The Science Circuit

  Image credit: Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.ado5561 Our lungs are amazing organs. They allow us to breathe, taking in the oxygen we need to live and getting rid of carbon dioxide. But like any part of the body, they can get damaged. Sometimes, this damage is minor, like a small cut, and our lungs can fix themselves. This is called "euplastic regeneration," where the lung cells get to work, replacing the damaged tissue and getting everything back to normal. However, when the damage is severe, things can go a bit wrong, and the repair process becomes "dysplastic". Think of it like this: euplastic repair is like a perfect patch on your favorite jumper, and dysplastic repair is like an uncoordinated repair with lots of extra threads hanging off. In the case of the lung, this dysplastic repair can mean that the lung doesn't work as well as it should. So, what makes the difference? Well, it turns out that different types of cells in the lungs play a crucial ...

  This figure (Article Figure 3G) shows the distribution of the different DC subsets in different niches of the synovium in active RA. This figure shows that different subtypes are located in specific areas within the joint, highlighting the functional specialization of these cells. This spatial information is key to understanding how these cells contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and how they can be targeted. Image credit:  Immunity  (2024).  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074761324005193 Have you ever wondered what goes on inside your joints when they ache? Scientists have been digging deep to find out, and a recent study has uncovered some fascinating details about immune cells in healthy joints and in those affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This research is important because it helps us understand why RA causes so much pain and what we might do to treat it better. What are dendritic cells and why do they matter? The study fo...

  Overview of the SjD-like phenotype in the Stim1/2Foxp3 mice, showing: A : The loss of SOCE in Treg cells. B & C : The inflammation in the salivary glands. D : The reduced saliva production. E : The reduced SOCE in salivary gland acinar cells. F-H : Inflammation in the exocrine lacrimal glands, reduced tear production, and corneal damage. I : The presence of autoantibodies against Ro/SSA and La/SSB. J : Lung inflammation.  Image credit: ­ Science Translational Medicine DOI:  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.ado4856   Sjögren's disease (SjD) is a fairly common autoimmune condition, affecting about 0.5 to 1% of people. It’s known for causing dryness in the eyes and mouth, a condition called sicca syndrome, due to problems with the tear and saliva glands. But SjD can be more than just dryness; it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the joints, blood vessels, nerves, and lungs. In some serious cases, it can even be life-threatening, wit...

  Image credit:   https://openai.com/index/dall-e/ Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, and it’s different for everyone. Scientists have been trying to understand why some people get a more severe form of MS than others. New research has made some exciting discoveries by looking at the brains of people with MS in incredible detail. This study, led by Will Macnair and colleagues, analyzed over 600,000 individual cells from the brains of 54 people with MS and 28 people without the condition. They used a technique called single-nucleus RNA sequencing ( snRNA-seq ) to see what genes were active in each individual cell. This is like looking at the instruction manual of each cell to understand what it’s doing. Key Findings White vs. Grey Matter: The study found that changes in brain cells are different in the white matter (the inner part of the brain with nerve fibers) and grey matter (the outer layer with nerve cells)...

Image credit:   Nucleic Acids Research ,  https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae985 Imagine the immune system as a complex army, with different types of cells working together to protect the body from disease. Scientists are increasingly studying these cells at the single-cell level – examining individual 'soldiers' rather than the whole army – to understand their unique roles. The scImmOmics database has been created to help researchers with this work. What is scImmOmics? ScImmOmics is a specialised database focused on immune cells, compiled from many different studies. It’s like a vast library of information about immune cells. Currently, the database contains data from over 2.9 million labelled immune cells , making it easier for researchers to study them. Multi-omics Data : The data in scImmOmics comes from seven different single-cell sequencing technologies: scRNA-seq : Examines the RNA within a cell to determine which genes are active. scTCR-seq & scBCR-seq : Analyses T-...

a : The ridgeline plots show the activity scores of different immune response types (Th1, Th2, Th17, type I interferon, neutrophil-related, macrophage-related, and eosinophil-related responses) in skin samples from different inflammatory skin diseases (Psoriasis, Atopic Dermatitis, Lichen Planus, Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, Neutrophilic Dermatosis, and Wells Syndrome). The solid lines mark the point where each response type is considered active. b : Box plots compare the immune response scores in skin samples across all these diseases for the "sentinel" (reference) biopsies. Each dot is one sample. The number of samples for each condition is listed: Psoriasis (25), Atopic Dermatitis (16), etc., along with healthy controls (8). c : Box plots show the immune response scores for "test" samples (a different set of biopsies). Sample numbers for each disease are also listed, like Psoriasis (8) and Atopic Dermatitis (15). b–c : In the box plots, the middle line shows th...

Image credit:   https://openai.com/index/dall-e/ Childhood-onset lupus nephritis (cLN) is a serious kidney disease that affects children with systemic lupuserythematosus (SLE). Researchers have been using advanced technology to understand the disease better, especially how the cells in the kidney are affected. This research is important because many children with cLN do not fully recover with current treatments, leading to long-term kidney damage. What is cLN? cLN is a type of kidney disease that develops in children who have SLE. It can cause long-term kidney damage if not treated effectively. Current treatments often fail to achieve full recovery, highlighting the need for better therapies. How the study was conducted:  Researchers used a new technology called spatial transcriptomics to study kidney tissue from children with cLN. This method allowed them to look at the cells in the kidney and see which genes they were expressing, all while maintaining the spatial arrangeme...

  Image credit:   https://openai.com/index/dall-e/ Ageing , a process we all experience, is often perceived as a uniform decline dictated by the passage of time. However, groundbreaking research is challenging this notion, revealing a much more complex picture where different parts of our bodies age at varying rates. This study delves into the intricate details of tissue ageing, utilizing a vast collection of over 25,000 histopathological images from 40 distinct tissue types, sourced from the Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx) . The scientists harnessed the power of deep learning, a sophisticated form of artificial intelligence, to meticulously analyze these images and uncover age-related morphological changes. This approach offers a unique perspective, moving beyond traditional molecular and cellular views of ageing to focus on the structural and architectural changes in tissues. Tissue clocks: Biological age predictors One of the most significant outcomes of this ...

Image credit:   Nat Rev Rheumatol  (2024).  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-024-01208-3 Imagine if doctors could predict what diseases you might get, or know exactly which treatment would work best for you. That's the goal of  personalized medicine , and new research is showing that we're getting closer to that reality. Scientists are now using powerful tools to look at our bodies on a molecular level to understand how diseases like arthritis and lupus work, and how to treat them more effectively. This involves studying things like our genes, proteins and immune cells. One big idea is that many autoimmune diseases, where the body's defense system attacks itself, can be grouped together based on their molecular profiles, rather than just their traditional disease names. For instance, people with different autoimmune diseases might have similar patterns in their immune systems. This is like finding out that different types of cars actually have very similar engines. Th...

A heatmap showing the normalized distribution of cell types across the niches. The figure shows the following niches along the x-axis: "Airway", "Alveolar", "Fibroblast", "Fibrotic", "Immune", "Alveolar Macrophage", "Airway Macrophage", "SMCs_Adv_Meso". The y-axis shows the cell types that were observed and their relative distribution across the niches.  "SMCs", "Adv" and "Meso" refers to smooth muscle, adventitial fibroblast, and mesothelial cells. Credit: Science Advances (2024).  DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl5473 A deep dive into Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)  niches IPF is a devastating lung disease with limited treatment options. Despite advancements, there's still a significant unmet need for therapies that target the underlying disease mechanisms. Recent research has combined  spatial transcriptomics   and   single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq)   to provide an unpr...