Medical Bulletin 7/September/2022
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Here are the top medical news for the day:
New photon-counting CT which offers better myeloma bone disease detection
New CT technology paired with artificial intelligence (AI)-based noise reduction offers superior detection of bone disease associated with multiple myeloma at lower radiation doses than conventional CT, according to a new study published in Radiology journal.
By directly converting individual x-ray photons into an electric signal, photon-counting detector CT can decrease the detector pixel size and improve the image's spatial resolution.
Ref.
Francis Baffour et al,Photon-counting Detector CT with Deep Learning Noise Reduction to Detect Multiple Myeloma,Radiology
Breast cancer recurrence and metastatic spread explained
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center are studying the biology of breast cancer recurrence. The team led by UC's Susan Waltz and Susanne Wells published recent findings on biomarkers that help predict outcomes and could be targeted for new treatments in the journal PLOS ONE.
The research team found that the Ron and DEK genes can regulate certain metabolites, substances made or used when the body breaks down food, drugs or chemicals in the process of metabolism, to help cancer cells grow and spread.
Ref:
Susan Waltz and Susanne Wells et al, NMR-based metabolomic analysis identifies RON-DEK-β-catenin dependent metabolic pathways and a gene signature that stratifies breast cancer patient survival, PLoS ONE
Recent discovery of toxins that kill bacteria in novel ways
Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a previously unknown bacteria-killing toxin that could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics.The study, led by John Whitney, shows that the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, known to cause hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, secretes a toxin that has evolved to kill other species of bacteria.
The breakthrough, published in Molecular Cell, was achieved by Bullen following rigorous experimentation on common targets of toxins, such as protein and DNA molecules, before eventually testing the toxin against RNA.
Ref:
John Whitney, et al,An ADP-ribosyltransferase toxin kills bacterial cells by modifying structured non-coding RNAs, Molecular Cell
Cooperation of Somatostatin neurons in the cerebral cortex
The brain's cerebral cortex is made up of distinct regions involved in myriad processes, from sensory perception to cognitive functions like memory, attention, and decision-making.
University of Pittsburgh neuroscience researchers have found that the properties of one neuron subtype—somatostatin neurons—are specialized in different subregions of the cortex.
The researchers set out to determine whether somatostatin neurons play similar or different roles in the auditory cortex, which is responsible for processing sounds, and the posterior parietal cortex, which is responsible for integrating sensory information to form perceptual decisions and guide behavior.
Ref:
Caroline Runyan et al, The spatial scale of somatostatin subnetworks increases from sensory to association cortex, Cell Reports, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111319
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