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Genetically engineered proteins may be promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity

Scientists used fruit flies to show for the first time that a new class of genetically engineered proteins can be used to watch nerve cell electrical activity in live brains. The results, published in Cell, suggest these proteins may be a promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity in multiple animals and for studying how neurological disorders disrupt normal nerve cell signaling.

9 Aug 2013

Tubingen researchers resolve how a plant steroid hormone makes plants grow

If one wants to better understand how plants grow, one must analyse the chemistry of life in its molecular detail. Michael Hothorn from the Friedrich-Miescher-Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in T-bingen and his team are doing just that. Their latest work now reveals that a plant membrane receptor requires a helper protein to sense a growth-promoting steroid hormone and to transduce this signal across the cell membrane.

9 Aug 2013

Four genetic variants in non-small cell lung cancer patients help predict survival, treatment response

Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have identified four inherited genetic variants in non-small cell lung cancer patients that can help predict survival and treatment response. Their findings could help lead to more personalized treatment options and improved outcomes for patients.

9 Aug 2013

Researchers find antibodies specific to MERS-CoV in dromedary camels

Researchers searching for signs of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in livestock animals have found antibodies specific to the new virus in dromedary camels. The research, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggests that these animals have encountered MERS-CoV, or a closely related virus, and may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing MERS in humans.

9 Aug 2013

Sericin can decrease blood glucose levels and alleviate diabetic hippocampal damage

Preliminary studies by Dr. Zhihong Chen and colleagues from Chengde Medical College have shown that sericin might improve aberrant Akt signaling, decrease heme oxygenase-1 expression in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, and reduce the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in diabetic rats, thus protecting the nervous system.

9 Aug 2013

TUM scientists decode typical protein profile of tumor cells

In what is the biggest study of its kind to date, researchers from Technische Universit-t M-nchen have identified over 10,000 different proteins in cancer cells. "Nearly all anti-tumor drugs are targeted against cellular proteins," says Prof. Bernhard K-ster, Head of the TUM Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. "Identifying the proteome the protein portfolio of tumor cells increases our chances of finding new targets for drugs."

9 Aug 2013

Research findings offer clues to the origin of retinal disorders later in life

Scientists are developing a clearer picture of how visual systems develop in mammals. The findings offer important clues to the origin of retinal disorders later in life.

9 Aug 2013

Research suggests blocking DNA repair complex helps fight therapy-resistant leukemia

New research posted online by the Nature journal Leukemia suggests blocking part of a DNA repair complex that helps some types of leukemia resist treatment can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and enhance survival.

9 Aug 2013

Pregnant rats fed with high-fat diet experience preeclampsia-like syndromes

Preeclampsia is a relatively common pregnancy disorder, characterized by primary hypertension and proteinuria. In patients with severe preeclampsia, eclampsia can develop, causing nervous system symptoms and signs.

9 Aug 2013

Study: Immune-regulating molecules can trigger lymphomas

A small group of immune-regulating molecules, when overproduced even moderately, can trigger the blood cancers known as lymphomas, according to a new study led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).

9 Aug 2013

Study: 3 enzymes required for building sugar superstructure involved in muscular dystrophies

For many inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington disease, the disease-causing genetic mutation damages or removes a protein that has an essential role in the body. This protein defect is the root cause of the disease symptoms.

9 Aug 2013

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

High mobility group A genes are highly expressed in all aggressive cancers studied to date. These genes encode the high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins. In other words, these genes provide the genetic “code” necessary to produce HMGA proteins.

8 Aug 2013

DASA Group to offer Natera's non-invasive prenatal test for detection of genetic syndromes

DASA Group and Natera today announced that DASA Group will begin offering Natera's non-invasive prenatal test Panorama for the detection of genetic syndromes common in the population, such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome ), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and monosomy X (Turner syndrome).

From Natera 8 Aug 2013

Findings could lead to development of therapeutic agents for age-related diseases

Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have identified a key factor that regulates the autophagy process, a kind of cleansing mechanism for cells in which waste material and cellular debris is gobbled up to protect cells from damage, and in turn, modulates aging.

8 Aug 2013

Penn State researchers find that protein changes can control gene functions

A Penn State-led research team has found that changes to proteins called histones, which are associated with DNA, can control whether or not a gene is allowed to function. The changes may be important in maintaining the genes' "expression potential" so that future cells behave as their parent cells did.

8 Aug 2013

Biodegradable surgical sutures could treat brain infections

A plastic material already used in absorbable surgical sutures and other medical devices shows promise for continuous administration of antibiotics to patients with brain infections, scientists are reporting in a new study. Use of the material, placed directly on the brain's surface, could reduce the need for weeks of costly hospital stays now required for such treatment, they say in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

8 Aug 2013

Overthinking can be harmful to human performance, finds study

Trying to explain riding a bike is difficult because it is an implicit memory. The body knows what to do, but thinking about the process can often interfere. So why is it that under certain circumstances paying full attention and trying hard can actually impede performance? A new UC Santa Barbara study, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals part of the answer.

8 Aug 2013

Researchers unveil comprehensive portrait of the genome of world's first immortal cell line

A team from the University of Washington has unveiled a comprehensive portrait of the genome of the world's first immortal cell line, known as HeLa. The cell line was derived in 1951 from an aggressive cervical cancer that killed Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American tobacco farmer and mother of five - the subject of the 2010 New York Times bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

8 Aug 2013

Ret enzyme may be a novel therapeutic target in selected groups of breast cancer patients

Scientists at the MedUni Vienna, in collaboration with a working group led by Nancy Hynes at the University of Basel, have discovered a new approach in the treatment of breast cancer: an international team involving the Clinical Institute of Pathology at the MedUni Vienna has been able to demonstrate the activation of a receptor, the Ret protein (Rearranged during transfection), on the surface of breast cancer cells. Increased levels of this protein are associated with a lower likelihood of survival for breast cancer patients.

8 Aug 2013

Understanding the movement of neurons sheds light on how cancer cells invade health tissues

The invasion of brain-tumor cells into surrounding tissue requires the same protein molecule that neurons need to migrate into position as they differentiate and mature, according to new research from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and published August 7 in the online journal PLOS ONE.

8 Aug 2013

Medical Science News

Genetically engineered proteins may be promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity

Tubingen researchers resolve how a plant steroid hormone makes plants grow

Four genetic variants in non-small cell lung cancer patients help predict survival, treatment response

Researchers find antibodies specific to MERS-CoV in dromedary camels

Sericin can decrease blood glucose levels and alleviate diabetic hippocampal damage

TUM scientists decode typical protein profile of tumor cells

Research findings offer clues to the origin of retinal disorders later in life

Research suggests blocking DNA repair complex helps fight therapy-resistant leukemia

Pregnant rats fed with high-fat diet experience preeclampsia-like syndromes

Study: Immune-regulating molecules can trigger lymphomas

Study: 3 enzymes required for building sugar superstructure involved in muscular dystrophies

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

DASA Group to offer Natera's non-invasive prenatal test for detection of genetic syndromes

Findings could lead to development of therapeutic agents for age-related diseases

Penn State researchers find that protein changes can control gene functions

Biodegradable surgical sutures could treat brain infections

Overthinking can be harmful to human performance, finds study

Researchers unveil comprehensive portrait of the genome of world's first immortal cell line

Ret enzyme may be a novel therapeutic target in selected groups of breast cancer patients

Understanding the movement of neurons sheds light on how cancer cells invade health tissues

Neurofilament light as a translational biomarker

How can machine learning accelerate neuroscience behavior studies?

CoppaFeel!: Breast Cancer Doesn’t Discriminate, So Why Should Awareness?

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