Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a common component to the burning sensation produced by chili peppers and the pain associated with arthritis. The finding, published in the September 26 issue of Neuron, could help scientists devise new strategies to block the pain hypersensitivity associated with inflammation.
"The receptor activated by chili peppers in the mouth and other tissues also increases in the terminals of sensory neurons in the skin after inflammation, and this contributes to pain hypersensitivity," says Clifford Woolf, MD, PhD, director of the Neural Plasticity Research Group in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at MGH. A receptor is a protein that transports a chemical signal into a cell.
Woolf and lead author Ru-Rong Ji, PhD, also of the MGH Neural Plasticity Research Group, found that the increased production of the receptor following inflammation is mediated by a signal molecule called p38, located within sensory neurons. The chili pepper receptor, which is technically called TRPV1, responds to capsaicin, the chemical that is responsible for the "hot" in peppers. It also responds to actual heat and to low pH, a condition that occurs with inflammation.
Susan McGreevey | EurekAlert!
Novel anti-cancer nanomedicine for efficient chemotherapy
17.09.2019 | University of Helsinki
Researchers have identified areas of the retina that change in mild Alzheimer's disease
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Researchers from the Department of Atomically Resolved Dynamics of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg, the University of Hamburg and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) outstation in the city have developed a new method to watch biomolecules at work. This method dramatically simplifies starting enzymatic reactions by mixing a cocktail of small amounts of liquids with protein crystals. Determination of the protein structures at different times after mixing can be assembled into a time-lapse sequence that shows the molecular foundations of biology.
The functions of biomolecules are determined by their motions and structural changes. Yet it is a formidable challenge to understand these dynamic motions.
At the International Symposium on Automotive Lighting 2019 (ISAL) in Darmstadt from September 23 to 25, 2019, the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, a provider of research and development services in the field of organic electronics, will present OLED light strips of any length with additional functionalities for the first time at booth no. 37.
Almost everyone is familiar with light strips for interior design. LED strips are available by the metre in DIY stores around the corner and are just as often...
Later during this century, around 2060, a paradigm shift in global energy consumption is expected: we will spend more energy for cooling than for heating....
Researchers from the Department of Atomically Resolved Dynamics of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg, the University of Potsdam (both in Germany) and the University of Toronto (Canada) have pieced together a detailed time-lapse movie revealing all the major steps during the catalytic cycle of an enzyme. Surprisingly, the communication between the protein units is accomplished via a water-network akin to a string telephone. This communication is aligned with a ‘breathing’ motion, that is the expansion and contraction of the protein.
This time-lapse sequence of structures reveals dynamic motions as a fundamental element in the molecular foundations of biology.
Two research teams have succeeded simultaneously in measuring the long-sought Thorium nuclear transition, which enables extremely precise nuclear clocks. TU Wien (Vienna) is part of both teams.
If you want to build the most accurate clock in the world, you need something that "ticks" very fast and extremely precise. In an atomic clock, electrons are...
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