Not all blood vessels play equal roles in brain health. To uncover how the brain regulates its complex circulation, researchers built a detailed computer model of mouse brain vasculature. Focusing on transitional zone vessels—crucial links between arteries and capillaries—the model simulates how each segment adjusts like a tiny valve. It reveals how the brain stabilizes blood flow during pressure shifts or heightened activity, offering new insights into brain protection and potential breakthroughs in diagnosing stroke, Alzheimer’s, and traumatic brain injuries.

A research team from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has published a study in Communications Biology showing how ocean acidification and warming — two of the main consequences of global climate change — can simultaneously affect the structure, mineral composition, and microbiome of bryozoans, colonial invertebrates crucial for forming marine habitats. The findings point to potentially serious ecological consequences under a scenario of accelerated climate change.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) refers to a group of bone disorders in which certain genetic mutations affect the formation of healthy bones. In a new study, researchers have developed a novel mouse model bearing a substitution mutation at position 342 in the specificity protein 7 (Sp7) gene. Utilizing this model, they investigated the role of mature bone cells called osteocytes in OI and clarified the associations between impaired bone remodeling and osteocyte dendrite defects.