Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.
The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.
Cement manufacturing is one of the largest sources of CO2 emissions in the construction industry. At the Department of Architecture, Karen Antorveza Paez, who has just completed her doctorate at ETH Zurich, is researching an alternative that works in a totally different way: instead of firing rocks at over 1,000°C, she is getting bacteria to bond grains of sand together into solid architectural elements.
Researchers from Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, have identified a CaN/NFATC3/Id3/E2A/Bmp4 signaling pathway that helps explain how low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) promotes bone regeneration.
Adipose tissue is a metabolically active organ involved in energy storage, endocrine signaling, and whole-body metabolic regulation.
The study reveals chlorophyll's role in creating highly compressible hydrogels, paving the way for advanced cardiac patches in minimally invasive surgeries.
Epithelial cells form the body's frontline barriers, helping keep microbes, toxins, and other harmful substances out. Yet these protective cells are constantly exposed to threats, including microbial infections.
Dr. GPCR, the global knowledge hub for G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) research and education, today announced a strategic partnership with Eurofins Discovery, the drug discovery services side of the same group behind the Eurofins DiscoverX products many in the community already know.
Using cryo-electron microscopy, researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have revealed how muscle cell calcium channels open synchronously. The findings, published in "Nature Communications," may explain a mechanism behind serious muscle diseases.
Research shows maternal infections affect fetal brain development, with immune responses linked to autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental issues.
Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, Kyoto University, SOKENDAI, and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences have revealed how CaMKIIα-a key brain protein involved in learning and memory-organizes itself into chain-like structures.
We can't hear it, but the different parts of our body are in constant conversation, communicating to keep the entire system running efficiently.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery have discovered the unspecialized stem cells that give rise to the body's tendons and ligaments, the tissues connecting muscles and bones.
Every movement we make, from blinking to sprinting, depends on the ability of muscle fibers to contract in a rapid and coordinated way. Achieving this precision requires an intricate internal membrane network known as the transverse tubule, or T-tubule, system.
Colorectal tumors trigger inflammatory nerve damage, suggesting cancer itself may be a risk factor for neuropathy in survivors, independent of treatments.
For decades, biologists assumed that cells transmit instructions mainly through the concentration of signaling molecules - the higher the level, the stronger the response.
Biology doesn’t happen at one scale. Molecular interactions unfold in milliseconds and nanometers, while disease-associated change such as in Alzheimer’s spreads across millimeters of brain tissue.
Within the brain, neurons compute by generating electrical impulses. These signals travel throughout neurons, which are in turn connected in vast networks that control brain functions such as sensory perception, memory formation, and control of movement.
Researchers combined local restimulation of skin-resident memory T cells with hydrogel-coated microneedle patches to recruit and sample rare immune cells. In mouse models, the approach recovered more antigen-specific T cells than a blood sample or punch biopsy, while studies in humans supported short-term tolerability and proof-of-concept cell sampling.
The brain is a vast, densely interconnected network of neurons computing in parallel. Watching these computations unfold in real time could reveal how the brain processes sensation and guides behavior.
Proteins regulate a wide range of biological processes inside and outside cells by binding to specific molecular partners.
An international study by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has identified a fundamental mechanism that regulates how the body uses stored fat to produce energy.
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