Yue et al. find the subtype-specific regulation of Nmnat2 transcription by Raf-MEK-ERK in DRG neurons, while cortical and spinal neurons use a MEK-independent mechanism. This context-dependent axon survival paradigm helps explain differential MEKi vulnerability of PNS and CNS neurons, indicating Nmnat2 as a potential target to counteract MEKi-induced neuropathy.
But the molecular factors responsible for the onset of Barrett’s esophagus remain poorly understood.
The findings, published in Nature Communications, combined family studies, laboratory experiments and genetically engineered mouse models to identify and understand how genetic defects contribute to disease development.
The team sequenced and analyzed genetic material of 684 people from 302 families where multiple members developed Barrett’s esophagus or esophageal cancer. They discovered that a subset of affected family members carry inherited mutations in a gene called VSIG10L.
“We found that this gene acts like a quality control system for the esophageal lining,” said the lead researcher. “When it’s defective, the cells do not mature properly and the protective barrier in the esophageal lining becomes weak, allowing stomach bile acid to cause tissue changes that enhances the risk of developing Barrett’s esophagus.”
When researchers genetically engineered mice with human-equivalent VSIG10L mutations, they found that the esophageal lining became disrupted structurally and molecularly, according to the author. The study found that when the mice were exposed to bile acid, they developed Barrett’s-like disease over time, effectively replicating the disease’s progression in humans.
These genetically engineered mice also represent the first animal model for Barrett’s esophagus based directly on human genetic predisposition to the disease, the author said.
With VSIG10L shown to be a key gene in maintaining esophageal health, family members can now be screened for genetic variants to identify those at a high-risk of developing Barrett’s esophagus or esophageal cancer. ScienceMission sciencenewshighlights.
LEDs no wider than a human hair could soon take on work traditionally handled by lasers, from moving data inside server racks to powering next-generation displays. New research co-authored by UC Santa Barbara doctoral student Roark Chao points to a practical path forward. The study is published in the journal Optics Express.
“We’re talking about devices that are literally the size of a hair follicle,” said Chao, who studies electrical engineering. “If you can engineer how the light comes out, those microLEDs can start to replace lasers in short-distance data communication.”
The work builds on UCSB’s longstanding strengths in gallium nitride research and optoelectronics. Chao is co-advised by Steven P. DenBaars and Jon A. Schuller, both co-authors on the study, which also includes Nobel laureate Shuji Nakamura, whose pioneering work on blue LEDs transformed global lighting and display technologies. The research was conducted in the laboratories of the DenBaars/Nakamura and Schuller groups, where teams focus on gallium nitride materials growth and nanoscale photonics.
A research team at King’s College London has isolated a new form of aluminum—a highly abundant metal, that could provide a far cheaper and more sustainable alternative to commonly used rare earth metals. Dr. Clare Bakewell, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, and her lab developed highly reactive aluminum molecules able to break apart tough chemical bonds. Published in Nature Communications, their work has also unlocked molecular structures that have never been observed before, which creates the potential for new kinds of reactive behavior.
The team reported the first example of a cyclotrialumane, a compound comprising three aluminum atoms arranged in a trimeric—triangular—structure. The trimeric molecule carries unprecedented reactivity as the structure is retained when dissolved into different solutions, making it robust enough for use in a range of chemical reactions. These include splitting dihydrogen and the stepwise insertion and chain growth of the 2-carbon hydrocarbon, ethene.
Metals are vital for making a whole range of commodity and fine chemicals produced in industry. However, many processes, especially catalytic ones, use expensive precious materials like platinum, which are environmentally damaging to extract.
Plant owners with a so-called green thumb often seem to have a more finely tuned sense of what their plants need than the rest of us. A new “smart lighting” system for indoor vertical farms grants this ability on a facility-wide scale, responsively meeting plants’ needs while reducing energy inefficiencies, clearing a path for indoor farms as an energy-efficient food security strategy.
The system was designed and tested in a study led by Professor of Plant Biology Tracy Lawson, who conducted the research at the University of Essex and is now a member of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The work, published in Smart Agricultural Technology, emerged from her goal to help establish the viability of vertical farming for large-scale food production.
“One of the key aspects of [vertical farming], of course, is the energy cost associated with using LED lighting,” Lawson said. “So that’s where it all started, trying to save energy.”
Scientists have observed a new microscopic mechanism enabling precise control of the magneto-optical properties of excitons in alloys of two-dimensional semiconductors. This discovery opens up tangible prospects for technological applications in devices exploiting valleytronics. The research findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The team includes researchers from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, in collaboration with teams from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Central Florida, Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, National University of Singapore, CNR-IFN, as well as research centers in the Czech Republic (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague) and Japan (National Institute for Materials Science).
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny biological bubbles that carry nucleic acids and proteins between cells, playing an essential role in tissue repair, neuroprotection and immune health. By isolating the surface proteins of these bubbles, researchers can understand more about their biology and build tools to transform extracellular vesicles into next-generation drugs for cancer, neurological conditions and other diseases.
UC Davis biomedical engineers are using EVs to crack the code of the body’s message system. Their findings are detailed in a paper published in ACS Nano.
“EV-mediated intercellular communication is a very powerful system that controls many physiological and pathophysiological phenomena,” said Aijun Wang, a corresponding author of the new study. Wang is Chancellor’s Fellow and professor of biomedical engineering and surgery. “We know that EVs are therapeutically useful. But how do we define what dictates their functions?”
New observations of Ganymede reveal a striking similarity between the auroras on the largest moon in the solar system and those on Earth. The international team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from the University of Liège, has produced new results indicating that, despite different conditions, the fundamental physical processes that generate auroras are common to different celestial bodies, and not just planets.
A team of astrophysicists from the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Planetary Physics (LPAP) has observed for the first time the fine details of the auroras on Ganymede, the only moon in the solar system to have its own intrinsic magnetic field, similar to that of Earth. The observation of auroras is a cornerstone of space weather analysis, as it provides a comprehensive view of the characteristics and effects of space particle precipitation into atmospheres.
For centuries, humanity has witnessed a diffuse and changing glow that occasionally illuminates the night sky with red, green, purple and blue lights—known as the “aurora.” Auroras are typically observed at polar latitudes, although we have just passed the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, which is producing many instances of intense auroras at mid-latitudes.
At Rice University, a research lab’s signature keepsake has helped perfect a method for growing patterned diamond surfaces that could help decrease operating temperatures in electronics by 23 degrees Celsius. The paper is published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
“In the world of electronics, heat is the enemy,” said Xiang Zhang, assistant research professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice and a first author on the study. “A reduction of 23 C is significant—it can extend the lifespan of a device and allow it to run faster without overheating.”
Heat management is one of the major challenges facing today’s high-power technologies, from the gallium nitride transistors used in radar and 5G devices to the processing units powering the data center infrastructure that supports artificial intelligence. Diamond outshines most other materials when it comes to handling heat, but its hardness makes it difficult to work with. Growing diamond in technology-relevant forms is particularly challenging.
Drugs made of mRNA have the potential to transform medicine—if only they could get into cells in one piece. Now, University of Connecticut researchers have shown that packaging mRNA like a virus could smuggle it into cells safely, opening up a new way to deliver mRNA into cells to treat diseases such as cancer. Their research is published in the journal ACS Nano.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single strand of ribonucleic acids that tells the protein-making machinery inside cells what to do. Usually RNA strands are made using the DNA blueprints inside a cell’s central nucleus, and then travel out to the protein production areas. Getting a medicinal mRNA into a cell from outside, though, is another matter. Most things trying to enter a cell have to pass through an endosome. An endosome is like a decontamination bubble. Its interior becomes acidic, which activates enzymes that chew up anything potentially dangerous—like foreign RNA.
But many viruses have evolved to hijack this system.