Tag Archives: karolinska

Scientists identify new, beneficial function of endogenous retroviruses in immune response

But researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, found that endogenous retroviruses (ERV) also play a critical role in the body’s immune defense against common bacterial and viral pathogens. “Most scientists have become used to the view that retroviruses are generally harmful,” said Nobel Laureate Dr. …

Cervical, vaginal cancer higher in women previously treated for pre-cancerous cells on cervix, study finds

Cytology screening to prevent cervical cancer is a medical success story and examinations have proven to be an effective way to reduce deaths from cervical cancer. However, the risk of cervical cancer is not eliminated when abnormal cells are detected and removed and as such women are asked to participate in follow-up programs. No prior study has investigated how aging affects the risk of death from cervical cancer after treatment of CIN3. Researchers from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Karolinska Institute in Sweden therefore aimed to investigate how age affected this risk…

Stem cell scarring aids recovery from spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injuries sever nerve fibres that conduct signals between the brain and the rest of the body, causing various degrees of paralysis depending on the site and extent of the injury. Functional impairment is often permanent, since the cut nerve fibres do not grow back. The lack of regeneration has been attributed to a blockage from scar tissue that forms at the lesion. …

Cell memory mechanism discovered

The DNA in human cells is translated into a multitude of proteins required for a cell to function. When, where and how proteins are expressed is determined by regulatory DNA sequences and a group of proteins, known as transcription factors, that bind to these DNA sequences. Each cell type can be distinguished based on its transcription factors, and a cell can in certain cases be directly converted from one type to another, simply by changing the expression of one or more transcription factors. It is critical that the pattern of transcription factor binding in the genome be maintained…

Molecular switch controls the destiny of self-eating cells

The study is the result of a collaboration of scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, University of Michigan, and University of California San Diego, USA, who were interested in finding out whether autophagy can be affected by events in the cell nucleus. Surprisingly, they discovered that a signal chain in the nucleus serves as a kind of molecular switch that determines whether the cell dies or survives. …