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Link made between muscular dystrophy and defective nerve wiring

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a particular protein helps nerve cells extend themselves along the spinal cord during mammalian development. Their results shed light on the subset of muscular dystrophies that result from mutations in the gene that holds the code for the protein, called dystroglycan, and also show how the nerve and muscle failings of the degenerative diseases are related.

20 Dec 2012

Study helps reveal how nervous system modulates motor control patterns

Most people are impressed by how a toad jumps. UC Irvine biologist Emanuel Azizi is more impressed by how one lands. An assistant professor of ecology & evolutionary biology who specializes in muscle physiology and biomechanics, Azizi found that nature's favorite leapers possess a neuromuscular response that's specific to the intensity of a landing - a mechanism that protects muscles from injury upon impact.

20 Dec 2012

Researchers reveal role of dendritic cells in Type 1 diabetes

The researchers reveal the role of the innate immune cells, especially the dendritic cells, that cause the activation of the killer T-lymphocytes whose action is directed against the p pancreatic cells. The results obtained in mice make it possible to consider new ways of regulating the auto-immune reaction generated by the innate immune cells.

20 Dec 2012

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Promising new research provides evidence that ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be treatable using neural stem cells.

20 Dec 2012

Genomic technology revolutionizes gene discovery and disease understanding in autism

Genomic technology has revolutionized gene discovery and disease understanding in autism, according to an article published in the December 20 issue of the journal Neuron.

20 Dec 2012

SR9238 compound can reverse effects of fatty liver disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed the first synthetic compound that can reverse the effects of a serious metabolic condition known as fatty liver disease. True to its name, the disease involves an abnormal buildup of fat in the liver.

20 Dec 2012

Researchers uncover mechanism that switches off cell transport regulating proteins

Researchers at the RUB and from the MPI Dortmund have uncovered the mechanism that switches off the cell transport regulating proteins. They were able to resolve in detail how the central switch protein Rab is down-regulated with two "protein fingers" by its interaction partners.

20 Dec 2012

Harvard scientists shed new light on olfactory feedback mechanism

More than a century after it was first identified, Harvard scientists are shedding new light on a little-understood neural feedback mechanism that may play a key role in how the olfactory system works in the brain.

19 Dec 2012

The association alfa-enolase/plasmin is a new selective target for treating muscular pathologies

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have described a new selective target in muscle regeneration. This is the association of alpha-enolase protein and plasmin.

19 Dec 2012

MITF protein may help develop effective drug treatments for melanoma

Scientists at The University of Manchester have identified a protein that appears to hold the key to creating more effective drug treatments for melanoma, one of the deadliest cancers.

From The University of Manchester 19 Dec 2012

Ion channel acts as powerful ‘brake’ after epileptic seizures

Given that epilepsy impacts more than 2 million Americans, there is a pressing need for new therapies to prevent this disabling neurological disorder. New findings from the neuroscience laboratory of Mark S. Shapiro, Ph.D., at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, published Dec. 20 in the high-impact scientific journal, Neuron, may provide hope.

19 Dec 2012

Cholesterol plays a key role in regulating proteins involved in cell signaling

Cholesterol plays a key role in regulating proteins involved in cell signaling and may be important to many other cell processes, an international team of researchers has found.

19 Dec 2012

Georgia State researcher discover new process to make one-time flu vaccine

A new process to make a one-time, universal influenza vaccine has been discovered by a researcher at Georgia State University's Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection and his partners.

19 Dec 2012

Tumor cells manipulate unfolded protein response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that tumor cells use stress signals to subvert responding immune cells, exploiting them to actually boost conditions beneficial to cancer growth.

19 Dec 2012

Targeting km23-1 protein may slow the spread of cancer cells

The spread of cancer cells may be slowed by targeting the protein km23-1, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

19 Dec 2012

Budding yeast an acceptable model system to study KP1019 anti-cancer drug

Researchers have found that the budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an acceptable model system to study KP1019, an anti-cancer drug that uses ruthenium, a rare metal, a new study found. Researchers had previously been interested in studying KP1019 because it is believed to cause cancer cell death and is not known to have negative secondary side effects for healthy tissues.

19 Dec 2012

Metallic probe can detect fibrils from misfolded proteins in real time

Rice University scientists have discovered a new way to look inside living cells and see the insoluble fibrillar deposits associated with Parkinson's disease.

19 Dec 2012

Study: Purines fend off damage during anesthesia

Anesthesia is quite safe these days. But sometimes putting a patient under to fix one problem, such as heart damage, can harm a different organ, such as a kidney.

19 Dec 2012

Changes in cholesterol metabolism induced by diet can alter the gut flora

For more than half a century, researchers have known that the bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract of mammals influence their host's cholesterol metabolism. Now, Jens Walter and colleagues of the University of Nebraska show that changes in cholesterol metabolism induced by diet can alter the gut flora.

19 Dec 2012

Myostatin responsible for initiation of muscle loss: Study

A research study from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has yielded important breakthroughs on how the body loses muscle, paving the way for new treatments for aging, obesity and diabetes.

19 Dec 2012