Window to Japan
The consortium led by RIKEN’s Life Science Technology Center and involving researchers from several universities found that a HCV-coded protein is cut by NS3 protease to induce a Smad activation signal which leads to the expression of TGF-ß and collagen, leading to progressing liver fibrosis. RIKEN news release, November 27, 2013
A team led by the Chiba Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry Research Center sequenced the genome of the „Lettice“ variety containing about 700 million bp. The wild strawberry genome contains 200 million bp. Wild strawberries are diploid or tetraploid, whereas the „Lettice“ variety is octoploid. Research is being done on the influence of genes on sweetness, […]
Among infants born vaginally, several Bifidobacterium strains transmit from the mother and colonize the infant’s intestine shortly after birth. The mother’s intestine is an important source for the vaginal delivered infant’s intestinal microbiota. Hiroshi MAKINO et al., PLOS One DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078331
Partners are 41 national hospitals including the University of Tokyo Hospital and a 13 member company consortium comprising Eisai and Astellas. Methods comprise MRI, PET, genetic testing, biomarker studies in blood and cerebrospinal fluid and other. 200 patients 60 – 84 years old with mild cognitive impairment will be compared to 300 controls with no […]