Forscher des Baylor College of Medicine, des Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) am Texas Children’s Hospital und kooperierender Einrichtungen entdeckten, dass das Enzym TYK2 das normale Protein Tau in eines umwandelt, das sich im Gehirn anreichert und in Tiermodellen zur Entwicklung der Alzheimer-Krankheit beiträgt. Die in Nature Neuroscience veröffentlichte Studie deutet darauf hin, dass eine teilweise Hemmung von TYK2 eine Strategie zur Verringerung der Tau-Konzentration und Toxizität sein könnte. „Viele Studien haben gezeigt, dass die Anhäufung von Tau in Neuronen und Gliazellen im Gehirn ein Hauptmerkmal der Alzheimer-Krankheit und mindestens 24 weiterer neurologischer Erkrankungen ist“, sagte Erstautor Dr. Ji-Yoen Kim, Assistenzprofessorin für Molekular- und Humangenetik in Baylor im Labor von Dr. Huda Zoghbi. Zoghbi, der korrespondierende Autor der Arbeit, ist ein Distinguished Service Professor bei Baylor, Direktor des Duncan NRI und ein Howard Hughes Medical Institute… 

Adding an extra hour every week of physical activity may lower the chance of developing the most common type of irregular heartbeat (arrythmia) by 11%, a new study shows. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the investigation focused on atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s upper two chambers beat rapidly and irregularly instead of at a consistent pace. If left untreated, this can lead to stroke, heart failure, and other issues. While past studies have linked exercise to reduced risk of this type of arrhythmia, nearly all of these analyses have relied on the participants’ often inaccurate estimates of their own activity levels, the authors say. To avert this flaw, the current study team used data recorded from the fitness tracker Fitbit to objectively measure physical activity in more than 6,000 men and women across the United… 

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have discovered a new way in which RAS genes, which are commonly mutated in cancer, may drive tumor growth beyond their well-known role in signaling at the cell surface. Mutant RAS, they found, helps to kick off a series of events involving the transport of specific nuclear proteins that lead to uncontrolled tumor growth, according to a study published November 11, 2024, in Nature Cancer. RAS genes are the second most frequently mutated genes in cancer, and mutant RAS proteins are key drivers of some of the deadliest cancers, including nearly all pancreatic cancers, half of colorectal cancers, and one-third of lung cancers. Decades of research have shown that mutant RAS proteins promote the development and growth of tumors by activating specific proteins at the cell surface, creating a constant stream of signals…