Medical Science News

RSS

New region on the X chromosome plays a role in migraine

New hope has arrived for migraine sufferers following a Griffith University study with the people of Norfolk Island. Led by Professor Lyn Griffiths from the University's Griffith Health Institute, the team has identified a new region on the X chromosome as playing a role in migraine.

5 Jun 2012

Australian medical researchers hope to block Hendra virus in humans

Australian medical researchers are on the brink of an effective human treatment for the deadly Hendra virus, and potentially the closely related Nipah virus, which has killed more than two hundred people in South East Asia.

5 Jun 2012

Androgen receptor an additional hormonal target in many breast cancers

Many breast cancers depend on hormones including estrogen or progesterone for their survival and proliferation. Eight years of lab work at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and elsewhere suggest that the androgen (AR) receptor is an additional hormonal target in many breast cancers. Block AR+ breast cancer's ability to access androgen and you block the cancer's ability to survive.

5 Jun 2012

$Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML$

Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML

Astellas Pharma Inc. and Ambit Biosciences Corporation today announced the initiation of a Phase 2b open-label clinical trial of quizartinib as monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT3-ITD mutations.

5 Jun 2012

High levels of antibody molecule linked to increased rates of death from all diseases

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified an immune system deficiency whose presence shows someone is up to four times likelier to die than a person without it. The glitch involves an antibody molecule called a free light chain; people whose immune systems produce too much of the molecule are far more likely to die of a life-threatening illness such as cancer, diabetes and cardiac and respiratory disease than those whose bodies make normal levels. The study is published in the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

4 Jun 2012

Variation in microRNAs may explain survival differences in breast cancer

Researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a potential explanation for why breast cancer is not experienced the same way with African American and Caucasian patients.

4 Jun 2012

Scientists propose new theory of the brain activity behind arm movements

Unlike their visual cousins, the neurons that control movement are not a predictable bunch. Scientists working to decode how such neurons convey information to muscles have been stymied when trying to establish a one-to-one relationship between a neuron's behavior and external factors such as muscle activity or movement velocity.

4 Jun 2012

New evidence of important role of next-generation sequencing in cancer treatment

Foundation Medicine, Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer genomic analysis to routine clinical care, today announced results from two studies using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to provide actionable information about genomic tumor alterations in individual patients' cancers across all solid tumor types.

2 Jun 2012

Innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue

An innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells derived from the amniotic fluid is outlined in new research published by scientists at the UCL Institute of Child Health.

2 Jun 2012

Researchers uncover fundamental properties of key molecular signaling system using optical tweezers

By using a laser microbeam technology called optical tweezers, UC Irvine and UCLA researchers have uncovered fundamental properties of a key molecular signaling system involved with development, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

2 Jun 2012

Study finds natural ruminant trans fats not harmful

Canadian scientists are joining with international colleagues to lead new insights into the health implications of different types of trans fat.

2 Jun 2012

Initial data to construct first whole-brain wiring diagram of vertebrate brain

Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reached an important milestone today, publicly releasing the first installment out of 500 terabytes of data so far collected in their pathbreaking project to construct the first whole-brain wiring diagram of a vertebrate brain, that of the mouse.

2 Jun 2012

NIH awards $1.9M grant to study genetic control of cell migration

Developmental biologists Dominique Alfandari and Hélène Cousin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to investigate craniofacial development in a frog model to better understand genetic control of cell migration.

2 Jun 2012

High costs can limit access to potentially life-saving technology

More than one-fifth of people who have received referrals to test for cancer-causing genes say they will only undergo testing if their insurance covers the cost-just as more insurers are instituting cost-sharing for medical services like genetic testing, according to new findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia released at this year's 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Saturday, June 2.

2 Jun 2012

Engineered proteins demonstrate flu-fighting potency

Computer-designed proteins are under construction to fight the flu. Researchers are demonstrating that proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum antiviral agents against a variety of flu virus strains, including H1N1 pandemic influenza.

2 Jun 2012

Two tumor suppressor genes function to disrupt overactive EGFR signaling

Overactive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling has been linked to the development of cancer. Several drug therapies have been developed to treat these EGFR-associated cancers; however, many patients have developed resistance to these drugs and are therefore no longer responsive to drug treatment.

2 Jun 2012

GPR21 inhibitors may hold promise for diabetes

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has linked inflammation to the development of insulin resistance. In insulin resistance, the hormone insulin is less effective in promoting glucose uptake from the bloodstream into other tissues. Obesity is a major factor that contributes to insulin resistance, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that proinflammatory molecules found in fat tissue decreases sensitivity of tissues to insulin.

2 Jun 2012

Non-invasive stimulation of cerebellum helps individuals learn new walking patterns

In a step towards improving rehabilitation for patients with walking impairments, researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum, an area of the brain known to be essential in adaptive learning, helped healthy individuals learn a new walking pattern more rapidly.

2 Jun 2012

Researchers identify chromosomal make-up of human eggs

In a groundbreaking study, Yale School of Medicine researchers and colleagues at the University of Oxford have identified the chromosomal make-up of a human egg. This discovery may soon allow them to avoid using abnormal - or aneuploid - eggs during infertility treatments, and instead to pick eggs that are healthy enough for a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.

2 Jun 2012