segolene – BioQuakes

Is Fluoride the key to Healthy Teeth?

On February 28, 2014

Photo Taken by Author.

Brushing your teeth daily is certainly a necessity. Just like the rest of our body, it is important to clean your teeth to prevent infection and decay. However the type of toothpaste that you use, especially, at a young age can affect the effectiveness of your results. Scientists have noted that brushing your teeth with fluoride tooth paste can be very beneficial to successful dental health for adults but also possibly for young children.

“Fluoride works to prevent cavities by rebuilding teeth. Highly reactive fluoride sticks to molecules in the tooth that become exposed when bacteria-produced acid attacks the teeth. Fluoride molecules latch on to the tooth and beckon other minerals such as calcium and phosphate in a process called remineralization. When fluoride is ingested, the levels of the entire body are raised. The resulting fluoride-rich saliva bathes and when fluoride is ingested, the levels of the entire body are raised.”

Based on a study led by J. Tim Wright, a pediatric dentist at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, the ADA now recommends that children’s teeth should be brushed with a smear of fluoride toothpaste as soon as they appear. Too much fluoride for a young one, however, can be detrimental and can lead to fluorosis. Studies have shown that risk of fluorosis for some permanent teeth peaks around age two, but fluorosis also comes from other sources as well such as water and some foods like fish. Therefore parents should be careful about using too much fluoridated toothpaste — a pretty common habit, studies have found. “People tend to think a little is good, more is better,” Wright says.

Fluoride toothpaste is surely one way to prevent cavities in adults and it is looking promising as a way to reduce cavity amounts in young children as well.

Microglia! Here to the Brain Rescue?

By segolene

On November 19, 2013

In Student Post

Recently, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have used a new sequencing method to identify a group of genes used by the brain’s immune cells, called microglia, to sense pathogenic organisms (bacteria that cause bacterial infection), toxins or damaged cells. Identifying these genes could lead to better understanding of the role of microglia both in normal brains and in neurodegenerative (nervous system) disorders. This discovery could also lead to ways to protect against brain dysfunctions caused by conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

The set of genes microglial have also been able to react with their environment. “We’ve been able to define, for the first time, a set of genes microglia use to sense their environment, which we are calling the microglial sensome,” says Joseph El Khoury, MD, of the “MGH Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases and Division of Infectious Diseases, senior author of the study”. A type of macrophage microglia are known to consistently test their environment in order to sense any indication of infection, inflammation, and injured or dying cells. Depending on the situation they are involved in, the microglia reacts in a neurotoxic response, replying in a defensive protective manner. The microglia can “engulf pathogenic organisms, toxins or damaged cells or release toxic substances that directly destroy microbes or infected brain cells”. In this way microglia is extremely beneficial to the brain because it is able to identify infections before they have any direct contact with the brain. However, this neurotoxic response can also damage healthy cells and can “contribute to the damage caused by several neurodegenerative disorders”, so keeping the response under control is crucial.

El Khoury’s team’s “next step is to see what happens under pathologic conditions” and to define the sensome of microglia and other brain cells in humans, identifying how the sensome changes in central nervous system disorders, and eventually finding ways to safely manipulate the sensome. Discovering the microglia gene is a large and successful step to eventually finding a cure for infectious brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson ’s disease.

Possible HIV Remedy?

By segolene

On September 30, 2013

In Student Post

There wide array of deadly diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Do you ever wonder if there could be a cure for just one? A team of researchers led by Dr. Caroline Goujon and Professor Mike Malim at the Department of Infectious Diseases in King’s College London has recognized a new gene that may have the ability to prevent HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus), a virus that slowly replicates and eventually causes AIDS. AIDS is a human condition that causes continuous failure of the immune system that could potentially lead to life-threatening infections and cancers. The research team has concluded that the human MX2 gene could play a major role in the path to finding an official cure for the deadly virus.

The MX2 gene is the Interferon-induced GTP-binding protein MX2. The protein encoded in this gene has nuclear and cytoplasmic forms. Researches have concluded that this protein could “lead to the development of new, less toxic treatments where the body’s own natural defense system is mobilized against the virus.” The scientists began the experiment by presenting the virus to human cells where the HIV virus had an encounter with two different cell lines and observing effects. After an intense study of the experiment, they detected in one cell line the MX2 gene was “switched on” and in the other cell line the gene was “silenced”. In the cell where the MX2 was switched off the virus duplicated, but in the cells were the gene was switched on no new viruses were produced or continued. In this way, the gene tested positive for its ability to fight off the virus.

The recent finding by the researchers brings way for other researches and scientist to continue to advance their knowledge about the virus. The goal would be to allow the 34 million people worldwide who are infected with HIV to lead a life free of the virus.

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Author: segolene

Is Fluoride the key to Healthy Teeth?

Microglia! Here to the Brain Rescue?

Possible HIV Remedy?

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