This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Many patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer develop a serious side effect called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN involves pain, tingling, burning, or numbness in the hands and feet and is caused by neuroinflammation triggered by the protein HMGB1, but the exact mechanisms aren’t clear. To learn more and help find a treatment, researchers recently examined the plasma of human patients and mice with oxaliplatin-induced CIPN. They found that the levels of HMGB1 and its target enzyme MMP-9 (a pain marker) were elevated in CIPN plasma and that a higher dose of oxaliplatin was associated with higher HMGB1 levels and worse pain. In cell experiments, HMGB1 was degraded—and inflammatory molecule expression was suppressed—when the enzyme AMPK was activated suggesting that AMPK activation might be beneficial for CIPN. These effects were dependent on the protein SR-A1..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students are introduced to the circulatory system with an emphasis on the blood clotting process, including coagulation and the formation and degradation of polymers through their underlying atomic properties. They learn about the medical emergency of strokes the loss of brain function commonly due to blood clots including various causes and the different effects depending on the brain location, as well as blood clot removal devices designed by biomedical engineers.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the deadliest cancer worldwide, killing more than 80% of patients within five years of diagnosis. Aberrant TRIM protein expression is known to play an important role in NSCLC, but the mechanisms aren’t clear. To learn more, a recent study investigated TRIM15 dysregulation in NSCLC. In a tissue microarray, TRIM15 was upregulated in NSCLC versus control tissues, and high TRIM15 expression was associated with a poor prognosis. In vitro, TRIM15 knockdown in NSCLC cells decreased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while TRIM15 overexpression exerted the opposite effects, which were dependent on the RING domain with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. Similar results of TRIM15 silencing and overexpression were obtained in vivo in a subcutaneous xenograft mouse model. Mechanistic experiments revealed that TRIM15 ubiquitinated Keap1, targeting it for degradation..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, is the second deadliest form of cancer. One protein that helps HCC cells grow and proliferate is c-Myc. But exactly how has remained unclear. Now, researchers have identified a separate protein that, with c-Myc, forms a positive feedback loop to keep HCC cells thriving. The protein is called FBXL6 and was identified by transcriptome RNA sequencing. Experiments showed that FBXL6 was significantly increased in HCC compared with normal tissues and correlated positively with c-Myc expression. Further tests revealed that FBXL6 stabilizes the heat shock protein HSP90AA1, which activates c-Myc. In turn, c-Myc binds to the promoter region of FBXL6 and activates its expression. This newly discovered FBXL6-HSP90AA1-c-MYC axis could play a critical role in sustaining HCC. Drugs designed to suppress this feedforward loop could help patients living with hepatocellular carcinoma..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Ruminants’ ability to break down human-inedible plant fibers stems from the microbes in their rumen. This process is primarily driven by microbes that can ferment plant fibers into volatile fatty acids (VFAs), followed by the rumen epithelial layer absorbing and partially metabolizing these VFAs. Recently, researchers examined how microbes and epithelial cells interact and contribute to VFA metabolism in lactating dairy cows. Metagenomic binning allowed researchers to categorize and examine the metabolic capacity of even uncultivated microbes and identify bacterial genomes with both cellulose/xylan/pectin degradation capabilities and associations with VFA biosynthesis. They then used gene expression data to construct a single-cell map of the rumen epithelial cell subtypes. Searching gene expression profiles for VFA transporters highlighted key epithelial cell subtypes. Leveraging this data highlighted interactions where microbes potentially influenced the gene expression of host epithelial cells..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an intriguing and publicized environmental problem. This swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These plastic materials trap aquatic life and poison them by physical blockage or as carriers of toxic pollutants. The problem relates to materials science and the advent of plastics in modern life, an example of the unintended consequences of technology. Through exploring this complex issue, students gain insight into aspects of chemistry, oceanography, fluids, environmental science, life science and even international policy. As part of the GIS unit, the topic is a source of content for students to create interesting maps communicating something that they will likely begin to care about as they learn more.

Students work as biomedical engineers to find liquid solutions that can clear away polyvinyl acetate polymer "blood clots" in model arteries (made of clear, flexible tubing). Teams create samples of the "blood clot" polymer with different concentrations to discover the concentration of the model clot and then test a variety of liquids to determine which most effectively breaks down the model blood clot. Students learn the importance of the testing phase in the engineering design process, because they are only given one chance to present the team's solution and apply it to the model blood clot.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Domesticated edible insects are a sustainable protein source that has been gaining global attention. P. brevitarsis is one such species, and their larvae can also eat decaying organic waste and turn it into a plant-growth promoting mixture. But organic matter like this is high in lignocellulose, which is difficult to digest. In fact, these larvae lack the enzymes needed to break lignocellulose down on their own. So, researchers checked their microbiome for microbial genes able to fill in the gaps. The researchers established a comprehensive reference catalog of gut microbial and host genes. Between the two sets of genes, lignocellulose-degrading enzymes were abundant and highly diversified. P. brevitarsis larvae also selectively enriched their microbiome for lignocellulose-degrading microbes and had physiological adaptations that assisted in lignocellulose degradation..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This class is designed to provide the student with a global to molecular-level perspective of organic matter cycling in the oceans and marine sediments. Topics include: Organic matter (C,N,P) composition, reactivity and budgets within, and fluxes through, major ocean reservoirs; microbial recycling pathways for organic matter; models of organic matter degradation and preservation; role of anoxia in organic matter burial; relationships between dissolved and particulate (sinking and suspended) organic matter; methods for characterization of sedimentary organic matter; and application of biological markers as tools in oceanography. Both structural and isotopic aspects are covered.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Global urbanization is driving a flood of plastic pollution, and we desperately need ways to break these plastics down. And plastic-eating insects may be able to help. Such insects leverage their gut microbes to degrade plastic polymers, but little is known about how insects acquired this ability. To learn more, researchers examined the mealworm gut microbiome’s response to different diets. The bonds in synthetic plastic polymers can resemble those in natural polymers. Polystyrene, for example, has bonds like lignin, a polymer found in all vascular plants. So, the researchers fed mealworms polystyrene or corn straw, which is high in lignin. Neither experimental diet had a negative effect on the mealworms’ survival compared to a normal cabbage diet. Both polymer-heavy diets led to similar gut microbial community structures, metabolic pathways, and enzymatic profiles..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Meniscal tears are one of the most frequent knee injuries and the most common pathology leading to arthroscopic surgery in the United States. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s been a lot of research into how repairing these injuries affects joint kinematics and biomechanics. But meniscal injury also causes changes on the microscopic scale, in the joint microenvironment. Tracking these changes could provide important clues into the cellular processes that promote the development of conditions like post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Researchers from the NYU Langone Orthopedic Center are using synovial fluid biomarkers to take a closer look at this link. The team evaluated 41 patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery to treat a symptomatic, unilateral meniscal injury. Synovial fluid samples were collected at the time of surgery from both the operative and contralateral knee. The concentrations of 10 synovial fluid biomarkers were then compared between knees..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.