Tag: cells
Lampreys have ‘fight or flight’ cells, challenging ideas about nervous system evolution
With terrifyingly sharp teeth arranged around a circular mouth, lampreys look about as primitive a vertebrate as you could imagine. But a new study finds that the animals have a surprising similarity to people: Lampreys have the nerve cells responsible for the “fight or flight” response. The finding challenges the idea that this part of the nervous system emerged later in evolutionary history, and it puts lampreys closer to complex vertebrates — like humans.
“The conclusions are textbook-changing level,” says
Irregular bone marrow cells may increase heart disease risk
Lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, quitting smoking, managing diabetes: these evidence-backed approaches remain key ways to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (SN: 11/9/15).
But an unexpected contributor to that risk has emerged in the past decade. Nothing can be done to specifically tackle this risk factor yet, but the discovery offers a new angle to understanding cardiovascular disease. And it might partly explain why some people develop the disease even when they don’t check the familiar
Rat cells grew in mice brains, and helped sniff out cookies
What does it feel like to be a rat? We will never know, but some very unusual mice may now have an inkling.
In a series of new experiments, bits of rat brain grew inside the brains of mice. Donor stem cells from rats formed elaborate — and functional — neural structures in mice’s brains, despite being from a completely different species, researchers report in two papers published April 25 in Cell.
The findings are “remarkable,” says Afsaneh Gaillard,
These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs
Immune cells’ intense reaction to the coronavirus may lead to pneumonia
The intense reaction of one of the lungs’ guardians against infection may help explain why COVID-19 can become severe.
The guardians, immune cells called interstitial macrophages, patrol lung tissue. These cells can be infected in a big way by SARS-CoV-2, researchers report online April 10 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Overwhelmed by the virus’ onslaught, the cells’ extreme inflammatory response may contribute to the development of pneumonia, a disease that damages the lungs and makes breathing difficult.
Newfound immune cells are responsible for long-lasting allergies
Allergy sufferers may one day be able to erase the source of their congestion, itchy skin and swollen lips and throat thanks to two studies that have uncovered elusive immune cells that maintain allergies over the long haul, often for a lifetime.
A specialized type of immune cell called type 2 memory B cells or MBC2s hold the memory of proteins that cause allergies, two independent groups of researchers report February 7 in Science Translational Medicine. Memory B cells
Bird flu viruses may pack tools that help them infect human cells
Bird flu viruses may pack a little taste of home to help them adapt to life in new hosts.
Viruses usually infect only certain types of hosts. For instance, many viruses that infect humans don’t infect other animals. But influenza viruses often seem to jump from birds to other species. In 2009, the H1N1 “swine flu” made the leap from birds to pigs and then into people, setting off a pandemic (SN: 12/18/09). Even now, an outbreak of
The Most Mysterious Cells in Our Bodies Don’t Belong to Us
Some 24 years ago, Diana Bianchi peered into a microscope at a piece of human thyroid and saw something that instantly gave her goosebumps. The sample had come from a woman who was chromosomally XX. But through the lens, Bianchi saw the unmistakable glimmer of Y chromosomes—dozens and dozens of them. “Clearly,” Bianchi told me, “part of her thyroid was entirely male.”
The reason, Bianchi suspected, was pregnancy. Years ago, the patient had carried a male embryo, whose cells had
Human cancer cells might slurp up bacteria-killing viruses for energy
From our nose to our lungs to our guts, the human body is home to a diverse range of microorganisms. Such rich microbial ecosystems are prime hunting grounds for viruses that infect and kill bacteria. But how these bacteria-killing viruses interact with human cells has remained mysterious.
Past research has shown that human cells can slurp up bacteria-killing viruses when a cell ingests a large amount of the fluid surrounding it. Microbiologist Jeremy Barr wanted to know if the ingested
What a look at more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us
A new look at the human brain is beginning to reveal the inner lives of its cellular residents.
The human brain holds a dizzying collection of diverse cells, and no two brains are the same, cellularly speaking. Those are the prevailing conclusions of an onslaught of 21 papers published online October 12 in Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine.
The results just start to scratch the surface of understanding the mysteries of the brain. Still, they provide