A research team led by Dr. Quan Du from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and Westlake University has identified the protein FAM111B as a key factor in the progression of gliomas, the deadliest brain tumors. The study, published in the "Chinese Neurosurgical Journal" on May 19, 2025, shows for the first time that FAM111B promotes tumor growth and aggressiveness by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. This makes FAM111B a promising biomarker and therapeutic target. Gliomas are the most common and aggressive primary brain tumors in adults, with poor survival rates despite intensive therapies. The researchers analyzed databases such as The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas and found that FAM111B is highly overexpressed in glioma tissue compared to healthy tissue. Higher FAM111B levels correlated with advanced tumor grade, older patient age, and shorter survival time. Experiments with glioma cell lines and mice confirmed that FAM111B overexpression enhances cell proliferation, invasion, and migration… 

Epilepsy and dyskinesia are neurological disorders in dogs whose clinical symptoms can overlap. An international team led by Professor Andrea Fischer, a neurologist at the Small Animal Clinic of LMU, and Professor Hannes Lohi, a molecular geneticist at the University of Helsinki, has now developed a tool with a novel multilingual questionnaire that standardizes the description and classification of seizures in dogs and significantly improves the collection of large databases. This topic is of particular relevance, as epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disorder in dogs and has a genetic component. Neurological symptoms and seizures can also occur in the acute phase of so-called werewolf syndrome, which has been increasingly observed in dogs in the past year. "This survey not only collects high-quality data – it also enables the classification of epilepsy based on practical symptom descriptions and provides owners of affected dogs with clear video examples. Thus… 

A research team led by Dr. Annette Hammes from the Max Delbrück Center has published in the journal “Nature Cardiovascular Research” that the ion channel PIEZO2 not only processes touch stimuli in the skin but is also crucial for the development of the coronary arteries. These findings could improve the understanding of congenital heart defects and enable new therapeutic approaches for cardiovascular diseases. In collaboration with the teams of Professor Gary Lewin, Holger Gerhardt, and Norbert Hübner, lead author Dr. Mireia Pampols-Perez showed in mouse models that without PIEZO2, the coronary arteries grow incorrectly: the vessels remain too narrow or branch atypically, impairing the oxygen supply to the heart muscle. Similar malformations occurred in mice with overactive PIEZO2, which is associated with Marden-Walker syndrome in humans. In both cases, the heart muscle thickened, especially in the left ventricle, presumably due to impaired vascular growth. Genome-wide studies suggest that PIEZO2 mutations in humans can lead to heart failure, high blood pressure, or...

While the conflict between Israel and Iran captures international attention, the catastrophic situation of children and families in Gaza is increasingly being forgotten, warn SOS Children's Villages. The humanitarian situation is devastating: massive attacks, extreme food shortages, and growing malnutrition mark daily life. Children, in particular, suffer from acute severe malnutrition, which is fatal if untreated. Many are physically and psychologically exhausted, traumatized by displacement and violence. Conflicts and deaths repeatedly occur at food distribution points due to chaotic conditions as desperate parents try to feed their families. The lack of fuel further exacerbates the crisis. According to UN figures, 80 percent of intensive care and maternity units are at risk of closure, and plastic waste is increasingly being burned for cooking. In a makeshift camp near Khan Younis, SOS Children's Villages is caring for orphaned children after their children's village in Rafah was destroyed. Supplies are severely limited here, and the fear...