New way to reduce progression of diabetic kidney disease discovered7 February 2023A new way to reduce progression of diabetic kidney disease, affecting 40% of people with diabetes, has been discovered by scientists. The University of Bristol-led study published today [7 February] in JCI Insight, could help the 4.8 million people in the UK with diabetes who are four times more likely to need either dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Anti-aging gene shown to rewind heart age by 10 years23 January 2023An anti-aging gene discovered in a population of centenarians has been shown to rewind the heart's biological age by 10 years. The breakthrough, published in Cardiovascular Research and led by scientists at the University of Bristol and the MultiMedica Group in Italy, offers a potential target for patients with heart failure.
Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment23 November 2022Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are more likely to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery, until now. Researchers of the University of Bristol-led study, published in Science Advances today [23 November], say their findings could lead to the development of a pan-coronavirus treatment to defeat all coronaviruses—from the 2002 SARS-CoV outbreak to Omicron, the current variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as dangerous variants that may emerge in future.
Patient-specific cancer tumours replicated in 3D bioprinting advance2 November 2022Bowel cancer patients could in future benefit from a new 3D bioprinting technology which would use their own cells to replicate the complex cellular environment of solid tumours in 3D models. The University of Bristol-led advance, published in Biofabrication, would allow clinicians to treat the models, known as spheroids, with chemotherapy drugs and radiation to help them understand an individual patient’s resistance to therapies.
Reprogramming of immune cells shown to fight off melanoma31 October 2022A new way of reprogramming our immune cells to shrink or kill off cancer cells has been shown to work in the otherwise hard to treat and devastating skin cancer, melanoma. The University of Bristol-led discovery, published in Advanced Science today [31 October], demonstrates a new way to clear early stage pre-cancerous and even late-stage tumour cells.
Novel host cell pathway hijacked during COVID-19 infection uncovered by Bristol researchers14 June 2022An international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has been investigating how the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, manipulates host proteins to penetrate into human cells. After identifying Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) as a host factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, new findings published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today [14 June] describe how the coronavirus subverts a host cell pathway in order to infect human cells.
