Quiz: Do You Know Pharmacology Facts?
This is the final post in our miniseries on pharmacology. Check out the others: “What Is Pharmacology?“, “What Happens to Medicine In Your Body?“, and “How Do Medicines Work?“
Credit: NIGMS.
Pharmacologists research how the body acts on medicines (e.g., absorption, excretion) and how medicines act in the body, as well as how these effects vary from person to person. NIGMS-funded pharmacology researchers are:
Conducting research to design medicines with fewer side effects
Exploring how genes cause people to respond differently to medicines
Developing new methods and molecul...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 13, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Common questions Medicines Miniseries Quiz Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 13th 2023
This study investigated the correlation among muscle strength, working memory (WM), and cortical hemodynamics during the N-back task of memory performance, and further explored whether cortical hemodynamics during N-back task mediated the relationship between muscle strength and WM performance. We observed that muscle strength (particularly grip strength) predicted WM of older adults in this cross-sectional study, which validated our hypothesis and expanded on previous research findings. Studies demonstrated that grip strength predicted executive function decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Other cross-sect...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 12, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
The Immune System Mediates Some of the Benefits of Exercise
It is uncontroversial to point out that exercise is good for long-term health. It slows aging, reduces risk of age-related disease, reduces mortality. A mountain of evidence supports these assertions, both animal studies demonstrating causation, and any number of large human studies showing correlation. Exercise, like the practice of calorie restriction, produces sweeping changes in the operation of metabolism. Near everything is different, both in the short term following exercise, and over the long term when looking at differences between the biochemistry of a fit individual versus that a sedentary individual. This can m...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 10, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Spotlighting SEPA for National STEM Day
The NIGMS Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program provides opportunities for pre-K-12 students from underserved communities to access STEM educational resources. SEPA grants support innovative, research-based, science education programs, furthering NIGMS’ mission to ensure a strong and diverse biomedical research workforce. SEPA projects generate resources that are mapped to state and national teaching standards for STEM and are rigorously evaluated for effectiveness; most are also available at no cost. These resources include mobile laboratories, interactive health exhibits in museums and science centers, edu...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 8, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: STEM Education Research Roundup SEPA Training Source Type: blogs
A Popular Science View of Negligible Senescence in the Animal Kingdom
Some animals, even mammals such as the naked mole-rat, show few signs of degenerative aging across a life span, a state known as negligible senescence. Such species typically live considerably longer than their more evidently aging near relative species. There isn't any one path to negligible senescence, as demonstrated by the wide variety of ecological niches containing species found to be negligibly senescence. Can we learn from their biochemistry to find ways to meaningfully extend the healthy human life span? Undoubtedly so in the very long term, at the point at which the cutting edge of research is building entirely n...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 6, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 6th 2023
This study aimed to gather valuable insights from pharmaceutical experts and healthcare practitioners regarding the potential and challenges of translating senolytic drugs for treatment of vascular aging-related disorders. This study employed a qualitative approach by conducting in-depth interviews with healthcare practitioners and pharmaceutical experts. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes from the interview transcripts. A total of six individuals were interviewed, with three being pharmaceutical experts and the remaining three healthcare practitioners.
...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 5, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Varieties of Buffalofish as Negligibly Senescent Species
A number of vertebrate species exhibit negligible senescence, meaning little to no functional degeneration over the course of their lives. Usually they also exhibit very long life spans for their size, and in comparison to near relative species that do exhibit evident aging. Researchers study these species in order to (a) identify important mechanisms of degenerative aging as targets for further research, as well as to (b) potentially find adjustments to cellular biochemistry that might stop a given mechanism from contributing to aging in our species. The first goal is much more feasible in the near term; it remains to be ...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 30, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 30th 2023
In conclusion, reported adherence to a healthy lifestyle is associated with reduced risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Adherence to all four lifestyle factors resulted in the strongest protection.
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Source: Fight Aging! - October 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Higher Serum Klotho Correlates with Lower Systemic Inflammation
The objective of this research is to determine the linkage between soluble Klotho (S-Klotho) level and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII).
Eligible participants with complete information of S-Klotho level and SII were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Subsequently, weighted multivariate linear regression and subgroup analysis were carried out to evaluate the association. Totally, 11,108 adults with complete data on S-Klotho level, SII and other important covariates were included in final analysis. Multivariate liner regression revealed that high level of S-Klotho wa...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
An Aging Clock from Aqueous Humor
Our biochemistry changes with age in ways that are broadly similar from person to person, occurring due to the same underlying mechanisms of aging. Any sufficiently large set of biological data can in principle be used to find an aging clock, some combination of weighted measures that assesses biological age or chronological age. As an illustration of that point, researchers here use the contents of aqueous humor from the eye to do just that. This approach is unlikely to be widely used, given that clocks based on blood samples or other more easily accessible data work just as well when it comes to determining biological ag...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Understanding RNA-Modifying Enzymes: Q & A With Jeffrey Mugridge
Credit: Courtesy of Jeffrey Mugridge.
“One of the best aspects of research is the excitement of discovery, being the first person in the world to know a small detail about the system you’re studying,” says Jeffrey Mugridge, Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware in Newark. We talked with Dr. Mugridge about how a pet store job sparked his early interest in science, why he decided to change his career trajectory after graduate school, and what he believes is key to being a successful researcher.
Q: How did you first become interested in science?
A: ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - October 25, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Profiles RNA Source Type: blogs
In Search of Mammalian Gene Duplications Correlated with Species Longevity
Duplication of a genetic sequence is a common occurrence over evolutionary time, one of the mechanisms by which species evolve. Noteworthy duplications include the many versions of cancer suppressor gene TP53 that are observed in the elephant genome. Large animals have many more cells than small animals, and so the evolution of greater size must be accompanied by the evolution of ways to greatly reduce cancer risk per cell.
Researchers here report on the results of searching for specific gene duplications in mammalian species that correlate with species longevity. This provides starting points for further study of t...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 24, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Sex Differences in Cholinergic Neurons in the Context of Alzheimer's Disease
Why are most Alzheimer's disease patients women? The longer female life expectancy is not enough to explain all of this difference, so researchers investigate the underlying biochemical differences between sexes in search of an explanation. The goal is to use this difference in outcomes to identify mechanisms that are important to disease progression in all humans. One might look at a recent paper on microglial biochemistry, for example, and compare with this examination of the activity of cholinergic neurons. It is worth noting that the two are linked, with cholinergic neurons likely regulating microglial behavior to some...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 24, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Towards Inhibition of α-Synuclein Aggregation
We report that αS1-25 inhibits lipid-induced αS aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. αS1-25 functions by binding to lipids to prevent αS binding, with both αS and peptide requiring lipid for inhibition to occur. These findings present a potential mechanistic route for the treatment or prevention of PD. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - October 18, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
A Periodic Look at Elements
It’s National Chemistry Week! To celebrate, we’re looking back at a few recent blog posts highlighting elements important for human health and scientific research. Check out the posts and tell us what your favorite element is in the comments section!
Credit: Adapted from Compound Interest. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Got Calcium?
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in our bodies. It’s essential for lots of important functions—including keeping bones strong and allowing muscles to move. Even clicking on this post to learn more about its many roles requires calcium!
Credit: Adapted from Compound...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - October 18, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Element Source Type: blogs
