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Researchers detail types of genes necessary for brain

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brandeis University have successfully completed a full-genome RNAi screen in neurons, showing what types of genes are necessary for brain development. Details of the screen and its novel methodology are published July 4th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

8 Jul 2008

Compound in red wine may prevent breast cancer

Red wine, or rather the natural compound resveratrol found in the red grapes used to make the wine, is in the news again for all the right reasons.

8 Jul 2008

Discovery of new function for an old enzyme in sialidosis

The lack of a single protein usually thought of as a run-of-the-mill enzyme that helps to recycle molecules in cells causes an incurable and often fatal disease of children, according to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators.

7 Jul 2008

Radioactive "tag" added to formaldehyde helps monitor body chemistry, disease

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have devised a simple, fast method for adding a radioactive "tag" to formaldehyde, a common organic chemical.

7 Jul 2008

Researchers reveal types of genes necessary for brain development

4 Jul 2008

Breast cancer: How tumor cells break free and form metastases

When tumor cells acquire the capacity to move around and invade other tissues, there is a risk of metastases and cancer treatment becomes more difficult. At the Institut Curie, CNRS Director of Research Philippe Chavrier and his group have just discovered how breast cancer cells break the bonds that tether them to the tumor. The basement membrane around the mammary gland is a barrier to the spread of cancer cells. Three proteins in the tumor cells transport enzymes needed to perforate this barrier, and another protein puts these enzymes in the right place.

4 Jul 2008

Gene technique that alters CCR5-producing gene increases resistance to HIV in mice

Altering the gene that produces CCR5 protein on the surface of immune cells using a harmless virus was found to significantly increase resistance to HIV in mice, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the Press Trust of India reports (Press Trust of India, 7/1).

4 Jul 2008

New target for the potential treatment of tuberculosis

Scientists have uncovered a new target for the potential treatment of tuberculosis (TB), finally resolving a long-running debate about how the bacterial cell wall is built.

3 Jul 2008

Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.

3 Jul 2008

Chemists create synthetic catalyst that folds its molecular structure into a specific shape

When chemists want to produce a lot of a substance -- such as a newly designed drug -- they often turn to catalysts, molecules that speed chemical reactions. Many jobs require highly specialized catalysts, and finding one in just the right shape to connect with certain molecules can be difficult. Natural catalysts, such as enzymes in the human body that help us digest food, get around this problem by shape-shifting to suit the task at hand.

3 Jul 2008

New insight into role of statins in dementia

3 Jul 2008

Bacteriophages treat deadly bacterial infections in mice

By the time antibiotics made their clinical debut 70 years ago, bacteria had long evolved strategies to shield themselves. For billions of years, bacteria hurled toxic molecules at each other in the struggle to prosper, and those that withstood the chemical onslaught marched on.

2 Jul 2008

Brain trick offers treatment hope for Alzheimer's

Scientists in the UK and Canada have made a significant step forward in the search for new drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease.

2 Jul 2008

Yeast-based vaccine induces immune responses and reduces tumor size in mice

Scientists have found that vaccination with a heat-killed, non-toxic yeast that is genetically engineered to manufacture a common tumor protein can induce specific and repeated anti-tumor immune responses in mice.

1 Jul 2008

Carbohydrate and caffeine following exhaustive exercise helps muscles refuel

Recipe to recover more quickly from exercise: Finish workout, eat pasta, and wash down with five or six cups of strong coffee.

1 Jul 2008

Hypertension, insulin resistance and immune suppression links

Many of the 75 million Americans with essential hypertension also develop diabetes and other complications in addition to their high blood pressure, and researchers have discovered a common molecular mechanism in a strain of rat that explains why such metabolic disorders arise together in mammals.

30 Jun 2008

Zinc finger technology brings personalized HIV therapy a step closer

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans.

30 Jun 2008

Autophagy promotes pancreatitis

To survive tough times, cells sometimes resort to a form of self-cannibalism called autophagy. But as Hashimoto et al. reveal, autophagy can have a down side, destroying the pancreas by prematurely activating a digestive enzyme.

30 Jun 2008

Watermelon provides Viagra-like effects

A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine's Day.

30 Jun 2008

Dividing cells find their middle by following a protein contour map

Self-organization keeps schools of fish, flocks of birds and colonies of termites in sync. It's also, according to new research, the way cells regulate the final stage of cell division. Scientists at Rockefeller University have shown that a protein-chemistry-based contour map, which helps individual proteins locate the center of their cell without direction from a 'master organizer,' is key to ensuring accurate division during mitosis.

30 Jun 2008