Medical Research News

RSS

New discovery on programmed cell death

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process.

1 Mar 2008

Nicotine's effects are receptor specific

Following chronic nicotine exposure, nicotine receptors increase in number, an upregulation that contributes to nicotine's addictive properties.

1 Mar 2008

Real-time imaging device may improve surgery for congenital colon disease

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are developing a spectral imaging system that could result in shorter operating times for infants undergoing surgery for Hirschsprung's disease, according to a mouse study reported in the Journal of Biophotonics.

1 Mar 2008

Genetic factors in smoking also increase risk of chronic bronchitis

Smoking is a known risk factor for respiratory diseases like chronic bronchitis, but genes also play a significant role in its development, according to researchers in Sweden, who studied more than 40,000 Swedish twins to determine the extent to which behavior, environment and genes each play a role ion the development of chronic bronchitis.

1 Mar 2008

Discovery of key molecular mechanism that may account for the development of cystic fibrosis

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a key molecular mechanism that may account for the development of cystic fibrosis, which about 1 in 3000 children are born with in the US every year.

1 Mar 2008

Virtual peers being used to help kids with autism

Using "virtual peers" - animated life-sized children that simulate the behaviors and conversation of typically developing children - Northwestern University researchers are developing interventions designed to prepare children with autism for interactions with real-life children.

1 Mar 2008

Potential target to treat deadly bloodstream infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections.

28 Feb 2008

New genetic link to schizophrenia

Schizophrenia emerges from an altered pattern of brain development, and researchers continue to search for the genes that cause the brain to develop along a path that ultimately leads to schizophrenia.

28 Feb 2008

Gene expression differences between Europeans and Africans affect response to drugs, infections

Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Expression Research Laboratory at Affymetrix Inc. of Santa Clara, CA.

28 Feb 2008

Age related macular degeneration doubles heart attack and stroke risk

The progressive eye disease, age related macular degeneration, or AMD for short, doubles the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke, reveals research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

28 Feb 2008

Blocking a signaling protein kills prostate cancer cells

Researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have shown that they can effectively kill prostate cancer cells in both the laboratory and in experimental animal models by blocking a signaling protein that is key to the cancer's growth.

28 Feb 2008

Atypical protein kinase C stabilizes SRC-3 levels in breast cancer cells

A new study provides valuable insight into a previously undescribed mechanism that regulates a prominent cancer-associated protein.

28 Feb 2008

Rresearch may lead to a better flu vaccine

New research from a scientist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has uncovered information that may someday lead to a better flu vaccine.

28 Feb 2008

Urine protein microalbuminuria may be present before hypertension diagnosis in at-risk adolescents

A protein that is an early indicator of kidney dysfunction in adults may predict hypertension in black adolescents, Medical College of Georgia researchers have found.

28 Feb 2008

Discovery of potential drug targets for sepsis

"We have identified a key connection of signaling pathways in the cascade of events leading to sepsis. This defines a crucial point where the immune system spirals out of control to cause severe sepsis and where there is an opportunity for therapeutic intervention," says Scripps Research Professor Wolfram Ruf, who led the research with his postdoctoral fellow Frank Niessen.

28 Feb 2008