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The authors looked at how a 3D bioprinter could be used to model the blood brain barrier.

Berberine is a natural quaternary alkaloid that has anti-microbial and anti-cancer effects. This compound can bind to Guanine Quadruplex (G4) DNA secondary complexes to help inhibit cancer cell proliferation. In this study, the authors investigate whether incorporating large aromatic rings helps to stabilize berberine-G4 interactions.

Here, the authors recognized the tendency of bacteria to form biofilms, where this behavior offers protection against threats such as antibiotics. To investigate this, they observed the effects of sublethal exposure of the antibiotic ampicillin on E. coli biofilm formation with an optical density crystal violet assay. They found that exposure to ampicillin resulted in the favored formation of biofilms over time, as free-floating bacteria were eradicated.

In this study, the authors analyze gene expression datasets to determine if there is a core set of genes dysregulated during nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is related to many neurological disorders, and can be caused by oxidative stress to cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) composing the BBB. The authors of the paper investigated the protective effects of the total saponins in the leaves of Panax notoginseng (LPNS) on oxidative-stress-induced damage in a mouse cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line.

In this article the authors address the complex and life quality-diminishing neurodegenerative disease known as Parkinson's. Although genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to the etiology of the disease, the diagnostic symptoms are the same. By genetically modifying fruit flies to exhibit symptoms of Parkinson's disease, they investigate whether drugs that inhibit mitochondrial calcium uptake or activate the lysosomal degradation of proteins could improve the symptoms of Parkinson's these flies exhibit. The authors report the most promising outcome to be that when both types of drugs were used together. Their data provides encouraging evidence to support further investigation of the utility of such drugs in the treatment of human Parkinson's patients.