COOPERATION VS COMPETITIOJN

A win-win for cell communities: Cells that cooperate live longer

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHARITÉ - UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN BERLIN

 

IMAGE: SELF-ESTABLISHING METABOLICALLY COOPERATING COMMUNITIES (SEMECOS) PROVIDE A CELL MODEL THAT ENABLES RESEARCHERS TO STUDY THE EXCHANGE OF METABOLITES BETWEEN YEAST CELLS. A TEAM AT CHARITÉ HAS NOW SHOWN THAT SUCH METABOLIC EXCHANGE EXTENDS THE LIFESPAN OF YEAST CELLS. view more 

CREDIT: © KATE CAMPBELL, MARKUS RALSER. CC-BY, HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.7554/ELIFE.09943.002

Metabolism is inextricably linked to aging: While it helps maintain vital processes, makes us grow, and triggers cellular repairs, it also produces substances that damage our cells and cause us to age. “The metabolic processes that occur within cells are highly complex,” says Prof. Markus Ralser, Director of Charité’s Department of Biochemistry and Einstein Professor of Biochemistry on Charité’s medical faculty. “The exchange of substances between cells in a community is one important factor, because it has a substantial impact on the metabolism occurring inside a cell.” Cells are in constant contact with neighboring cells – within tissues, for instance. They release some substances and consume others from their surrounding environment. In a recent study, the team led by Prof. Ralser, a renowned expert in metabolism, investigated whether the exchange of metabolic products (known as metabolites) affects the lifespan of cells.

The researchers used yeast cells and performed experiments to establish their lifespan. Yeast cells are a key model in basic research, a dominant microorganism in biotechnology, and important in medicine because they can cause fungal infections. “We showed that the cells lived around 25 percent longer when they exchanged more metabolites with each other,” says lead author Dr. Clara Correia-Melo, who also works in the Department of Biochemistry at Charité. “So then we obviously wanted to identify the substances and exchange processes that are behind this life-prolonging effect.” To do so, the researchers employed a special analytical system supported by mass spectrometry that allowed them to precisely track the exchange of metabolites between cells. They found that young cells, which were still able to divide well and often, released amino acids that were consumed by older cells.

Amino acids are the building blocks that make up proteins. The research team discovered that the exchange of the amino acid methionine extended the lives of the cells involved. Methionine occurs in all organisms and plays a key role in protein synthesis, as well as many other cellular processes. “Interestingly, it was the young cells’ metabolism that prolonged the lives of the old cells,” says Prof. Ralser. The cells which within the community consumed methionine, released glycerol. In turn, the presence of glycerol affected methionine producing cells, causing them to  live longer. Glycerol is needed for building cell membranes and plays a part in protecting cells. “It’s a win-win situation,” explains Dr. Correia-Melo. “As cells engage in this collaborative exchange, they prolong the lifespan of their community as a whole.”

This study of yeast cell communities is the first to show that metabolite exchange directly impacts the lifespan and aging process of the cells. The researchers suspect this also applies to other types of cells, such as those in the human body, and are aiming to investigate this in further studies. “A better understanding of the complex metabolic pathways both within and between cells will help with investigations into how age-related diseases like diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative conditions develop,” says Prof. Ralser. “Metabolite exchange between cells has been overlooked in the past, but it’s clearly a very important factor in the cellular aging process. We hope our study will help make the exchange of metabolic products between cells an area of greater focus in future research.” For his part, Prof. Ralser is now planning to investigate the precise mechanisms that allow glycerol to protect cells and extend their lives.

*Correia-Melo C et al. Cell-cell metabolite exchange creates a pro-survival metabolic environment that extends lifespan. Cell 2023 Jan 05. doi: 10.1016/j.cell/2022.12.007

About the study
Prof. Ralser and Dr. Correia-Melo began the experiments for this study six years ago at the University of Cambridge, continued them at the Francis Crick Institute in London, and completed them at the Department of Biochemistry at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The work was conducted in close collaboration with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, by an ERC Synergy Grant from the European Commission, by the EU’s CoBioTech project SyCoLim, and through the National Research Node for Mass Spectrometry in Systems Medicine (MSCoreSys) – a funding line of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

---

JOURNAL

Cell

DOI

10.1016/j.cell/2022.12.007 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Cell-cell metabolite exchange creates a pro-survival metabolic environment that extends lifespan

Around 50% of soil-available phosphorus comes from mineral fertilisers in agricultural systems worldwide

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INRAE - NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT

 

IMAGE: CROP FIELD IN PICARDIE (FRANCE) view more 

CREDIT: INRAE - JEAN WEBER

Plants need phosphorus to grow. Farmers’ use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers has greatly increased soil phosphorus fertility and, consequently, crop yields. However, these fertilisers are made from rock phosphate, a non-renewable resource that is patchily distributed across the Earth. Researchers at INRAE and Bordeaux Sciences Agro have modelled, for each country, the fraction of soil-available phosphorus that is derived from the use of mineral phosphorus fertilizer. They also examined changes in these figures over time, starting in the mid 20th century. Published in Nature Geoscience, their results show that in 2017, around 50% of the world soil-available phosphorus in agricultural systems comes from the use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers. This global data however hides dramatic differences among regions. While Western Europe, North America, and Asia are all situated above 60%, South America and Africa are around 40% and 30%, respectively. This finding underscores that agricultural systems are extremely dependent on mineral phosphorus fertilisers. The study highlights the importance of accelerating the agroecological transition in the Global North, whose countries must preserve their acquired soil fertility and improve the flow of agricultural and urban effluents to the soil. Remaining phosphate rock resources should be given to the Global South, especially to African countries, whose soils remain phosphorus deficient, a reality that limits agricultural production.

Phosphorus occurs naturally in soils, but its levels and relative availability vary by global region and soil type. Since the 1950s, the use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers has boosted soil-available phosphorus and, thus, agricultural yields. However, these fertilisers are created via the mining and chemical processing of rock phosphate, a non-renewable natural resource that is unevenly distributed across the globe. For example, 70% of rock phosphate is in Morocco, while there is almost none to be found in Europe. Furthermore, the transformation of rock phosphate releases large amounts of pollution. Researchers agree that, at current rates of extraction, we will likely reach peak phosphorus (the point of maximum resource production) by 2050. Such will probably lead to an increase in fertiliser prices and greater geopolitical tensions. Against this backdrop, it is essential to clarify how past and present patterns of mineral phosphorus fertiliser usage have affected the dependence of current agricultural systems on this finite resource.

Scientists from INRAE and Bordeaux Sciences Agro therefore decided to quantify the percentage of soil-available phosphorus that originates from mineral fertilisers, defined as the soil’s anthropogenic signature of phosphorus. They developed a model to simulate country-specific patterns of soil-available phosphorus in agricultural systems worldwide for the period from 1950 to 2017. This approach utilised data on stocks of soil-available phosphorus, crop yields, mineral fertiliser use, livestock numbers, and international trade. The calculations were based on a country’s average agricultural soil, which was defined by each country’s use of grasslands and crops within agricultural systems with varying levels of intensification.

Soil fertility is highly dependent on synthetic mineral fertilisers

Globally, the anthropogenic signature of phosphorus is around 47% (±8%), which suggests that, at present, approximately half of soil phosphorus fertility is attributable to the use of mineral fertilisers. This result reflects the intensification of agricultural systems that has taken place worldwide. Indeed, many countries have relied heavily on synthetic fertilisers since the 1950s.

This work highlights the strong spatial and temporal disparities in how dependent different countries are on mineral phosphorus fertilisers. Anthropogenic signatures of phosphorus have risen sharply in Western Europe and North America since the 1950s, and they exceeded 60% in 2017. Since the 1970s, signatures in Western European countries have plateaued, thanks to the decreased use of mineral fertilisers. Livestock manure has helped partially meet phosphorus needs. In Asia, signatures began increasing in the 1970s, which is when countries in that region experienced the Green Revolution, fuelled by massive quantities of mineral fertilisers. The signatures of Asian countries have now caught up and surpassed those of Western European countries. This growth continues, driven by a weighty perpetual reliance on mineral phosphorus fertilisers. In 2017, signatures in South America and Eastern Europe were lower, around 40%. Finally, countries in Africa and Oceania had signatures below 30%, reflecting their more limited use of mineral fertilisers historically.

Towards a more equitable and sustainable management of global rock phosphate resources

This work highlights that many countries in the world are extremely reliant on mineral phosphorus fertilisers to ensure levels of agricultural productivity. The results raise concerns that agricultural systems may struggle to end their dependence on this non-renewable resource. They also underscore deep inequities in the current distribution of rock phosphate. Countries that adopted intensive agricultural systems very early on, such as those in Western Europe and North America, greatly increased their levels of soil-available phosphorus via the wholesale use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers. These countries must now maintain and enhance this acquired fertility using various strategies, including improved resource recycling. They must also speed up their agroecological transition by implementing a range of mixed crop-livestock farming systems, reducing soil erosion, and utilising urban effluent. In contrast, African countries have historically had little access to mineral phosphorus fertilisers even though their soils are often highly deficient in phosphorus, which limits food and agricultural production. Remaining rock phosphate resources must be fairly distributed, prioritising countries with the greatest need so as to promote global food security.

Alternatives to mineral phosphorus fertilisers

Mineral phosphorus fertilisers have boosted agricultural yields and promoted food security in numerous countries. Unfortunately, they are derived from non-renewable supplies of rock phosphate. In addition, rock phosphate mining and processing causes environmental harm. Certain countries, such as France, have accumulated large quantities of soil-available phosphorus. They must now strive to greatly temper their use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers. The reality is that yields will not necessarily suffer from the absence of fertilisers because crops can draw upon stocks of soil-available phosphorus, depending on soil type. Notably, within crop rotations, species such as white lupin or buckwheat can release phosphorus that is chemically bound to the soil, increasing its availability for other crops. Furthermore, these countries must urgently work to preserve the soil phosphorus fertility they have acquired. Notably, they can limit soil erosion, by using cover crops or reincorporating hedgerows into agricultural landscapes, and improve the recycling of organic matter, including livestock effluent and sludge from sewage treatment plants.

JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience

DOI

10.1038/s41561-022-01092-0 

ARTICLE TITLE

Half of global agricultural soil phosphorus fertility derived from anthropogenic sources

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jan-2023

Electricity harvesting from evaporation, raindrops and moisture inspired by nature

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

 

IMAGE: HYDRO DAMS AND TIDAL BARRAGES ARE NOT THE ONLY WAY TO HARVEST CLEAN ELECTRICITY FROM WATER. view more 

CREDIT: NANO RESEARCH ENERGY, TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Raindrops, evaporating water, and even moisture in the air are all potentially sources of decentralized clean electricity generation, but many of the technologies that take advantage of this ambient and vast source of energy—many of which are inspired by the electricity harvesting techniques of plants and animals—remain at the lab-bench stage. A group of researchers and engineers have put together a survey of the opportunities and challenges this very young field face.

Enormous hydroelectric dams are perhaps the first thing one thinks of when considering sustainable electricity generation, or possibly large tidal barrages. If one is very familiar with the state of play in clean energy development, one might also be aware of wave-energy converters on the sea surface or seabed that convert the energy from high-intensity waves into usable electricity.

All of these options depend upon heavy, bulky and above all centralized forms of harvesting of the energy contained in water. Yet there are a myriad of other potential technology pathways that can harvest electricity from water in much more decentralized fashion, taking advantage of water’s ubiquitous presence almost everywhere on the Earth. These would produce usable electricity from processes of evaporation, condensation, rainfall, moisture, and even minute flows of water at the scale of a droplet falling off a leaf, and the very tiniest of waves.

Proposed technologies along these lines take advantage of various physical phenomena, including the piezoelectric effect (whereby electric charge accumulates in response to the application of stress or pressure), triboelectricity (in which certain materials become electrically charged after they are separated from a different material with which they had been in contact), thermoelectricity (the conversion of heat to electricity and vice versa), and the hydrovoltaic effect (in which electricity is generated via interaction between water and nanomaterials).

“Water is everywhere. It is ambiently available like no other entity. So all this clean energy is just sitting there, unused and waiting for us to take advantage of it,” said Zuankai Wang, paper author of the review and researcher with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. “It makes sense for us to tap into this vast reservoir of energy not just for bulk electricity production, but for a range of applications such as sensors and wearable devices where a micro-scale of energy harvesting is much more appropriate to the use it is being put to.”

Much of the work in the development of such distributed water-energy technologies remains very much in its infancy however. Many of these lab-bench concepts for distributed water-energy harvesting techniques suffer from poor durability, poor scalability and, worst of all, low energy conversion. This latter problem means that for all the effort put into harvesting energy out of such processes, not much is squeezed out.

The development of generators that are driven by water vapor in the air for example uses materials that so far exhibit poor capacity for water adsorption (adhesion to the surface), resulting in incomplete interaction between the water and the material, producing low electrical output, and declining even more in the face of harsh environments.

“And yet the rest of nature has figured out thousands of different ways to do exactly this,” added Wang. “Evolution has basically perfected the process of extracting energy from ambient hydrologic processes in ways that are extremely efficient.”

The lotus leaf for example at the micro and nano scale enjoys an extreme hydrophobic structure that allows droplets of water to roll across its surface with extremely low resistance—essentially on a cushion of air.  This phenomenon has inspired engineers to study textured superhydrophobic surfaces. The asymmetric 3D ratchets of the Araucaria leaf causes liquids with varying surface tensions to flow in different directions. And the ability of nepenthes, the group of carnivorous plants also known as pitcher plants, to direct liquid through its surface structure, inspired the authors of the review paper to develop a ‘slippery liquid-infused porous surface’ (SLIPS) system that can repel liquid extremely efficiently. A water-energy generator with durable SLIPS allows for constant electrical output from droplets in harsh environments with high humidity, high concentrations of salt, and even ultralow temperature.

And it’s not just plants. As water-driven electricity generators are well suited for harvesting energy from human motion due to their deformability and compact size, another group of researchers inspired by electric eel membranes developed artificial electric organs making use of hydrogel arrays (highly absorbent polymers that do not dissolve in water) that work as analogues of the eel membrane components.

 Despite the explosion in development of such bio-inspired engineering, or ‘bionics’, for water-energy harvesting, the current generation of water-driven electricity generators remains largely ad hoc. The researchers felt that a comprehensive review of the field was urgently needed to place it on a firmer theoretical foundation and identify research gaps in order to better guide design of systems and development of novel materials.

The review covers the main mechanisms of electricity production for bio-inspired water-driven generators. It also offers a tour d’horizon of the various bio-inspired devices that have been developed, specifically evaporation, moisture, rainwater, and wave and flow-driven generators, covering three use cases: sensors, wearable electricity generators, and self-powered electronics.

The researchers concluded that the underlying structures of water-driven electricity generation remains undertheorized, in particular that of charge transport and transfer, as well as of energy conversion. Most notably, there is no general theory of charge transfer at the interface of solid materials and water, and proposed mechanisms for this remain hotly debated.

In addition, liquid residues on solid surfaces can significantly reduce electrical output, and so how to avoid or reduce such residues is one of the most vital avenues of research for the field. Most efforts have focussed on textural microstructures in materials that produces a super-hydrophobic surface in order to achieve an incomplete contact between liquid and solid. While this produces the desired water residue reduction, it also inevitably limits the solid-liquid contact area, reducing charge induction and thus lowering electrical output, producing the same result as a residue.

In other areas, improving the ability to absorb water from the environment will be key to improving electricity generation. The researchers recommended that a greater focus be applied to the study of organisms that have evolved over a long period of time in extremely arid areas, such as deserts.

Finally, the authors noted that much of the design of bio-inspired water-driven electricity generators remains at the lab-bench stage, with such devices confronting only a fairly mild experimental setting rather than the rough and tumble of real-world conditions.

The life-span of these technologies even in the laboratory only survive a few days or at most a few months. This compares poorly to roughly 25-year life-span of a solar panel or the half-century or longer of a nuclear plant or hydro dam. There may be use cases, perhaps in medical applications, where a short lifespan poses few problems or is even desirable, but for wider adoption of the technology, such unsatisfactory lifespans will need to be overcome.

About Nano Research Energy 

Nano Research Energy is launched by Tsinghua University Press, aiming at being an international, open-access and interdisciplinary journal. We will publish research on cutting-edge advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnology for energy. It is dedicated to exploring various aspects of energy-related research that utilizes nanomaterials and nanotechnology, including but not limited to energy generation, conversion, storage, conservation, clean energy, etc. Nano Research Energy will publish four types of manuscripts, that is, Communications, Research Articles, Reviews, and Perspectives in an open-access form.

About SciOpen 

SciOpen is a professional open access resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the Tsinghua University Press and its publishing partners, providing the scholarly publishing community with innovative technology and market-leading capabilities. SciOpen provides end-to-end services across manuscript submission, peer review, content hosting, analytics, and identity management and expert advice to ensure each journal’s development by offering a range of options across all functions as Journal Layout, Production Services, Editorial Services, Marketing and Promotions, Online Functionality, etc. By digitalizing the publishing process, SciOpen widens the reach, deepens the impact, and accelerates the exchange of ideas.

---

JOURNAL

Nano Research Energy

DOI

10.26599/NRE.2022.9120042 

ARTICLE TITLE

Bio-inspired water-driven electricity generators: From fundamental mechanisms to practical applications

FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE

Mental health service use among commercially insured adults during pandemic

JAMA Health Forum

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA NETWORK

About The Study: Researchers found in this study of 5.1 million commercially insured adults across all 50 U.S. states that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a rapid increase in telehealth services for mental health conditions, offsetting a sharp decline in in-person care and generating overall higher service utilization rates for several mental health conditions compared with pre-pandemic levels. 

Authors: Christopher M. Whaley, Ph.D., of the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, is the corresponding author.

 This link will be live at the embargo time https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.4936?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=010623

About JAMA Health Forum: JAMA Health Forum is an international, peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that addresses health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health and health care. The journal publishes original research, evidence-based reports and opinion about national and global health policy; innovative approaches to health care delivery; and health care economics, access, quality, safety, equity and reform. Its distribution will be solely digital and all content will be freely available for anyone to read.

---

JOURNAL

JAMA Health Forum

Blood pressure control among Black and white adults following quality improvement program

JAMA Network Open

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA NETWORK

About The Study: Disparities in blood pressure (BP) control between Black and white patients were decreased but not eliminated following implementation of quality improvement strategies aimed at reducing disparities in BP control. These results suggest that more focused interventions may be needed to increase BP control among Black individuals. 

Authors: Kristi Reynolds, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena, is the corresponding author. 

This link will be live at the embargo time http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.49930?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=010623

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

---

JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

Use of cannabis, other pain treatments among adults with chronic pain in states with medical cannabis programs

JAMA Network Open

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA NETWORK

About The Study: In this survey study of 1,661 adults with chronic pain in states with medical cannabis laws, 3 in 10 persons reported using cannabis to manage their pain. Most persons who used cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain reported substituting cannabis in place of other pain medications including prescription opioids. The high degree of substitution of cannabis with both opioid and nonopioid treatment emphasizes the importance of research to clarify the effectiveness and potential adverse consequences of cannabis for chronic pain.  

Authors: Mark C. Bicket, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is the corresponding author.  

This link will be live at the embargo time http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.49797?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=010623

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

---

JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

Study reveals average age at conception for men versus women over past 250,000 years

Evolutionary biologists at IU found that fathers are consistently older than mothers throughout human evolutionary history, but that age gap has shrunk

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: GRAPHS SHOWING THE AVERAGE AGE AT CONCEPTION FOR MEN VERSUS WOMEN OVER THE PAST 250,000 YEARS. view more 

CREDIT: HAHN, WANG, ET. AL., INDIANA UNIVERSITY

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The length of a specific generation can tell us a lot about the biology and social organization of humans. Now, researchers at Indiana University can determine the average age that women and men had children throughout human evolutionary history with a new method they developed using DNA mutations.

The researchers said this work can help us understand the environmental challenges experienced by our ancestors and may also help us in predicting the effects of future environmental change on human societies.

“Through our research on modern humans, we noticed that we could predict the age at which people had children from the types of DNA mutations they left to their children,” said study co-author Matthew Hahn, Distinguished Professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences and of computer science in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at IU Bloomington. “We then applied this model to our human ancestors to determine what age our ancestors procreated.”

According to the study, published today in Science Advances and co-authored by IU post-doctoral researcher Richard Wang, the average age that humans had children throughout the past 250,000 years is 26.9. Furthermore, fathers were consistently older, at 30.7 years on average, than mothers, at 23.2 years on average, but the age gap has shrunk in the past 5,000 years, with the study’s most recent estimates of maternal age averaging 26.4 years. The shrinking gap seems to largely be due to mothers having children at older ages.

Other than the recent uptick in maternal age at childbirth, the researchers found that parental age has not increased steadily from the past and may have dipped around 10,000 years ago because of population growth coinciding with the rise of civilization.

“These mutations from the past accumulate with every generation and exist in humans today,” Wang said. “We can now identify these mutations, see how they differ between male and female parents, and how they change as a function of parental age."

Children’s DNA inherited from their parents contains roughly 25 to 75 new mutations, which allows scientists to compare the parents and offspring, and then to classify the kind of mutation that occurred. When looking at mutations in thousands of children, IU researchers noticed a pattern: The kinds of mutations that children get depend on the ages of the mother and the father.

Previous genetic approaches to determining historical generation times relied on the compounding effects of either recombination or mutation of modern human DNA sequence divergence from ancient samples. But the results were averaged across both males and females and across the past 40,000 to 45,000 years.

Hahn, Wang and their co-authors built a model that uses de novo mutations — a genetic alteration that is present for the first time in one family member as a result of a variant or mutation in a germ cell of one of the parents or that arises in the fertilized egg during early embryogenesis — to separately estimate the male and female generation times at many different points throughout the past 250,000 years.

The researchers were not originally seeking to understand the relationship of gender and age at conception over time; they were conducting a broader investigation about the number of mutations passed from parents to children. They only noticed the age-based mutation patterns while seeking to understand differences and similarities between these pattens in humans versus other mammals, such as cats, bears and macaques.

“The story of human history is pieced together from a diverse set of sources: written records, archaeological findings, fossils, etc.,” Wang said. “Our genomes, the DNA found in every one of our cells, offer a kind of manuscript of human evolutionary history. The findings from our genetic analysis confirm some things we knew from other sources (such as the recent rise in parental age), but also offer a richer understanding of the demography of ancient humans. These findings contribute to a better understanding of our shared history.”

Additional contributors to this research were Samer I. Al-Saffar, a graduate student at IU at the time of the study, and Jeffrey Rogers of the Baylor College of Medicine.

---

JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abm7047 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Human generation times across the past 250,000 years

New USC study challenges previous ideas regarding Alzheimer’s disease

Increase in amyloid beta protein in the brain, often thought to be directly involved in Alzheimer’s pathology, may instead be a general change that occurs with age even in healthy brains, says senior author Caleb Finch

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

A new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology study challenges existing ideas of how buildup of a protein called amyloid beta (Aβ) in the brain is related to Alzheimer’s disease.

While buildup of amyloid protein has been associated with Alzheimer’s-related neurodegeneration, little is known about how the protein relates to normal brain aging, said University Professor Caleb Finch, the study’s senior author and holder of the ARCO/William F. Kieschnick Chair in the Neurobiology of Aging at the USC Leonard Davis School.

To explore the levels of Aβ in human brains, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from both healthy brains and brains of patients with dementia. More severe Alzheimer’s cases were indicated by higher Braak staging scores, a measurement of how widely signs of Alzheimer’s pathology are found within the brain.

The analysis revealed that older, cognitively healthy brains showed similar amounts of dissolvable, non-fibrillar amyloid protein as brains of Alzheimer’s patients. But, as the researchers expected, the brains of Alzheimer’s patients had higher amounts of insoluble Aβ fibrils, the form of amyloid protein that aggregates to form the telltale “plaques” seen in the disease, said Max Thorwald, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher at the USC Leonard Davis School.

The findings challenge the idea that simply having higher amounts of amyloid protein in general is an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s, say Finch and Thorwald. Instead, the increase in soluble Aβ may be a general aging-related change in the brain not specific to Alzheimer’s, while higher levels of fibrillary amyloid appear to be a better indicator of poorer brain health.

Rather than Alzheimer’s simply involving increased production of Aβ protein, the more important issue may be a reduced ability to effectively clear the protein and stave off the creation of plaque-contributing fibrillary amyloid, Thorwald said.

“These findings further support the use of aggregated, or fibrillary, amyloid as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s treatments,” Thorwald said. “The site in which amyloid processing occurs has less precursor and enzyme available for processing, which may suggest the removal of amyloid as a key issue during Alzheimer’s.”

Increases in amyloid levels happen during early adulthood and differ by brain region. Further studies, including those investigating drugs to possibly break down amyloid, should incorporate positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in both healthy individuals and Alzheimer’s patients of a wide range of ages to determine how and where amyloid processing and removal changes in the brain over time, he added.

“The brain’s frontal cortex has more amyloid production compared to the cerebellum during the aging process in human brains, which coincides with their Alzheimer’s-correlated pathologies in late life,” Thorwald said. “Future projects should examine amyloid over the life course in both cognitively normal and Alzheimer’s patients with both modulation of amyloid processing or removal of amyloid through monoclonal antibodies currently used in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatment.”

Monoclonal antibody treatment lemanecab has been observed to reduce Aβ plaques in clinical trials and recently received FDA approval for its potential to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, but the results warrant further careful research regarding long-term impact, Finch said.

"Lecanemab clearly works to diminish fibrillar amyloid," he said. "However, we are concerned with major side effects, including brain swelling and bleeding, that were 100% more than in controls, with unknown delayed or latent impact."

Learning more about how the brain processes and removes proteins such as Aβ could provide important insights into Alzheimer’s disease and its causes. Finch noted that very few cases of dementia occur with amyloid plaques, or masses of aggregated Aβ protein, as the only pathology present in affected patients’ brains. Instead, most cases present with more complicated tissue abnormalities, from buildup of additional types of protein to small bleeds in the brain: “The aging brain is a jungle.”

—

The study, “Amyloid futures in the expanding pathology of brain aging and dementia,” appeared online on December 19, 2022 in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Along with Finch and Thorwald, coauthors include Justine Silva and Elizabeth Head of the University of California, Irvine.

Thorwald was supported by National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant T32-AG000037, and Silva and Head were supported by NIA grant P30AG066519. Lab studies were supported by National Institutes of Health grants to Finch (R01-AG051521, P50-AG05142, and P01-AG055367). Brain specimens were obtained from Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Tissue Cores at USC (P50-AG005142 and AG066530), UC Irvine (P30-AG066519), and University of Washington (P30-AG066509 and U01- AG006781).

---

JOURNAL

Alzheimer s & Dementia

DOI

10.1002/alz.12896 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Human tissue samples

ARTICLE TITLE

Amyloid futures in the expanding pathology of brain aging and dementia

Integrating research infrastructures into infectious diseases surveillance operations: Focus on biobanks

Peer-Reviewed Publication

COMPUSCRIPT LTD

Focus on biobanks

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsheal.2022.10.001

 

Technological advances in the first two decades of the 21st century have profoundly impacted medical research in many ways, with large population cohorts, biological sample collections and datasets through biobanks becoming valued global resources to guide biomedical research, drug development, and medical practice. However, for biobanks to maximize their impact and scientific reach of their resources, they need to act within a complex network of infrastructures and activities. Therefore, different ways have emerged in which biobanks, including those for infectious diseases, can emerge as (part of) infrastructures, integrate within existing ones, or become an independent, yet an interoperable component of the existing infrastructural landscape. However, there has been a limited understanding and study of such mechanisms to date. This article aims to address this knowledge gap and illustrates these three high-level ways in which such infrastructures could integrate their activities and identifies the necessary key pre-conditions for doing so, while drawing from specific examples.

 

Keywords: Biobanking, Research infrastructures, Infectious diseases, Surveillance, Integration

 

 

# # # # # #

 

Biosafety and Health is sponsored by the Chinese Medical Association, managed by National Institute for Viral

Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).

For more information, please visit https://www.journals.elsevier.com/biosafety-and-health

Editorial Board: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biosafety-and-health/about/editorial-board

Biosafety and Health is available on ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biosafety-and-health).

Submissions to Biosafety and Health may be made using Editorial Manager®

(https://www.editorialmanager.com/bsheal/default.aspx).

CiteScore: 4.8

ISSN 2590-0536

 

# # # # # #

 

Article reference: Plebeian B. Medina, Jennifer Kealy, Zisis Kozlakidis, Integrating research infrastructures into infectious diseases surveillance operations: Focus on biobanks, Biosafety and Health, Volume 4, Issue 6, 2022,

Pages 410-413, ISSN 2590-0536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsheal.2022.10.001

---

DOI

10.1016/j.bsheal.2022.10.001 

Texas A&M research aims to improve Lyme disease diagnostics

Scientists are testing Raman spectroscopy, a technique used to detect vibrations at the molecular level, as a diagnostic tool for Lyme disease.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Research by two Texas A&M University scientists is focused on improving Lyme disease treatment outcomes by developing a test that’s both more accurate and more efficient than the current test for the infection. 

Lyme disease, the fastest growing vector-borne illness in the U.S., according to the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, is challenging to diagnose and can only be treated in the early stages of infection. Once the infection spreads to the nervous and muscular systems, it is both harder to detect and less susceptible to antibiotics. 

Dr. Artem Rogovskyy, an associate professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS), and Dr. Dmitry Kurouski, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, are testing Raman spectroscopy, a technique used to detect vibrations at the molecular level, as a diagnostic tool for Lyme disease. 

The results of Rogovskyy and Kurouski’s second paper on Raman spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for Lyme disease demonstrate that blood samples from mice and humans infected with the Lyme pathogen were more accurately identified with the Raman spectroscopy test than with the two-tiered serology, the only diagnostic method currently approved to diagnose Lyme disease in humans in the United States.

“We're trying to develop a better test that would be simple, inexpensive and accurate,” Rogovskyy said. “By accurate, I mean highly sensitive and highly specific at the same time.”

The increased accuracy of Raman spectroscopy testing could improve Lyme disease diagnostic practices for both humans and animals believed to have been in contact with the disease. 

For animals, the new test would require a smaller sample that could easily be taken in the field away from a veterinary clinic or hospital, thus improving mobile veterinary practices. 

For humans, Raman spectroscopy testing could significantly decrease the amount of time needed to complete testing, increase the accuracy of the diagnosis, lower the cost of diagnosing the disease, and improve overall health outcomes by definitively diagnosing the disease earlier. 

Rogovskyy said the team is in the process of validating the test through additional studies, and if the test is validated, it could become an important tool for diagnosing Lyme disease worldwide, especially in more remote areas outside the U.S. where the disease is prevalent, by enabling testing outside of traditional medical and hospital settings.

The researchers’ collaborative efforts have received funding from the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a nonprofit that collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. They also received human blood samples from the Lyme Disease Biobank, a clinical specimen repository.  

Rogovskyy and Kurouski’s first paper published on Raman spectroscopy is the first proof-of-concept study to have explored Raman spectroscopy to diagnose mice infected with the Lyme pathogen. Their second paper included data on testing Raman spectroscopy on samples from mice infected with European Lyme pathogens, and also involved numerous human blood samples supplied by the Lyme Disease Biobank. 

Rogovskyy anticipates the team may be able to publish more findings in about two years from the next phase of their research that entails testing human samples in a blind manner.

---

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

DOI

10.3389/fcimb.2022.1006134 

ARTICLE TITLE

Testing Raman spectroscopy as a diagnostic approach for Lyme disease patients