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Karolinska Institutet scientists discover new approach to treat type II diabetes

An international team of scientists, led from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, have discovered an entirely new approach to the treatment of type II diabetes. The therapy involves the blockade of signalling by a protein known as VEGF-B and this prevents fat from accumulating in the 'wrong' places, such as in muscles and in the heart. As a result the cells within these tissues are once again able to respond to insulin.

27 Sep 2012

New understanding about functionality of CFTR protein

CFTR is an important protein that, when mutated, causes the life-threatening genetic disease cystic fibrosis. A study in The Journal of General Physiology (JGP) details how an accidental discovery has provided new understanding about CFTR functionality.

27 Sep 2012

Study elucidates memory-forming signal transmission in the hippocampus

The hippocampus represents an important brain structure for learning. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich discovered how it filters electrical neuronal signals through an input and output control, thus regulating learning and memory processes.

27 Sep 2012

NCI-funded sequencing project aims to identify genetic links to colorectal cancer

Uncovering colon cancer's genetic roots is the focus of a new $13 million, four-year, National Cancer Institute-funded project at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Ulrike (Riki) Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, will lead the effort. She and her colleagues will use next-generation sequencing, a technique that captures entire genome sequences, to identify genetic links to colorectal cancer.

27 Sep 2012

Adult stem cells can prevent Alzheimer's disease

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Korea's leading university and the RNL Bio Stem Cell Technology Institute announced this week the results of a study that suggests an astounding possibility: adult stem cells may not only have a positive effect on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, they can prevent the disease.

27 Sep 2012

CSL develops new drug candidate against type 2 diabetes

CSL Limited has developed a new drug candidate that is able to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and reverse its progression in animal models of the disease.

27 Sep 2012

Researchers characterize brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases

Brain metastases are common secondary complications of other types of cancer, particularly lung, breast and skin cancer. The body's own immune response in the brain is rendered powerless in the fight against these metastases by inflammatory reactions. Researchers at the MedUni Vienna have now, for the first time, precisely characterised the brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases. This could pave the way to the development of new, less aggressive treatment options.

26 Sep 2012

Elsevier announces launch of NeuroImage: Clinical

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announces the launch of NeuroImage: Clinical, a new open access journal, and sister journal to NeuroImage.

26 Sep 2012

Cell Banker 3 cryopreservation solution effectively preserves iPSCs

In a study to determine the best cryopreservation (freezing) solution to maintain induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, a team of researchers from Japan compared 12 kinds of commercially prepared and readily available cryopreservation solutions and found that "Cell Banker 3" out-performed the other 11 solutions by allowing iPS cells to be preserved for a year at -80 degrees C in an undifferentiated state.

26 Sep 2012

Geographic information system software offers new way to study human remains

A common type of geographic mapping software offers a new way to study human remains. In a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, researchers describe how they used commercially available mapping software to identify features inside a human foot bone - a new way to study human skeletal variation.

26 Sep 2012

New cervical cancer screening test introduced in El Salvador

"A new way to screen poor women for cervical cancer was introduced this month in El Salvador, using a test that was originally developed in China," the New York Times reports.

26 Sep 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that appears to underlie non-familial form of Parkinson's

Researchers in the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a mechanism that appears to underlie the common sporadic (non-familial) form of Parkinson's disease, the progressive movement disorder.

26 Sep 2012

New technique can manipulate and measure magnetic particles without contact

If you throw a ball underwater, you'll find that the smaller it is, the faster it moves: A larger cross-section greatly increases the water's resistance. Now, a team of MIT researchers has figured out a way to use this basic principle, on a microscopic scale, to carry out biomedical tests that could eventually lead to fast, compact and versatile medical-testing devices.

26 Sep 2012

Lonafarnib clinical trial for progeria has scientific roots in basic biology discoveries

The good news widely reported this morning of positive results from a clinical drug trial at Boston Children's Hospital for the previously "untreatable" rapid aging disorder in children known as progeria has its scientific roots in basic biology discoveries made in recent years.

26 Sep 2012

Young women with BRCA mutations feel differently about options for relationships, careers

A study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) found that young women who learn they have BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations felt differently about options for relationships, treatment, childbearing and careers.

26 Sep 2012

Fly neurons may uncover secrets of Alzheimer's disease

Although they're a common nuisance in the home, fruit flies have made great contributions to research in genetics and developmental biology. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is again turning to this everyday pest to answer crucial questions about how neurons function at a cellular level - which may uncover the secrets of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

26 Sep 2012

Parts of the brain can evolve independently from each other

An Evolutionary Biologist at The University of Manchester, working with scientists in the United States, has found compelling evidence that parts of the brain can evolve independently from each other. It's hoped the findings will significantly advance our understanding of the brain.

From The University of Manchester 26 Sep 2012

Flow cytometry isolates stem cells from brain tumors

A new video protocol in Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) details an assay to identify brain tumor initiating stem cells from primary brain tumors. Through flow cytometry, scientists separate stem cells from the rest of the tumor, allowing quick and efficient analysis of target cells. This approach has been effectively used to identify similar stem cells in leukemia patients.

26 Sep 2012

Resveratrol can maintain morphine’s pain-relieving effects

Resveratrol—the same natural polyphenol found in red wine—preserves the potent pain-relieving effect of morphine in rats that have developed morphine tolerance, suggests a study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

26 Sep 2012

Study reveals key difference in brain development between human and chimpanzee

Research comparing brain development in humans and our closest nonhuman primate relatives, chimpanzees, reveals how quickly myelin in the cerebral cortex grows, shedding light on the evolution of human cognitive development and the vulnerability of humans to psychiatric disorders, a GW professor finds.

26 Sep 2012