- 2014
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Press releases - 18.04.2014
Inserm and the Institut Pasteur identify a new variant of Ebola virus in Guinea
In an article which appeared in The New England journal of Medicine on 16 April, researchers from Inserm (Jean Mérieux-Inserm BSL-4 Laboratory, Lyon) and the Institut Pasteur have published their initial findings on the characteristics of the Ebola virus discovered in Guinea. Initial virological investigations enabled them to identify Zaire ebolavirus as the pathogen responsible for this epidemic. Performed in less than a month, sequencing of the complete genome and subsequent phylogenetic analysis show that the virus present in Guinea forms a clade (variant) that is distinct from strains previously identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Gabon. Epidemiological investigations also linked the laboratory confirmed cases with the initial deaths recorded during the December 2013 outbreak.
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What's on? - 17.04.2014
Juno : the secret of the egg finally revealed
After a decade of research, a team of researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has identified Juno, a protein located on the membrane of the egg cell that enables the sperm cell to recognise it. Its presence, and that of Izumo (its counterpart on the sperm cell), is essential for fertilisation. Fusion of the […]
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Press releases - 17.04.2014
Innovative strategy to facilitate organ repair
A team led by Ludwik Leibler from the Laboratoire Matière Molle et Chimie (CNRS/ESPCI Paris Tech) and Didier Letourneur from the Laboratoire Recherche Vasculaire Translationnelle (INSERM/Universités Paris Diderot and Paris 13), has just demonstrated that the principle of adhesion by aqueous solutions of nanoparticles can be used in vivo to repair soft-tissue organs and tissues.
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Press releases - 10.04.2014
Confirmation of the neurobiological origin of attention – deficit disorder
A study, carried out on mice, has just confirmed the neurobiological origin of attention – deficit disorder (ADD), a syndrome whose causes are poorly understood.
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News in brief - 10.04.2014
A microbiota bacterium protects the large intestine from inflammation
The microbiota, which is the term used to describe all micro-organisms living in the mucous membranes, is vital for our health and affects our development, metabolism, immune system etc. However, most of the mechanisms which allow it to play this important role have yet to be discovered. Researchers in Inserm Unit 892 “Nantes-Angers regional cancer […]
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Press releases - 09.04.2014
Caffeine and Alzheimer’s disease : a link with tau protein
Researchers at Inserm and University of Lille 2/University of Lille Nord de France directed by David Blum, Inserm Research Fellow, have provided experimental evidence of the beneficial effects of caffeine in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease. This work, carried out on mice and published in Neurobiology of Aging, supports the idea that caffeine has a protective effect in some brain pathologies.
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Press releases - 08.04.2014
A natural protein, Elafin against gluten intolerance?
Scientists from INRA and INSERM (France) have shown that Elafin, a human protein, plays a key role against the inflammatory reaction typical of celiac disease (gluten intolerance).
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News in brief - 07.04.2014
How do our cells grow?
Some cells in our bodies need to increase their surface area significantly in order to perform their functions. This is particularly true of neurons, whose cell membrane surface area increases by 20% every day during development. When neurons reach maturity, their membrane surface area is 250,000 µm², totalling 25000 m² when all the neurons in […]
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Press releases - 07.04.2014
Friedreich’s ataxia – an effective gene therapy in an animal model
The team led by Hélène Puccio, director of research for Inserm at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC) (Inserm / CNRS / University of Strasbourg) in close collaboration with Patrick Aubourg’s team (Inserm and Professor of Neuropaediatrics at Bicêtre Hospital) has demonstrated, in the mice, the efficacy of gene therapy for […]
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What's on? - 03.04.2014
Ebola virus : Inserm’s P4 laboratory mobilised
In the last 24 hours, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a communiqué published by the UN, has reported that it has recorded 5 new cases of Ebola fever in Guinea. Since January the total number of suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola fever in the present outbreak in Guinea is 127, with 83 deaths, […]