A recent article identified a role for alkylglycerol (AKG)-type ether lipids in human breast milk in the regulation of the development of fat tissue in nursing babies (Figure 1). Intriguingly, the lipids affected tissue-resident macrophages in the fat tissue, adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs), not the adipose cells themselves. Using mice, Yu and colleagaues showed that … Read more
The protein responsible for detecting sour in taste buds has been difficult to identify. This is partly because sour chemicals are detected both through the sense of taste (taste perception) and through the production of pain (somatosensory perception). Thus, mice lacking the taste pathway still avoid sour-tasting liquids. The Liman lab has been studying sour … Read more
Vascepa was approved based on these findings.
Many people start taking a long-term prescription medicine sometime during adulthood. A particularly common one is medication for treating high blood pressure, which many people start taking as early as their 30s. As people get older, often more medical problems arise with more specialist doctors seeing the patient and adding more medications to treat the … Read more
Eosinophilic esophagitis (referred to as EoE) involves an atypical allergic response to food in the esophagus. In some patients, the response can be triggered by simply the smell of the problematic food. The cells involved are not part of the adaptive immune system and do not react to self antigens. Thus, it is not an … Read more