once nerves are injured, they are difficult to rebuild.

The traumatic account of a celebrity’s spinal cord injury occasionally makes the news. Despite the dramatic advances in medicine and biology, the medical problem of nerve injury, which has existed since the dawn of humanity, has remained a mystery to science, and there doesn’t appear to be any clear solution in the near future.

Damaged nerves have been treated in a variety of ways, including surgical procedures and drugs, but it is still nearly difficult to restore damaged or degraded nerve functioning.

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), a technique used often in clinical practise for the rehabilitation of patients with neurological impairment, uses computer-controlled signals. This involves applying electrical stimulation to muscles that are no longer arbitrary controlled in neuropathy patients in order to trigger muscle contraction, resulting in functionally effective motions in the biological body while being constrained in a particular space.

These conventional approaches, however, have drawbacks that make them unsuitable for patients to use on a long-term basis in their daily lives. This is because they use sophisticated digital circuits and computers for signal processing to stimulate muscles, which uses a lot of energy and has poor biocompatibility.

By using a stretchable, low-power organic nanowire neurormorphic device that mimics the structure and functionality of real nerve fibres, the research team was able to control the movement of mice’s legs solely with artificial nerves, eliminating the need for a complicated and large external computer. The stretchy artificial nerve comprises of a hydrogel electrode for signal transmission to the leg muscles, an organic artificial synapse that mimics a biological synapse, and a strain sensor that models a proprioceptor that senses muscle movements.

Because the researchers controlled the mouse legs’ movement and the force with which their muscles contract in line with the frequency of the action potentials conveyed to it, the artificial synapse performs smoother and more lifelike leg motions than the standard FES.

Furthermore, the artificial proprioceptor monitors the mouse’s leg movement and delivers real-time feedback to the artificial synapse to reduce muscle injury from excessive leg movement.

A paralysed mouse was taught to kick the ball, walk, and run on the treadmill by the researchers. Furthermore, by taking samples of recorded signals from the motor cortex of moving animals and manipulating the legs of mice through artificial synapses, the study team demonstrated the potential use of artificial nerves in the future for voluntary movement.

The neuromorphic technology, which is gaining interest as a next-generation computer device by simulating the behaviour of a biological neural network, has a new application feasibility that was discovered by the researchers. The researchers showed that the neuromorphic field would be utilised in other sectors, including biomedical engineering and biotechnology, in addition to computers.

According to Prof. Tae-Woo Lee, “Neural injury is still seen as a major scientific challenge from the past to the present despite the amazing medical breakthroughs, and without a fresh discovery, it will still be a difficult problem to overcome in the future. The study’s relevance is best summed up by the phrase, “This research provides a fresh advance in overcoming nerve damage in an engineering method using neuromorphic technology, not in a biomedical way. “An engineering approach to overcoming nerve damage will provide a new road to improve the quality of life for those suffering from linked diseases and disorders,” the author further stated.

Prof. Zhenan Bao highlighted the study’s potential, noting that it “has offered a cornerstone for patient-friendly, more realistically useable wearable neural prosthetics, away from the existing form factor” through the development of flexible artificial nerves for patients with injured nerves. This gave rise to hopes that “The underlying technology of the stretchy artificial nerve may be used to numerous medical wearable technologies,” as she put it.

The study team stated a wish to continue the work with therapeutic applications beyond primates and animals such as mice in the future. This suggests that new techniques and therapies for human nerve damage, including as spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve damage, and neurological impairments such as Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease, may be available.

For more than a century, cancer cell metabolism has been regarded as a puzzle. Recent research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that it may not be an anomaly after all. On August 15, the study was published in Molecular Cell.

Glucose, a common sugar present in the diet, is one of the most important nutrients in the body. It is consumed at an alarming rate by cancer cells. At first glance, this seems fair because cancer cells must synthesise a variety of substances.

Because cancer spreads rapidly, each cell must replicate every component within it. But there’s a catch.

Cancer cells do not make good use of glucose. Instead of collecting every ounce of energy possible from glucose, they squander the vast majority of it.

Gary Patti, the Michael and Tana Powell Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences, as well as genetics and medicine at the School of Medicine, noted that for cells to receive the greatest energy from glucose, its transformation products must be moved into mitochondria. Patti, who works at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the School of Medicine, is the present study’s senior author.

The metabolism is anticipated to follow certain biochemical rules. Patti described her fascination with the many causes malignancies may be allowed to ruin people.

But the results we provide here show that cancer cells do adhere to established rules.

The tiniest compartments inside cells known as mitochondria are frequently referred to as the cell’s power plants or powerhouses. They have strict controls over what enters and leaves them.

To provide some context, in the 1920s a renowned biochemist by name of Otto Warburg made the initial discovery of the wastefulness of tumours. He proposed that damaged mitochondria occur in cancer cells as a solution to the puzzle of why more energy isn’t derived from glucose.

We now understand that this is untrue. In fact, most tumours have functional and active mitochondria, according to Patti. But that doesn’t explain why cancer cells metabolise so little of the glucose they eat in mitochondria, which is a bothersome and enduring conundrum.

hat has perplexed researchers, according to Patti, is the idea that cancer cells choose not to metabolise glucose in their mitochondria. The idea has frequently been that cancer cells desire to use glucose wastefully, whether as a result of Warburg’s original thought or perhaps because it occurs so frequently.

There are a variety of justifications for why cancer cells could desire to waste their glucose. Patti and his group assert that these justifications might not be essential. In the end, scientists may be wrong about how odd cancer metabolism is.

Cancer cells actively metabolise glucose in their mitochondria because they genuinely desire to. as long as they can.

Nearly all of the glucose that is restricted from being absorbed by cancer cells ends up in mitochondria, according to Patti. However, as glucose consumption rises, the rate at which molecules produced from glucose are transported into mitochondria can’t keep up.

In other words, glucose is only wasted away by cancer cells because mitochondrial transport is too sluggish.

Imagine a bathtub faucet that is shooting out water at a rate that exceeds the capacity of the drain. The water eventually overflows onto the floor.

This metabolic paradigm is not entirely new. Most cells do favour oxidising glucose in their mitochondria over excreting it as waste, according to Patti. “Our findings imply that cancer cells are a common occurrence. They resemble other cells in that they seem to follow similar biochemical pathways.

The breakthrough revealed by the Patti team was made possible by the potent technique known as metabolomics.

Patti stated that the last ten years have seen “amazing breakthroughs in the field of metabolomics and mass spectrometry.” “We are currently at a stage where it is even possible to measure chemicals in single cells.”

Metabolomics and stable isotope tracers were used in this study. Researchers were able to tag various components of glucose and monitor them inside cells while also measuring the pace at which chemicals entered mitochondria or were expelled from cells. When scientists realised that cancer cells were outpacing or getting saturated with the typical fuel transport routes, they made this finding.

In her maiden address to the country, President Droupadi Murmu praised India’s reaction to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, saying that India’s efforts in combatting the pandemic had been better than those of many industrialised countries.

“The world has witnessed the rise of a new India in recent years, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19.” Our reaction to the epidemic has been widely praised. We started the largest immunisation campaign in human history, using vaccines made in the country. We passed the 200-million-person threshold in cumulative vaccination coverage last month.

Our achievements in battling the epidemic have been superior to those of many wealthy countries. We are grateful to our scientists, physicians, nurses, paramedics, and immunisation workers for this accomplishment “President Murmu stated this in her address to the country. President Droupadi Murmu, who comes from a tribal group, stated on Sunday that the government’s decision last year to mark November 15 as ‘Janajatiya Gaurav Divas’ is welcome because our tribal heroes are more than just local or regional stars; they inspire the entire nation.

“Our heroic Freedom Struggle was fought valiantly across our huge country. Many great freedom warriors fulfilled their job and passed on the torch of waking, leaving little evidence of their valiant efforts.

They have witnessed how, following independence, all generations struggled hard, how we faced huge obstacles, and how we took control of our future. The lessons learned will be valuable as we approach the next milestone in the nation’s journey – the Amrit Kaal, the 25-year countdown to the centennial of our independence “She stated.

According to the President, India is already on track to construct an Atmanirbhar Bharat, and by 2047, India would have fully realised the goals of our independence heroes.

According to the President, “We shall have fully realised the goals of our liberation warriors by 2047.

We shall have given tangible form to the idea of those who created the Constitution, led by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. We are already on track to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat, an India that has reached its full potential.”

According to the President, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India.

According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan release, President Murmu made her inaugural address to the country on the eve of the 76th Independence Day on Sunday.

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Murmu, a tribal from Odisha, took the oath of office as the 15th president on July 25. She is the youngest and first tribal leader to occupy the highest constitutional position. She is the first president to be born after independence.

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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported 14,917 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, with a daily positive rate of 7.52 percent.

With this, India’s total number of cases is currently 4,42,68,381. There are 1,17,508 active cases among them, accounting for 0.27 percent of all cases. The current recovery rate is 98.54 percent. In the previous 24 hours, 14,238 recoveries were recorded, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 4,36,23,804.

According to official figures updated at 8 a.m., the death toll has risen to 5,27,069, with 32 deaths.

A positive rate of 7.52 percent was recorded among the 1,98,271 COVID-19 tests performed in the past 24 hours, with a weekly positivity rate of 4.65 percent.

On the COVID-19 vaccination front, 25,50,276 doses were administered in last 24 hours. Further, over 208.25 crore total vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Bharat Biotech International said on Monday that BBV154 (intranasal vaccination) has been shown in controlled clinical studies to be safe, well-tolerated, and immunogenic in individuals.

BBV154 is a pre-fusion stabilised spike protein recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine. This vaccine candidate has already been studied in phase I and II clinical trials, with positive findings. BBV154 has been particularly designed for intranasal administration. Furthermore, the nasal delivery system was conceived and developed to be affordable in low and middle-income nations.

BBV154 was developed in partnership with Washington University St Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored constructs and evaluated them in preclinical studies for efficacy. Product development related to preclinical safety evaluation, large-scale manufacturing scale-up, formulation, and delivery device development, including human clinical trials, were conducted by Bharat Biotech. The Government of India partly funded product development and clinical trials through the Department of Biotechnology’s, COVID Suraksha program.

Two separate and simultaneous clinical trials were conducted to evaluate BBV154 as a primary dose (2-dose) schedule; and a heterologous booster dose for subjects who have previously received 2 doses of the two commonly administered covid vaccines in India.

Data from both Phase III human clinical trials have been submitted for approval to National Regulatory Authorities.

Primary dose schedule phase III trials were conducted for safety, and immunogenicity in 3100 subjects, and compared with COVAXINO. The trials were conducted in 14 trial sites across India.

Heterologous booster dose studies were conducted for safety and immunogenicity in ~875 subjects, where a booster dose (3rd dose) of BBV154 intranasal vaccine was administered to study participants who were previously vaccinated with licensed COVID vaccines. The trials were conducted in 9 trial sites across India.

Being an intranasal vaccine, BBV154 may produce local antibodies in the upper respiratory tract which may provide the potential to reduce infection and transmission. Further studies are being planned.

At the start of the COVID pandemic, Bharat Biotech commenced work on 4 platform technologies, the Vero cell inactivated platform, and the adenoviral vector platform have been developed.

“On this 75th Independence Day, we are proud to announce the successful completion of clinical trials for the BBV154 intranasal vaccine. We stay committed and focused on innovation and product development; this is yet another achievement for the multidisciplinary teams at Bharat Biotech. If approved, this intranasal vaccine will make it easier to deploy in mass immunization campaigns with an easy-to-administer formulation and delivery device,” said Suchitra K. Ella, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech.

“Vectored vaccines also enable faster development of targeted vaccines in response to emerging variants of concern. We hereby thank the volunteers, principal investigators, and clinical trial personnel for all their efforts,” Ella said.

BBV154 has the double benefit of enabling faster development of variant-specific vaccines and easy nasal delivery that helps mass immunization protect from emerging concern variants. It promises to become an important tool in mass vaccinations during pandemics and endemics.

BBV154 is stable at 2-8°C, making it ideal for storage and delivery. Bharat Biotech has created major manufacturing capacities in numerous locations across India, including Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana, with activities throughout the country.