news 2018

The pneumonia causing pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has developed a twin-track strategy to colonize its host. It generates two different cells - motile spreaders and virulent stickers. Researchers at the University of Basel's Biozentrum have now elucidated how the germ attaches to tissue within seconds and consecutively spreads.

Buruli ulcer is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) resulting in debilitating skin lesions, disabilities and stigmatisation. The current antibiotic treatment is long and has severe adverse side effects. Researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) together with colleagues from Singapore have discovered a highly effective compound against Buruli ulcer which has the potential to become a powerful alternative to the existing treatment options.

Buruli ulcer is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) resulting in debilitating skin lesions and disabilities. The current antibiotic treatment is long and has severe adverse side effects. Researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), which is associated with the University of Basel, together with colleagues from Singapore have discovered a highly effective compound against Buruli ulcer.

For more than 100 years, biologists have known that cells contain various kinds of membraneless organelles and conjectured what organizing principles underlie them. During the past decade, liquid-liquid phase separation has emerged as one of the concepts that can explain these cellular structures. Phase separation has become an increasingly hot topic, as it can be related to pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic worm infection affecting 250 million people globally. The current prevalence thresholds for preventive chemotherapy of intestinal schistosomiasis are based on the Kato-Katz method using stool samples. A new more sensitive point-of-care urine test is now available in particular for settings with low prevalence.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic worm infection affecting 250 million people globally. The current prevalence thresholds for preventive chemotherapy of intestinal schistosomiasis are based on the Kato-Katz method using stool samples. A new more sensitive point-of-care urine test is now available in particular for settings with low prevalence.

Although wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) remove over 95 per cent of human fecal bacteria, many resistant bacteria can still be detected in the final effluent. How is this to be explained? To find out, a group led by microbiologist Helmut Bürgmann investigated the fate and expression of antibacterial resistance genes in the course of treatment at twelve WWTPs.

A widely used diabetes medication combined with an antihypertensive drug specifically inhibits tumor growth - this was discovered by researchers from the University of Basel's Biozentrum two years ago. In a follow-up study, recently published in "Cell Reports", the scientists report that this drug cocktail induces cancer cell death by switching off their energy supply.

Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, or statins, as a preventive measure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. A study by the University of Zurich now shows that this measure is recommended too often, as current guidelines fail to take into account the risks of side effects. Even healthy people who don't suffer from a cardiovascular disease are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, if they meet certain risk criteria.

In a study published in Neuron, researchers have demonstrated how functional ultrasound imaging can yield high-resolution, unbiased, brain-wide activity maps of behaving mice. These can lead to a brain-wide understanding of how brain activity relates to specific behavior - in healthy mice and in mouse models of neurologic or psychiatric diseases.

Stem-cell transplantation is an effective form of therapy to fight leukemia. In many cases, however, the transferred immune cells of the donor also attack the recipients' healthy tissue ' often with fatal consequences. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now identified a molecule that plays a key role in this process.

EPFL researchers have developed a hydrogel - made up of nearly 90% water - that naturally adheres to soft tissue like cartilage and the meniscus. If the hydrogel carries repair cells, it could help damaged tissue to heal. Some types of body tissue, like cartilage and meniscus, have little or no blood supply and are unable to heal if damaged.

Researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of a receptor that controls the release of calcium from bones. The receptor is now one of the main candidates for developing new drugs to treat osteoporosis. Knowing the receptor's blueprint will be instrumental for designing drugs that could even help to rebuild bones.

Thanks to sensors attached to their shoes, long-distance runners can harness the power of algorithms to analyze their stride. The algorithms, developed by EPFL spin-off Gait Up and tested in the Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement (LMAM), are unmatched in terms of precision and the range of parameters measured, such as objective fatigue, cadence, strike angle and foot impact.

An antibiotic called thanatin attacks the way the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is built. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now found out that this happens through a previously unknown mechanism. Thanatin, produced naturally by the spined soldier bug, can therefore be used to develop new classes of antibiotics.

EPFL scientists have discovered how a dysfunction in the immune system can cause an overload of a gut bacterium. The bacterium produces excess lactic acid, which in turn triggers the production of reactive oxygen species that cause damage to cells and many age-related pathologies. There is no doubt that gut bacteria have become one of the most important focuses of biological and medical research today.

Again and again it happens that humans fall ill with diarrhoea or have to vomit because they have come into contact with virus-contaminated liquids.

Scientists have uncovered that next to estrogen receptor positive and negative there are cells with very low amounts of the receptor protein. The discovery has significant implications for the role of the receptor in the growth and development of the breast and breast cancer development. Estrogens are hormones that play central roles in the development and the physiology of the breast, but also are involved in breast cancer.

The new version of the TWIICE walking-assistance system is not only lighter, more comfortable and more powerful, but patients can also put it on and use it themselves - giving them greater independence. It has been tested by handcycling champion Silke Pan. Silke Pan - a former acrobat who lost the use of her legs after a trapeze accident - arrives at the lab in a wheelchair.

Three patients with chronic paraplegia were able to walk over ground thanks to precise electrical stimulation of their spinal cords via a wireless implant. Researchers have shown that, after a few months of training, the patients were able to control previously paralyzed leg muscles even in the absence of electrical stimulation.