Brain’s Immune Cells May Drive Overeating and Weight Gain
Immune cells in the brain trigger overeating and weight gain in response to diets rich in fat, according to a new study in mice led by researchers from UCSF and the UW Medical Center.
University of California San Francisco
Give to UCSFImmune cells in the brain trigger overeating and weight gain in response to diets rich in fat, according to a new study in mice led by researchers from UCSF and the UW Medical Center.
UCSF researchers have drawn a link between genetic abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases and the formation of RNA foci, work the scientists said may open avenues to the development of new drug treatments.
Researchers made a significant advance, identifying the first “high-confidence” risk gene for Tourette disorder as well as three other probable risk genes.
After undergoing surgery, elderly patients often experience cloudy thinking. Mounting evidence suggests that heightened inflammation in the brain following surgery is the more likely cause.
A newly approved drug that is the first to reflect the current scientific understanding of multiple sclerosis is holding new hope for the hundreds of thousands Americans living with the disease. It also highlights the importance of clinician scientists like UCSF’s Stephen Hauser who are working to transform research into cures for patients.
Studying brain disorders is complicated for many reasons, not the least being the ethics of obtaining living neurons. To overcome that obstacle, UCSF postdoc Aditi Deshpande is starting with skin cells.
Sharks, rays and skates can hunt for prey hidden in the sandy sea floor by “listening” for faint traces of bioelectricity – they can literally sense their prey’s heart beating.
In an unprecedented leap from lab to patients, a potential treatment for childhood epilepsy identified in experiments with zebrafish.
New research is paving the way to a precision medicine approach to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with traumatic brain injury.
Research uses brain “organoids” — tiny 3D models of human organs that scientists grow in a dish to study disease — to identify root causes of MDS, a rare genetic disorder that causes fatal brain malformations.
Distinct sets of genetic defects in a single neuronal protein can lead either to infantile epilepsy or to autism spectrum disorders.
For concussion sufferers, physicians may now be able to predict early on who is more likely to continue experiencing symptoms months or years after the head-jarring event.
Children with severe cases of epilepsy such as Dravet syndrome are finding new and unexpected cures thanks to determined pediatricians and translational research at UCSF.
Researchers at UCSF have developed a new optogenetic tool that can be used to completely eliminate single cells from brain networks in animals. The researchers believe the new tool will enable exquisitely precise experiments to help researchers understand how each cell contributes to the whole.