An international study led by scientists from Inserm and Paris Diderot University (France), the University of Chicago (USA), the National Heart and Lung Institute (UK) and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA) together with researchers of the Trans-National Asthma Genetics Consortium (TAGC) has discovered five new regions of the genome that increase the risk of asthma. This study is published online in Nature Genetics on 22 December 2017.
In humans, “Theory of Mind” is the ability to understand others’ mental states: what they think, what they feel, what they desire, what they love, etc. It plays a major role in human social interactions.
Reluctance, or indeed mistrust, towards immunization, is an understandable sentiment, particularly among young parents when their babies are about to be immunized. While this principle may currently seem less vital, or even optional, to parents who no longer face the same tragedies arising from infection as in the past, it nonetheless remains an essential public health measure.
A joint study conducted by Inserm researchers from IBENS (Institute of Biology of the Ecole Normale Supérieure – Inserm/CNRS/ENS Paris) in Paris and researchers from SIgN (Singapore Immunology Network, A*STAR) in Singapore has revealed a hitherto undiscovered role played by the microbiota on immune cells in the brain, occurring from the fetal stage. These cells, known as microglia, play a key role in brain development and function, and are affected in different ways by changes in the microbiota in male and female mice at different stages of their lives. The results of this research have been published in Cell.
A team of scientists led by Christelle Monville (professor at University of Evry) at I-Stem, the laboratory created by AFM-Téléthon, University of Evry and Inserm, in partnership with the team led by Olivier Goureau, Inserm Research Director within the Institute of Vision, has managed to improve vision in rats with retinitis pigmentosa, by transplanting a cell bandage obtained from human embryonic stem cells. The results published today in Science Translational Medicine, notably achieved thanks to Téléthon donations, pave the way for cell therapy retinitis pigmentosa, but also for very common retinal degenerative diseases, such as certain forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Hemophilia is a serious hereditary disease that prevents the blood from clotting. This means that, in the event of a wound, bleeding doesn’t stop or is extremely difficult to stop.
Vincent Sauzeau, Inserm researcher and his team located at the Nantes Thorax Institute[1] (Inserm, CNRS, University of Nantes, Nantes University Hospital) have recently discovered the major role played by the Rac1 protein in the development of bronchial hyperresponsiveness associated with allergic asthma. Researchers will use this new therapeutic target to reduce bronchoconstriction and pulmonary inflammation in patients. This article has been published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.