New Curtin University research has revealed that high densities of European honey bees could be harming Australian native bees’ ‘fitness’ by reducing their reproductive success and altering key traits linked to survival.

Researchers from the Turner lab have published the first description of the role of the ZFP36 family of RNA binding proteins in regulatory T cells (Tregs).

Tregs are key to maintaining balance in the immune system and essential to preventing autoimmune disease.

By the targeted deletion of Zfp36l1 and Zfp36l2 in Tregs in mice, the findings demonstrate that loss of these RNA binding proteins results in Tregs no longer being able to control other immune cell types, which results in inflammation.

The data point to a key role of ZFP36L1 and ZFP36L2 in governing multiple cytokine responses in Tregs, including regulating the availability of the cytokine interferon-gamma, which activates immune responses, as well as being important in maintaining Treg stability.

Virginia Tech researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute have discovered that microscopic structural changes in the aging heart may help prevent irregular heartbeats. The discovery challenges the idea that all age-related heart changes are harmful. 

In a recent study published in Current Biology, a research team led by Professor Takashi Ueda of the National Institute for Basic Biology and Associate Professor Masaru Fujimoto of the University of Tokyo has revealed the molecular steps that led to the emergence of this plant-specific vacuolar transport system. Their work shows that the acquisition of this pathway was driven by the stepwise neofunctionalization of a membrane fusion protein called VAMP7.