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Category: biotech/medical

A s the world moves away from gas towards electricity as a greener power source, the to-do list goes beyond cars. The vast global manufacturing network that makes everything from our batteries to our fertilizers needs to flip the switch, too.

A study from UChicago chemists found a way to use electricity to boost a type of chemical reaction often used in synthesizing new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs.

Published Jan. 2 in Nature Catalysis, the research is an advance in the field of electrochemistry and shows a path forward to designing and controlling reactions—and making them more sustainable.

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This is a good thing to know.

Microbes living in our guts ooze a substance that could help protect us against excessive weight gain, according to observations in mice.

The bacteria-derived compound may explain why early exposure to antibiotics can play a role in childhood obesity, a condition which is rising globally.

Vanderbilt University biochemist Catherine Shelton and colleagues discovered this by giving young mice a high or low fat diet, with or without exposure to antibiotics. Mice only given penicillin antibiotics did not gain weight, but those also on a high fat diet did.

Continue reading “Chemical Produced by Gut Microbes Seems to Prevent Obesity in Mice” | >

Scientists have developed a new class of polymers that may kill bacteria without causing antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms are one of the most serious risks to global public health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause as many as 2.8 million infections in the United States each year.

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LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) — Yemen’s Houthis are stirring up the Red Sea and shipping company investors. Denmark’s Maersk (MAERSKb. CO) and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd (HLAG.DE), for example, have gained some $18 billion in market value since mid-December, as militant attacks shut the Suez Canal, causing freight rates to double. Yet hopes for a lasting boost may be disappointed.

Maersk this week decided to shun the Suez Canal indefinitely, where 12% of global trade passes through. That’s after one of the $35 billion group’s vessels narrowly escaped a hijacking thanks to U.S. helicopters, in turn prompting Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels, to send in a warship. As a result, shipping groups are now re-routing major trade lanes including the Asia to Europe traffic around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which adds at least 10 days of travel time.

The extra time and riskiness of the journey has caused freight rates to soar. Asia to Europe prices, for example, have nearly doubled since mid-December to more than $4,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), Freightos data showed as of Jan. 3. While that’s still a far cry from the more than 10-fold increase during the pandemic, the result should be a windfall for shipping groups.

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In a recent study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers explored the effects of a small humanin-like peptide 2 (SHLP2) variant on mitochondrial function.

Mitochondria are implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis. Mitochondrial-derived peptides (MDPs) are microproteins encoded from small open reading frames (sORFs) in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). SHLP2 is an MDP with an essential role in multiple cellular processes, and it improves mitochondrial metabolism by increasing biogenesis and respiration and reducing oxidation.

Recent studies link mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) within coding regions of MDPs to age-related deficits. For instance, m.2706 A G, an mtSNP in humanin, predicts reduced circulating levels of humanin and worse cognitive decline. Moreover, another mtSNP, m.2158 T C, is associated with reduced PD risk, albeit the underlying mechanisms are unknown.

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Recent studies by Zampaloni et al. and Pahil et al. published in the journal Nature describe a novel method of inhibiting the growth of Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter using antibiotics consisting of macrocyclic peptides that target the bacterial protein bridge machinery that transports lipopolysaccharides from the cytoplasm to the outer membrane.

The amphipathic lipopolysaccharides in the outer leaflet of the asymmetric outer membrane bilayer of Gram-negative bacteria block antibiotic entry, making the treatment of bacterial infections involving Gram-negative bacteria difficult. Furthermore, the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, especially Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii, is a rapidly increasing global health concern since antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are becoming increasingly common among hospitalized and critically ill patients.

The lipopolysaccharide is synthesized inside the bacterial cell in the inner membrane, transported across the cell membrane, and assembled in the outer leaflet. The transportation of lipopolysaccharides occurs with the help of LptB2FGC, a subcomplex in the inner membrane that enlists adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis and a protein bridge to extract lipopolysaccharides from the inner membrane and transport it to the outer membrane. Targeting this transportation complex could effectively inhibit the lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, making the Gram-negative bacteria susceptible to antibacterial activity.

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Scientists say they have developed a new type of antibiotic to treat bacteria that is resistant to most current antibiotics and kills a large percentage of people with an invasive infection.

The bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii, can cause serious infections in the lungs, urinary tract and blood, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s resistant to a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics called carbapenems.

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, also known as CRAB, was at the top of the World Health Organization’s list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” in 2017. In the United States, the bacteria caused an estimated 8,500 infections in hospitalized patients and 700 deaths that year, according to the most recent data from the CDC.

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Another advantage of fragmentomics is that it requires much less blood than other liquid biopsy tests, she added.

The fragmentomics approach is also appealing because it requires only a blood draw, Dr. Greten noted, which is typically faster, easier to get, and less expensive than an ultrasound.

Fragmentomics is a next-generation liquid biopsy approach, said Dr. Velculescu. And it can potentially be used to detect other kinds of cancer, in addition to those the team has already studied, he added.

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