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Studies in mice reveal how mood-altering drugs may affect brain stem cells

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have figured out how stem cells found in a part of the brain responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation decide to remain dormant or create new brain cells. Apparently, the stem cells "listen in" on the chemical communication among nearby neurons to get an idea about what is stressing the system and when they need to act.

7 Aug 2012

Changes in monocytes are biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) are the first to discover that changes in monocytes (a type of white blood cell) are a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. This finding also brings the medical community a step closer toward a new treatment for the debilitating neurological disease that affects approximately 30,000 Americans.

7 Aug 2012

Fainting appears to have strong genetic predisposition

Fainting has a strong genetic predisposition, according to new research published in the August 7, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Fainting, also called vasovagal syncope, is a brief loss of consciousness when your body reacts to certain triggers, such as emotional distress or the sight of blood.

7 Aug 2012

Mutations in Ras gene alone may not cause tumours

Despite a huge amount of research effort, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the transition from a "normal" cell to a cancerous cell are only poorly understood. After the discovery of the first cancer-causing genes or oncogenes and the finding that they are mutated forms of normal cellular genes, it was widely believed that a single mutation was enough to cause cancer.

6 Aug 2012

Human-derived breast cancer xenografts allow revolution in individualized cancer care

Cell cultures are homogeneous. Human tumors are not. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment reports the development of human-derived estrogen-positive (ER+) breast cancer models that retain their heterogeneity, allowing researchers to more accurately test drugs for this disease.

6 Aug 2012

Previously uncharacterized protein dramatically influences inflammation

A UNC-led team of scientists describes the function of a previously uncharacterized protein that dramatically influences inflammation.

6 Aug 2012

Potential drug targets and prognostic markers for prostate cancer

Two proteins that act in opposing directions - one that promotes cancer and one that suppresses cancer - regulate the same set of genes in prostate cancer, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have found.

6 Aug 2012

New research center to expedite study of gene transfer approach

In an alliance aimed at bringing a new, personalized immunotherapy approach to patients with a wide variety of cancers, the University of Pennsylvania and Novartis announced today an exclusive global research and licensing agreement to further study and commercialize novel cellular immunotherapies using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technologies.

6 Aug 2012

NeoGenomics introduces new molecular assay that detects SF3B1 gene mutations

NeoGenomics, Inc., a leading provider of cancer-focused genetic testing services, announced today that it has validated and launched the first molecular assay for clinical use in the United States that detects mutations in the SF3B1 gene (splicing factor 3b, subunit 1).

6 Aug 2012

Common ragweed may induce airways irritation through terpenoids

Allergy to pollen of common ragweed is increasingly affecting patients and is second only to grass pollen in terms of incidence in the general population of many European countries.

6 Aug 2012

Scientists identify key factor that drives resistance to cancer drug

Developing resistance to chemotherapy is a nearly universal, ultimately lethal consequence for cancer patients with solid tumors - such as those of the breast, prostate, lung and colon - that have metastasized, or spread, throughout the body. A team of scientists led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has discovered a key factor that drives this drug resistance - information that ultimately may be used to improve the effectiveness of therapy and buy precious time for patients with advanced cancer.

6 Aug 2012

Associate director of Clinical Genetics receives Angelo DiGeorge Medal of Honor

Donna McDonald-McGinn, M.S., CGC, associate director of Clinical Genetics and program director of the "22q and You" Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, received the Angelo DiGeorge Medal of Honor on July 6 at the 8th Biennial International 22q11.2 DS Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Ms. McDonald-McGinn, who began her career at CHOP in 1985, is the second person to receive this highly esteemed honor.

6 Aug 2012

Genocea announces new data that supports novel approach for development of HSV-2 vaccine

Genocea Biosciences announced today the presentation of new data supporting its novel approach to developing a first-in-class, protein subunit therapeutic vaccine for Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2).

6 Aug 2012

New sequencing approach can provide more effective method of BRCA1/2 mutational analysis

Individuals with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a significantly higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. Families at risk have been seeking genetic testing and counseling based on their mutation carrier status, but the standard method of direct sequencing is labor-intensive, costly, and it only targets a part of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

6 Aug 2012

Neutrophils play an unexpected role in mediating insulin resistance

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say neutrophils, an abundant type of white blood cell typically tasked with attacking bacteria and other foreign invaders, also plays an unexpected role in mediating insulin resistance - the central characteristic of type 2 diabetes, which afflicts an estimated 26 million Americans.

6 Aug 2012

TAU research identifies protein group that may kick-start allergic reactions

Allergies, or hypersensitivities of the immune system, are more common than ever before. According to the Asthma and Allergies Foundation of America, one in five Americans suffers from an allergy - from milder forms like hay fever to more severe instances, like peanut allergies which can lead to anaphylactic shock.

6 Aug 2012

Human HLA genes are evolving much more rapidly than previously thought

Human HLA genes - the genes that allow our immune system to tell the difference between our own cells and foreign invaders - are evolving much more rapidly than previously thought, according to an article online on August 3rd in Trends in Genetics. The resulting degree of variation improves our ability to fight off disease, but could also present challenges to current worldwide efforts aimed at identifying potential donors for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.

6 Aug 2012

Mammalian cells divide when their growth rate hits a specific threshold

It's a longstanding question in biology: How do cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? In simple organisms such as yeast, cells divide once they reach a specific size. However, determining if this holds true for mammalian cells has been difficult, in part because there has been no good way to measure mammalian cell growth over time.

6 Aug 2012

Drug molecules designed for influenza may be adapted to treat other viruses

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows how compounds blocking an enzyme universal to all influenza viruses may allow development of new antiviral drugs that also avoid the problem of drug resistance

3 Aug 2012

Similar molecular pathways involved in intellectual disability due to Fragile X and Down syndromes

Intellectual disability due to Fragile X and Down syndromes involves similar molecular pathways report researchers in The EMBO Journal. The two disorders share disturbances in the molecular events that regulate the way nerve cells develop dendritic spines, the small extensions found on the surface of nerve cells that are crucial for communication in the brain.

3 Aug 2012