- 2018
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Press releases - 19.12.2018
Filming the brain to shed light on sleep
What happens inside our brains when we sleep? To answer this question, French researchers have, for the first time, filmed the entire brain in sleeping rats, thanks to innovative ultrasound imaging technology. They were thus able to closely observe brain function in rodents, particularly during the REM sleep phase. These results were obtained in shared Inserm, ESPCI Paris, CNRS, and Sorbonne University laboratories. Published in Nature Communications, these findings allow this period to be redefined as a brain hypersynchronization phase, characterized by massive peaks in blood flow, particularly in the hippocampus. These new data, which question the role currently ascribed to REM sleep, have yet to be confirmed in humans.
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Press releases - 17.12.2018
Discovery of novel mechanisms that cause migraines
Researchers at CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur and Inserm have demonstrated a new mechanism related to the onset of migraine. In fact, they found how a mutation, causes dysfunction in a protein which inhibits neuronal electrical activity, induces migraines. These results, published in Neuron on December 17, 2018, open a new path for the development of anti-migraine medicines.
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Press releases - 12.12.2018
MON 810 and NK603 GM Maize: No Effects Detected on Rat Health or Metabolism
A diet based on MON 810 or NK603 transgenic maize does not affect the health or metabolism of rats, under the conditions of the GMO 90+1 project1. This unprecedented study performed by a research consortium led by Inra brought together a number of partners2, including Inserm. The research was performed as part of the Risk’OGM program funded by the French Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition. For six months, rats were fed a diet containing either GM maize (MON 810 or NK603) or non-GM maize, in varying concentrations. The researchers, using high-throughput biology techniques, did not identify any significant biological markers related to the transgenic maize diet. Neither did anatomic pathology examination reveal any alteration of the liver, kidneys or reproductive system of the rats fed diets containing these GMOs. This research, published on December 10, 2018 in Toxicological Sciences, does not reveal any harmful effects related to the consumption of these two types of GM maize in the rat even after lengthy periods of exposure.
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Press releases - 05.12.2018
Type 2 Diabetes: A Therapeutic Avenue is Emerging
Restoring the action of insulin is one of the keys to fighting type 2 diabetes. Researchers from Inserm led by Dominique Langin at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases (Inserm/Université de Toulouse) are developing a therapeutic strategy that uses the properties of an enzyme (hormone-sensitive lipase) which, when stimulating fatty-acid synthesis in the fat cells, has a beneficial effect on insulin action. This research has been published in Nature Metabolism.
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Press releases - 27.11.2018
The 2018 Inserm Prizes: Spotlight on Health Research
This year’s Inserm Prize ceremony will take place on Tuesday December 11, 2018, at the Collège de France in celebration of nine researchers and engineers whose achievements have helped raise the level of scientific excellence at the Institute, in the service of science for health. “By honoring its talents, Inserm wishes to showcase the diversity and richness of the biomedical research professions, and the creativity and passion of the women and men who drive them on a daily basis”, states Claire Giry, Inserm Director General and acting President. The 2018 Inserm Grand Prize will go to Alain Tedgui for his research on identifying the role of the immune system in atherosclerosis. Two clinical trials directly resulting from his research are currently ongoing.
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Press releases - 26.11.2018
Gilles Bloch appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Inserm
Gilles Bloch has been appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) by the Council of Ministers.
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Press releases - 23.11.2018
Cancer under pressure: visualizing the activity of the immune system on tumor development
As tumors develop, they evolve genetically. How does the immune system act when faced with tumor cells? How does it exert pressure on the genetic diversity of cancer cells? Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm used in vivo video techniques and cell-specific staining to visualize the action of immune cells in response to the proliferation of cancer cells. The findings have been published in the journal Science Immunology on November 23, 2018.
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Press releases - 23.11.2018
The origins of asymmetry: A protein that makes you do the twist
Asymmetry plays a major role in biology at every scale: think of DNA spirals, the fact that the human heart is positioned on the left, our preference to use our left or right hand … A team from the Institute of biology Valrose (CNRS/Inserm/Université Côte d’Azur), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania, has shown how a single protein induces a spiral motion in another molecule. Through a domino effect, this causes cells, organs, and indeed the entire body to twist, triggering lateralized behaviour. This research is published in the journal Science on November 23, 2018.
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Press releases - 20.11.2018
liver cancer and hepatitis C virus to maintain interest in screening programs cirrhotic patients cured of the virus infection with interferon or antiviral direct
The findings, published in the journal Gastroenterology in November 2018, show that if the liver cancer risk is greatly reduced after viral eradication in these patients, it still persists and justified to keep patients with viral cirrhosis C cured in screening programs. This study also confirms the benefits of virologic cure the risk of hepatic carcinogenesis regardless of the type of antiviral treatment.
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Press releases - 14.11.2018
A new pathway for modulating anti-tumoral immune response
Researchers from Inserm, CNRS, Paris-Sud University, Gustave Roussy, and Institut Curie have identified a new agent in regulating PD-L1 gene expression: the eIF4F complex, which plays a role in controlling protein synthesis.