Why does skin get ’leathery’ after too much sun? Bioengineers examine cellular breakdown

A study from Binghamton University, State University of New York researchers explores how ultraviolet radiation can alter the microstructure of human skin. Particularly affected is collagen, the fibrous protein that binds together tissue, tendon, cartilage and bone throughout our bodies.

Heart of Aging Female Mice Produce More Collagen than Males, Develops More Scarring

Article title: Sex-specific phenotypes in the aging mouse heart and consequences for chronic fibrosis Authors: Aude Angelini, Jesus Ortiz-Urbina, JoAnn Trial, Anilkumar K. Reddy, Anna Malovannaya, Antrix Jain, Mark L. Entman, George E. Taffet, Katarzyna A. Cieslik From the authors:…

Therapeutic resistance linked to softer tissue environment in breast cancer

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered that aggressive, triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) can evade treatment by reorganizing and softening the collagen matrix that surrounds the cancer cells. The study, which will be published April 2 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), shows that the softer matrix activates a signaling pathway that promotes the cancer cells’ survival, and suggests that targeting this pathway could enhance the effectiveness of chemo- and radiotherapy in TNBC patients.

Supercomputers Illustrate the Mechanical Process of Cancer Growth

According to the World Health Organization, one in six worldwide deaths are attributed to cancer, but not due to initial malignant tumors. They were caused by the spread of cancer cells to surrounding tissues, which consist largely of collagen. That was the focus of a recent study by Stanford University and Purdue University researchers.

Virginia Tech researchers uncover mechanisms that wire the brain’s cerebral cortex

A research team at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has identified the type of brain cell that produces a protein that is crucial for the formation of inhibitory circuits in the brain. This insight could one day help scientists establish the basis for developing new drugs that mature or repair cellular networks.