Higher activity of PGC-1α enables brown fat cells in females to thermogenic activity and energy expenditure compared to males, reveals a study conducted in Japan. This research demonstrates that PGC-1α protein promotes phospholipid synthesis, which strengthens mitochondria of brown fat cells and enhances their heat-generating capacity in female mice. The findings reveal a female-specific mechanism of energy metabolism, boosted by PGC-1α and estrogen, which could inspire new therapies for the prevention of obesity and diabetes.

Recurrent meningiomas pose a major clinical challenge, often returning with increased aggressiveness and treatment resistance. Researchers from Korea University used single-cell transcriptomics to map tumor evolution from primary to recurrent states, uncovering COL6A3 as a key molecular driver that links tumor proliferation with immune modulation. The study advances our understanding of meningioma biology and also highlights COL6A3 as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target, paving the way for smarter risk stratification and precision therapies.

Pathogens are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. With the goal of developing new therapeutic approaches to treat bacterial infections more effectively in the future, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Max Planck Institute in Marburg investigated the plague-related bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica. It employs a special infection mechanism with which it actively switches between reproductive and infectious phases. The results of the study provide new insights into the dynamics of bacterial infections and have been published in PLOS Pathogens (DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013423)

Duke-NUS study finds that better data, smarter treatment plans and more realistic targets are needed to tackle anaemia, which affects nearly two billion people worldwide and remains a major obstacle to global health goals