Hello, Superhighway Interstitium!

A newfound organ, the interstitium, is seen here beneath the top layer of skin, but is also in tissue layers lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles. The organ is a body-wide network of interconnected, fluid-filled compartments supported by a meshwork of strong, flexible proteins. Credit: Jill Gregory. Printed with permission from Mount Sinai Health System, licensed under CC-BY-ND.

It does matter how you look at things.

For instance, for decades our scientists have been slicing and dicing tissue specimens, drying them, sticking them on slides, and then studying them through a microscope.

Now, comes a breakthrough discovery: We have a massive organ, the interstitium. No one knew about it until now because of the previous way researchers looked at tissue samples.

NYU Langone Medical Center researchers said the discovery of the, “previously unknown feature of human anatomy has implications for the function of all organs, most tissues and the mechanisms of most major diseases”.

Now that we have, “eyes that see”, we know that there is much more going on in our bodies than we previously thought. These researchers have discovered our body's superhighway.

“The interstitium, is found beneath the top layer of skin, but is also in tissue layers lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles. The organ is a body-wide network of interconnected, fluid-filled compartments.”

“The researchers say that no one saw these spaces before because of the medical field's dependence on the examination of fixed tissue on microscope slides, believed to offer the most accurate view of biological reality. Scientists prepare tissue this examination by treating it with chemicals, slicing it thinly, and dying it to highlight key features. The "fixing" process makes vivid details of cells and structures, but drains away any fluid. The current research team found that the removal of fluid as slides are made causes the connective protein meshwork surrounding once fluid-filled compartments to pancake, like the floors of a collapsed building.”

"This fixation artifact of collapse has made a fluid-filled tissue type throughout the body appear solid in biopsy slides for decades, and our results correct for this to expand the anatomy of most tissues," says co-senior author Neil Theise, MD, professor in the Department of Pathology at NYU Langone Health. "This finding has potential to drive dramatic advances in medicine, including the possibility that the direct sampling of interstitial fluid may become a powerful diagnostic tool."

Here's the whole story…

Newfound 'organ' had been missed by standard method for visualizing anatomy, NYU Langone Health, medicalxpress.com, 27 Mar 2018.

Aretha Franklin - Freeway Of Love - 1985

Grandma Baker

One day while in my senior year at the University of Akron, I rushed home to change cloths. I remember walking into my parent’s home and seeing my grandmother in the living room. 

Grandma Baker was always a kind and wonderful person to talk with. She took care of me when I was a tiny terror and my mother was ill with TB. Maybe that’s why I felt so close to her and saw her more of a friend than a “grandmother”. I enjoyed stopping by her place and sharing a few moments with her while on my way to work at City Hospital while I was in school.

But this time was different.

I remember the look on her face when she saw me, At first, it was totally blank… then her expression turned to fear. She didn’t recognize me at all.

I was totally devastated. Grandma was one of the most important people in my life. In fact only a few weeks prior we had talked and laughed together, just like always.

“Those good days are past now… and Grandma is a person I no longer know,” I remember thinking.

Today I know that my Grandma was ill with some form of Alzheimer’s disease.

But in 1969, I didn’t know. I was frightened because I understood even back then that it is a fatal disease with no known cure.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about five million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer’s and researchers predict that the incidence of Alzheimer’s will triple over the next 50 years.

The other day, I stumbled upon an article about a new study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Researchers there have found that, “… tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active compound in marijuana, appears to remove toxic buildups of amyloid beta protein in the brain — the brain plaques which are linked with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”

I know much remains to be done before this breakthrough becomes a part of our lives. Still, I wish Grandma Baker were still on this Earth. Maybe there would be enough time to help her.

And, me, too. I miss my friend.

Please go here for the rest of the story:

THC Can Remove the Toxic Plaques That Cause Alzheimer’s, Study Finds,

Kelly Tatera, The Science Explorer, 4 July 2016.

Breakthrough Monday #1

If you follow scientific, health or technology, you know that breakthrough findings and developments are being made nearly everyday. We are constantly learning new things about ourselves, our world and our universe. Here are four breakthroughs which will at some point change our lives:

1. Scientists confirm DNA holds a second layer of information.
“Physicists at Leiden Institute of Physics have confirmed a long-standing hypothesis, that a second layer of information exists on top of the genetic code in DNA. Leiden theoretical physicists have proven that not only the genetic information in DNA determines who we are, but also DNA’s mechanics. Helmut Schiessel and his group simulated many DNA sequences and found a correlation between mechanical cues and the way DNA is folded.”

2. Desalination Breakthrough: Saving the Sea from Salt
“A chemist finds a way to cut supersalty discharge and CO2 as the Middle East relies ever more on seawater desalination.”

3. Tiny lasers on silicon means big things for electronics
“Scientists have found a way to create nanoscale lasers directly from silicon, unlocking the possibilities of direct integration of photonics on integrated circuits.”

4. Early Puberty in Girls Is Becoming Epidemic and Getting Worse
“Girls with early onset puberty face a number of mental and physical health risks.”

“Girls with earlier maturation are at risk for lower self-esteem and higher rates of depression. They are more likely to be influenced by older peers and more deviant peers, and initiate intercourse, substance use, and other norm-breaking behaviors at younger ages,” writes Frank M. Biro in the journal Pediatrics. “The biologic impact of earlier maturation includes greater risk of several cancers, including breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer, as well as obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertension.”

Heart disease risk is also increased. - RB

Above figure caption: The rigid base-pair model is forced, using 28 constraints (indicated by red spheres), into a left-handed superhelical path that mimics the DNA conformation in the nucleosome.