Researchers discovered that plants rapidly activate a coordinated immune response during drought recovery, prioritizing immunity over growth. This finding highlights the importance of studying the post-drought period and points to new strategies for engineering crops that can rebound more effectively after environmental stress.
Researchers at Salk Institute discover a new microprotein, SLC35A4-MP, that regulates mitochondrial structure and function in brown fat tissue. The study reveals the microprotein's role in maintaining healthy cellular metabolism and regulating body temperature.
Lucia Strader's lab at Salk will explore how plants sense and integrate environmental cues to shape their growth and development. Her work aims to advance fundamental understanding of plant biology and design more resilient crop varieties.
Researchers create first genetic atlas to span entire Arabidopsis life cycle, capturing gene expression patterns of 400,000 cells in multiple developmental stages. The atlas provides comprehensive insights into plant biology, enabling future studies on different cell types and developmental stages.
Blum investigates how the immune system interprets what we eat, exploring mechanisms of oral tolerance and signaling that help our bodies tolerate most foods. Her research could enable new immunotherapy strategies for preventing or treating food allergies.
Researchers at Salk Institute used CRISPR-Cas9 to delete large duplicated regions in Arabidopsis thaliana genomes, revealing minimal off-target effects. The study shows that it's possible to obtain viable plants with streamlined, minimal plant genomes, challenging assumptions about essential DNA blocks.
Researchers at the Salk Institute have identified dozens of microproteins that play a crucial role in regulating fat cell proliferation and lipid accumulation. This breakthrough discovery offers new potential drug targets for treating obesity and metabolic disorders, building on recent advances in CRISPR gene editing technologies.
Researchers at Salk Institute launched a machine learning framework called ShortStop to explore overlooked DNA regions and discover microproteins with potential roles in disease. The tool identified 210 new microprotein candidates in lung cancer data, including one validated target for therapeutic treatment.
Researchers discovered that immune cells called T cells are abundant in mammary glands during pregnancy and breastfeeding, with some relocating from the gut. This finding may help explain the benefits of breastfeeding and inform dietary decisions to enhance breast milk production and quality.
Diana Hargreaves will receive $1 million to advance her project on improving immunotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer. Her previous work identified better drug targets for cancers with SWI/SNF mutations, leading to breakthroughs in treating difficult-to-treat cancers.
Researchers at the Salk Institute have identified a brain circuit that gives physical pain its emotional tone, revealing a potential target for treating chronic and affective pain conditions. The study found that a group of neurons in the thalamus can mediate the emotional side of pain in mice.
Deepshika Ramanan, a Salk Assistant Professor, has been recognized as a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar for her innovative research on maternal immunity and lactation. She will receive annual grants of up to $110,000 to conduct groundbreaking work in neuroscience, cancer, immunology, and pain.
Researchers created the most comprehensive genetic atlas of cannabis, revealing unprecedented diversity and untapped opportunity in this foundational agricultural species. The study sets the stage for transformative advances in cannabis-based agriculture, medicine, and industry.
Salk Institute and UC San Diego researchers captured the first-of-its-kind video of dynein-Lis1 protein interaction, revealing 16 detailed shapes that support designing therapeutics to restore dynein and Lis1 function. The insights gained from this movie will help identify precise locations where drugs can interact with the proteins.
Terrence Sejnowski has been elected to the Royal Society and the American Philosophical Society, a testament to his groundbreaking contributions to computational neuroscience. His pioneering work includes inventing the Boltzmann machine and NETtalk program, which revolutionized artificial neural networks and speech recognition.
Estrogen-related receptors play a crucial role in regulating muscle cell metabolism and energy production. Researchers discovered that these receptors can increase mitochondrial numbers and enhance energetic output when muscles need more energy, making them a promising therapeutic target for metabolic disorders.
Researchers identify CLE16 peptide as key molecule promoting symbiotic relationship between plants and beneficial soil fungi. Supplementing with this peptide or its fungal equivalent can enhance nutrient exchange and strengthen these traits in crops.
Researchers at Salk Institute discover SSRIs like Prozac regulate immune response, preventing sepsis in mice. The findings suggest a potential new use for the popular drug, which could lead to life-saving treatments and enhanced global preparedness for pandemics.
A new study from the Salk Institute has discovered that a protein called BCL6 plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy muscle mass. Increasing BCL6 levels successfully reversed muscle losses in mice, suggesting that pairing GLP-1 medications with a BCL6-boosting drug could help counteract unwanted muscle loss.
Scientists at Salk Institute discovered that removing bile acid-creating protein BAAT and adding bile acid UDCA controls tumor growth in mice with liver cancer. UDCA supplements may be a quick solution to improving liver cancer patient outcomes.
Researchers discovered that the protein PIN1 drives bladder cancer by triggering cholesterol synthesis, which fuels out-of-control cell growth. A combination of statins and a PIN1 inhibitor effectively blocks tumor growth in mice, offering a promising therapeutic approach for this deadly disease.
Researchers have debuted the first comprehensive gene expression atlas of the plant periderm at the single-cell level, providing new insights into phellem cells and their role in carbon storage. The atlas could be used to stimulate growth of the protective periderm in plants facing environmental stress due to climate change.
Researchers at Salk Institute discovered plant cells enter an immune state to fight pathogens, using Primary IMmunE Responder (PRIMER) cells as hubs for the immune response. These cells are surrounded by bystander cells that enable long-distance cell-to-cell communication.
Researchers at Salk Institute establish a novel framework for the relationship between nutrition and cell identity. They found that a nutritional switch from acetate to citrate plays a key role in determining T cell fates, shifting them from active effector cells to exhausted cells.
Researchers found that a regulatory level change enabled C4 plants to photosynthesize more efficiently. By studying this shift, they believe it could be applied to make C3 crops like rice and wheat more resilient to climate change.
Researchers at the Salk Institute identified a specific brain circuit responsible for slowing anxious breathing, connecting the frontal cortex to the brainstem. This discovery may offer a scientific explanation for the beneficial effects of practices like yoga and mindfulness on alleviating negative emotions and could lead to the devel...
Researchers from Salk Institute found that specific dietary fats are incorporated into sphingolipids to drive the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The team discovered that trans fats are preferentially metabolized by an enzyme, leading to increased lipoprotein secretion and plaque formation.
Researchers demonstrate the first cross-chiral exponential amplification of an RNA enzyme, potentially leading to the development of cross-chiral therapeutics and biotechnologies. The discovery suggests that a bioengineer can create a new form of biochemical evolution by using both left- and right-handed molecules.
A clinical trial found time-restricted eating improved blood sugar regulation and reduced markers of metabolic dysfunction in adults with metabolic syndrome. Participants who followed a customized eight-to-ten-hour eating window saw significant improvements compared to standard treatments.
A new brain-mapping neurotechnology called Single Transcriptome Assisted Rabies Tracing (START) has been developed to map the brain's intricate neuronal connections. The technique combines two advanced technologies to resolve cortical connectivity at the resolution of transcriptomic cell types, enabling the identification of distinct p...
Researchers created a mouse model to study relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs), revealing the syndrome impacts the entire body and affects males and females differently. REDs leads to hormonal and reproductive issues, insomnia and fatigue, bone weakness and injury, and anxiety and depression.
Salk researchers created tools to study neuropeptides, finding they control the brain's fear response in mice. Neuropeptides are released during a mild stimulus, triggering fear behaviors, which can be reduced by silencing their release.
A new study by Salk scientists reveals a key gene that enhances plants' zinc tolerance, allowing them to thrive in toxic conditions. The discovery enables the development of crops more resilient to soil contamination, a major goal of Salk's Harnessing Plants Initiative.
Telo-seq reveals dynamic mechanisms of telomeres in aging and cancer, providing new insights into their role in health and disease. The breakthrough method determines telomere length and sequence on individual chromosomes.
Scientists at Salk Institute discover a molecular mechanism that helps macrophages mount a coordinated response tailored to a specific immune challenge. The discovery reveals new immune system mechanisms that could be targeted with therapeutics to regulate inflammation.
Researchers at Salk Institute found that higher temperatures drain plants of important dietary nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, affecting their long-term sustainability. The study's findings will inform the engineering of climate-resilient crops to address global warming's impact on food production.
Researchers found that ARID1A mutation renders tumors sensitive to immunotherapy by triggering an antiviral immune response. This could lead to improved patient outcomes and the development of targeted therapies.
Salk scientists develop new method to quantify synaptic features, revealing high precision of plasticity and up to 10 times more storage capacity. The technique uses information theory to analyze synapse pairs from a rat hippocampus, offering a scalable approach for studying brain function.
Using AI software called SLEAP, scientists at Salk Institute are designing climate-saving plants with optimized root systems that can store more carbon. This approach enables researchers to analyze plant features and connect desirable traits to targetable genes, accelerating the development of carbon-capturing plants.
Scientists at Salk Institute explore the clinical potential of cannabinol (CBN) in treating traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. They identify four CBN analogs with improved neuroprotective ability and drug-like efficacy.
A recent study at Salk Institute evaluates the reliability of patient-derived organoids as a clinical model for pancreatic cancer. The findings reveal that organoids' gene expression and drug responses are not affected by commercial extracellular matrix brands, but one product increases growth rate.
Researchers at Salk Institute unveil an RNA enzyme that can accurately copy functional RNA strands and allow new variants to emerge over time. This discovery brings scientists closer to producing autonomous RNA life in the laboratory, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of the origins of life.
Researchers at Salk Institute have created a novel organoid model of the human brain that includes mature, functional astrocytes. This allows for the study of inflammation and stress in aging and diseases like Alzheimer's with greater clarity, revealing a relationship between astrocyte dysfunction and inflammation.
Researchers at Salk Institute find a new method to interrupt sperm production using an HDAC inhibitor, which blocks fertility without affecting libido. The treatment's reversibility is attributed to its ability to modulate gene expression downstream of retinoic acid.
Researchers have found a highly conserved ethylene signaling pathway that can be targeted to control the direction of root growth, creating deeper root systems that hold on to carbon and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This breakthrough could help engineer crops more resilient to climate change and drought.
Scientists discovered a novel mechanism for removing mtDNA from mitochondria, which can initiate an immune response promoting inflammation. The discovery reveals new targets for therapeutics to disrupt the inflammatory pathway and mitigate inflammation during aging and diseases.
Lung adenocarcinoma cells manipulate macrophage lipid metabolism to drive tumor progression. This exploitation of immune cells' metabolic pathways may be targeted with statins, improving lung cancer treatments.
Researchers discovered that plants eliminate IMA1 to prevent harmful bacteria from thriving, but increasing IMA1 levels makes leaves more resistant to attack. This finding suggests a deep connection between iron availability and the plant immune system.
Researchers have discovered a brain circuit that mediates panic disorder, consisting of specialized neurons that send and receive the neuropeptide PACAP. Inhibiting PACAP signaling reduces panic symptoms, offering promising findings for future treatments.
Researchers at Salk Institute assembled the most complete atlas of the mouse brain by analyzing over 2 million brain cells. The detailed atlas reveals thousands of cell types, their connections, genes, and regulatory programs active in each cell, providing new insights into human disease vulnerabilities.