Researchers from Osaka University have revealed a close link between cells in a “polyploid” state and the accumulation of DNA damage, which may prove critical in developing treatments for certain drug-resistant cancers

Osaka, Japan – Polyploidy is a state where a cell contains more copies of the genetic material than the usual “diploid” cell, which contains two copies. Polyploidy often occurs in human diseases and cancers, and its effect on cell fate was unclear. Now, however, researchers from Japan have shown that polyploidy can be a double-edged sword when it comes to cancer and its treatment.

In a study published this month in Cell Death Discovery, researchers from Osaka University have revealed that polyploidy is closely linked to the accumulation of damage to the genetic material within the cell, while also allowing those cells to tolerate higher levels of this DNA damage.

Pan-Arctic light-emitting human activity map showing unlit areas versus lit areas with significantly increasing or decreasing light-emitting human activity from 1992 to 2013. (Image: Cengiz Akandil, University of Zurich; Natural Earth)

More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. On average, 85% of the light-polluted areas are due to industrial activities rather than urban development. According to the international team led by UZH researchers, the results are crucial for sustainable development and nature conservation in this highly vulnerable region.

The Arctic is threatened by strong climate change: the average temperature has risen by about 3°C since 1979 – almost four times faster than the global average. The region around the North Pole is home to some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, and has experienced low anthropogenic disturbance for decades. Warming has increased the accessibility of land in the Arctic, encouraging industrial and urban development. Understanding where and what kind of human activities take place is key to ensuring sustainable development in the region – for both people and the environment. Until now, a comprehensive assessment of this part of the world has been lacking.

Scientists from the UAB and Iowa State University have generated the genome assemblies of two hidden-neck turtles, unpublished until now. The results, which revealed a new three-dimensional structure of the genome within the phylogenetic group of reptiles, birds and mammals, will contribute to the development of more effective turtle conservation strategies, and to the study of the evolution of the genome and chromosomal organisation of vertebrates.

The study was led by researchers Aurora Ruiz-Herrera (UAB) and Nicole Valenzuela (Iowa State University), with the participation of researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF) and Earlham College. Published in Genome Research, it highlights the important role of chromatin, a three-dimensional structure into which genetic material folds and is packaged within the cell nucleus, in the regulation of gene function and its impact on evolution and speciation.

Un gruppo di ricercatori dell’Università Statale di Milano ha scoperto che fare pause mentre si cammina può aumentare notevolmente il dispendio energetico rispetto a farlo in modo continuo.
L’esperimento, pubblicato sulla rivista Proceedings of the Royal Society, ha dimostrato che camminare o salire le scale in brevi sessioni di 10-30 secondi fa consumare energia dal 20 al 60% in più che percorrere la stessa distanza senza pause. Questo significa anche che alzarsi dalla sedia per fare qualche passo ogni tanto o scegliere di prendere le scale può innalzare notevolmente il nostro consumo energetico giornaliero.

I risultati di uno studio internazionale coordinato dall’Università di Padova aprono nuove prospettive per indurre nelle cellule risposte efficaci, in grado di contrastare le metastasi tumorali.

Il mitocondrio è un organello presente all’interno delle nostre cellule con diverse funzioni, tra cui alcune fondamentali legate al metabolismo e alla produzione di energia. Pressoché tutte le cellule degli organismi eucarioti contengono numerosi mitocondri, che formano una estesa rete filamentosa all’interno di ciascuna cellula. Questa rete va incontro a continue divisioni e fusioni che accorciano e allungano dinamicamente i singoli mitocondri. In un articolo pubblicato sulla prestigiosa rivista Nature Cell Biology, un gruppo internazionale di ricercatori, coordinato dal professor Sirio Dupont, dell’Università di Padova, hanno mostrato l’esistenza di un meccanismo universale, comune a molti diversi tipi di cellule.

Recent research from the University of Helsinki sheds new light on the behaviour of the KRAS gene in two of the deadliest cancers—pancreatic and colorectal cancer. These findings suggest potential pathways for targeted therapies in KRAS-driven cancers.

KRAS, a gene known to be mutated in various cancers, has effects that are more complex than previously understood. While the role of cancer-driving, mutated forms of KRAS is well-known, this new work reveals the importance of the presence or absence of the normal, non-mutated version of KRAS.

Research published in Nature Genetics on Oct.14, by Yale Cancer Center researchers at Yale School of Medicine, found a higher concentration of a specific kind of DNA — extrachromosomal or ecDNA — in more aggressive and advanced cancers that could mark them as targets for future therapies.

Using data available from The Cancer Genome Atlas, the International Cancer Genomics Consortium, the Hartwig Medical Foundation, and the Glioma Longitudinal Analysis Consortium, the researchers considered more than 8,000 tumor samples, divided between newly diagnosed untreated tumors and those that had been through previous treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and others. They found significantly higher amounts of ecDNA in tumors from previously treated patients, leading to the theory that ecDNA might give a survival advantage to those tumors.

“Our research suggests that ecDNA helps tumors become more aggressive,” said senior author of the paper, Roel Verhaak, the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine and member of Yale Cancer Center. “EcDNA has a distinct mechanism and plays an important role, not just for breast or lung cancer, but across many cancer types.”

Understanding where shooting stars and meteorites come from is a question that scientists have been trying to answer since ancient times.
Until recently, only 6% of meteorite falls had been linked to their source.
A team led by scientists from CNRS, ESO, and Charles University has notably shown that 70% of all meteorite falls come from just three young asteroid families.
An international team led by three researchers from the CNRS1, the European Southern Observatory (ESO, Europe), and Charles University (Czech Republic) has successfully demonstrated that 70% of all known meteorite falls originate from just three young asteroid families. These families were produced by three recent collisions that occurred in the main asteroid belt 5.8, 7.5, and about 40 million years ago. The team also revealed the sources of other types of meteorites; with this research, the origin of more than 90% of meteorites has now been identified. This discovery is detailed in three papers, a first published on 13 September 2024 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, and two new papers to be published on 16 October 2024 in Nature.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign aerospace engineering Ph.D. student Nicolas Rasmont assembling his radar inferometry instrument in the lab.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a new instrument to measure the density of the dust that kicks up when spacecraft thrusters interact with planetary surfaces as it lands. Because cameras and other optical equipment are blinded by dense dust clouds, the new instrument uses millimeter-wave radar in a new way to accurately measure the dust and debris.

“Other measurement techniques exist, but our instrument addresses a sort of ‘missing middle.’ It is applicable to particle clouds which are too dense for optical measurements but too thin for state-of-the-art opaque multiphase techniques like X-rays or MRI. It is also capable of several thousands of measurements per second,” said Nicolas Rasmont, Ph.D. student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. “Our instrument uses a radar to generate waves with a wavelength of 3.8 mm, just over an eighth of an inch. The wave travels through a cloud of particles, then is reflected, then captured back by our instrument to detect the presence of the particles.”

Climate change has a negative impact on food security. An international research team led by Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna has now conducted a study to investigate the natural variation of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress. The scientists were able to show that chickpeas are a drought-resistant legume plant with a high protein content that can complement grain cultivation systems even in urban areas. The study was recently published in the specialist magazine The Plant Biotechnology.

Long periods of drought stress have also become a reality in Central Europe due to climate change, a major threat to plant productivity, harvests and therefore food security. At the same time, there is a decline in the use of plant genetic diversity, and the global food system has become more and more uniform. While there are approximately 7,000 edible crops, two-thirds of global food production is based on just nine crop species. "This narrow genetic base can have several negative consequences, such as increased susceptibility of plants to diseases and pests, reduced resistance to factors such as drought and climate change, and increased economic fragility," explains molecular biologist Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna. "Maintaining adequate plant and genetic diversity is crucial for agriculture, which must adapt to future changing conditions. With our new study, we have taken an important step in this direction and looked at the chickpea as an important food of the future," says Weckwerth.