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Potential fish enzyme biomarker for environmental toxins

The level of the enzyme carbonyl reductase (CBR) is elevated in the livers of fish that have been exposed to cleaned wastewater. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg can show that CBR has properties that may make it suitable to be used as a biomarker, an early warning signal of environmental toxins. The aim of the project is to achieve better environmental monitoring.

9 Nov 2011

University of Houston to enhance cancer research facilities

Thanks to almost $1 million in new funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the University of Houston (UH) will soon be enhancing its cancer research facilities.

9 Nov 2011

'Second hit' determines immune response against developing Burkitt's lymphoma

The human c-myc gene encodes a transcription factor (MYC) involved in the regulation of a vast number of other genes - it has been estimated that the transcription of about one in six genes is somehow under the control of MYC.

9 Nov 2011

Scripps scientist receives Novo Nordisk grant for research into diabetes

Andrew Butler, an associate professor in The Scripps Research Institute's Department of Metabolism and Aging, has been awarded one million dollars in funding over the next two years to further his research into a novel protein with the potential to improve the understanding and future treatment of diabetes.

9 Nov 2011

ScreenCell, Transgenomic sign collaboration and distribution agreement for CTC technology

Transgenomic, Inc. and ScreenCell, a privately-held company, today announced the signing of a perpetual, worldwide collaboration and distribution agreement for ScreenCell's Isolation Devices and Dilution Buffers, designed for the collection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood.

9 Nov 2011

Higher protein load in critical brain regions linked to severe depression in late life

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the elderly, but little is known about the underlying biology of its development in older adults.

8 Nov 2011

Lapatinib drug could also treat head and neck cancers

A class of drugs used to treat breast cancers which overproduce a protein called HER2 could also treat other types of cancer - particularly head and neck cancers, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week.

8 Nov 2011

Study: Genes that are active in brain are transcribed with special mechanism

Knowledge about the development of the nervous system is of the greatest importance for us to understand the function of the brain and brain disorders. Researchers at Uppsala University have examined the key step when genes are read and found that genes that are active in the brain are transcribed with a special mechanism.

8 Nov 2011

Prefrontal cortex neurons from individuals with autism show changes in chromatin structures

Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Nov 2011

TWIST protein plays a major role in controlling estrogen resistance in breast cancer

In dozens of experiments in mice and in human cancer cells, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists has closely tied production of a cancer-causing protein called TWIST to the development of estrogen resistance in women with breast cancer.

8 Nov 2011

Polystyrene surface triples number of human ES and iPS cells in culture

By irradiating typical polystyrene lab plates with ultraviolet (UV) waves, Whitehead Institute and MIT scientists have created a surface capable of tripling the number of human embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that can be grown in culture by current methods. Use of this novel surface also eliminates the need for layers of mouse "feeder cells" to support ES- and iPS-cell growth.

8 Nov 2011

Children's Hospital project to investigate effectiveness of BET antagonists against HIV

Terri Finkel, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Rheumatology at Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled "Use of a BET Antagonist to Control and Cure HIV Infection."

8 Nov 2011

Low-grade inflammatory processes drive development of osteoarthritis

In a study to be published online Nov. 6 in Nature Medicine, investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that the development of osteoarthritis is in great part driven by low-grade inflammatory processes.

8 Nov 2011

Researchers match protein to the job it performs in human body

Scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology and Dowling College are engaged in a similar game with higher stakes. Instead of cards, they are matching the protein to the job it performs in the human body. Their research could lead to drugs that target proteins and switch on or off specific functions associated with various diseases.

8 Nov 2011

St. Michael's project to develop vaccine that would eliminate latent HIV reservoirs

Dr. Mario Ostrowski, an infectious disease consultant, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled A Human Endogenous Retrovirus Vaccine to Eliminate Latent HIV Reservoirs.

8 Nov 2011

Hirano bodies may play a protective role in progression of Alzheimer's

Hirano bodies are almost indescribably tiny objects found in nerve cells of people suffering from conditions such as Alzheimer's, mad cow and Lou Gehrig's diseases. Yet for decades, researchers weren't sure if these structures helped cause the conditions or appeared after onset of the disease and had some other role.

8 Nov 2011

Epigenetic alterations may play an important role in autism

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to map epigenetic changes in neurons from the brains of individuals with autism, providing empirical evidence that epigenetic alterations-changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence-may play an important role in the disease.

8 Nov 2011

Study on epigentics and cellular memory

How do fetal cells know what cell types to become? Why do cells in the adult body sometimes forget what they are and develop into cancer cells? These are some of the questions intensively investigated within the research field of epigenetics.

8 Nov 2011

First-ever Mantle Cell Lymphoma Symposium to be held on Nov. 12

The Lymphoma Division of the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center with the participation from the Facebook groups "Hope for Lymphoma" and "Our MCL Family," will host its first-ever Mantle Cell Lymphoma Symposium on Saturday, November 12 from 8:30am - 3:45pm.

8 Nov 2011

Connexin 36 protects mouse pancreatic beta-cells against immune molecules

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease characterized by high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. It is caused by the patient's immune system attacking and destroying the cells in their pancreas that produce the hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose levels. Surprisingly, little is known about the mechanisms regulating the sensitivity and resistance of these cells, which are known as beta-cells, to immune system attack.

7 Nov 2011