Medical Science News

RSS

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries.

8 Mar 2012

Sperm only react to changes in calcium concentration

Sperm have only one aim: to find the egg. The egg supports the sperm in their quest by emitting attractants. Calcium ions determine the beating pattern of the sperm tail which enables the sperm to move. Together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden and the University of G-ttingen, scientists from the caesar research centre in Bonn, an institute of the Max Planck Society, have discovered that sperm only react to changes in calcium concentration but not to the calcium concentration itself.

8 Mar 2012

Study uncovers neural mechanism that links repeated stress with impaired memory

Anyone who has ever been subject to chronic stress knows that it can take a toll on emotions and the ability to think clearly. Now, new research uncovers a neural mechanism that directly links repeated stress with impaired memory.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers document unknown biological mechanism in the blood-brain barrier

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have documented a previously unknown biological mechanism in the brain's most important line of defence: the blood-brain barrier. Scientists now know that the barrier helps maintain a delicate balance of glutamate, a vital signal compound in the brain.

8 Mar 2012

First 'theranostic' agent for treatment of ALL

A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has developed the first "theranostic" agent for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

8 Mar 2012

NMR techniques shed new light on how pharma molecules adopt different polymorphic forms

Scientists at the University of Warwick have used state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to shed new light on how pharmaceutical molecules pack together in the solid state.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers make significant strides in the study of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center have made significant strides in the study of a primary cancer of the liver- Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC), also called biliary tract cancer.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers validate CatB protease as target for Alzheimer's

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Cincinnati, and American Life Science Pharmaceuticals of San Diego have validated the protease cathepsin B (CatB) as a target for improving memory deficits and reducing the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in an animal model representative of most AD patients.

8 Mar 2012

NCGR to host eighth annual NMBIST symposium on March 22-23, 2012

The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced today that it will host the eighth annual New Mexico Bioinformatics, Science and Technology (NMBIST) symposium on March 22-23, 2012.

7 Mar 2012

Illumina launches new highly multiplexed cancer panel

Illumina today introduced the TruSeq Amplicon - Cancer Panel, a highly multiplexed panel that will allow researchers to accurately sequence hundreds of the most relevant cancer loci, even in difficult samples such as formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor samples.

From Illumina, Inc. 7 Mar 2012

Study identifies mechanism that explains how cancer cells spread to the lymph nodes

Metastasis is responsible for 90% of deaths in patients with cancer. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for this process is one of the top goals of cancer research. The metastatic process involves a series of steps chained where the primary tumour invades surrounding tissues and ends spreading throughout the body. Ones of the first tissues undergoing metastasis are the lymph nodes surrounding the tumour.

7 Mar 2012

U of A study looks at Bim molecule to understand autoimmune diseases

Understanding why immune cells, called T-cells, attack the body is vital in the war against autoimmune diseases like diabetes. University of Alberta researcher Troy Baldwin is a step closer to understanding why the body's T-cells sometimes attack healthy cells causing autoimmune diseases.

7 Mar 2012

Physicians study human stem cell use as possible treatment for ischemic stroke

Physicians at the Methodist Neurological Institute are studying the use of human stem cells as a possible treatment for acute ischemic stroke, a leading cause of death and disability. Each year, stroke affects more than 15 million people around the world.

7 Mar 2012

Novel set of genes linked with epithelial ovarian cancer patient survival

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues from 11 other institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom have used two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) - one from the U.S. and one from the U.K. - to detect a novel set of genes found to be associated with epithelial ovarian cancer patient survival.

7 Mar 2012

New research provides explanation for some of autism's mysteries

New research from Carnegie Mellon University's Marcel Just provides an explanation for some of autism's mysteries - from social and communication disorders to restricted interests - and gives scientists clear targets for developing intervention and treatment therapies.

7 Mar 2012

Nitrogen balance occurs with a precise 24-hour rhythm in mammals

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine demonstrated that nitrogen balance, the process of utilizing amino acids and disposing of their toxic byproducts, occurs with a precise 24-hour rhythm - also known as circadian rhythm - in mammals. Disruption of this cycle has a direct impact on survival of organisms, and may predispose one to life altering diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

7 Mar 2012

Yoga may be effective in treating patients with stress-related psychological and medical conditions

An article by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), New York Medical College (NYMC), and the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (CCPS) reviews evidence that yoga may be effective in treating patients with stress-related psychological and medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and cardiac disease.

7 Mar 2012

Pten gene can also fight against obesity, ageing process

This result, obtained after five years' research, is published in leading journal Cell Metabolism. The authors, led by Manuel Serrano (CNIO), believe it will open the door to new therapeutic options not only against cancer, but against obesity and even the ageing process.

7 Mar 2012

Scientists develop nanocombinatorics for directing stem cell differentiation

Northwestern University scientists have developed a powerful analytical method that they have used to direct stem cell differentiation. Out of millions of possibilities, they rapidly identified the chemical and physical structures that can cue stem cells to become osteocytes, cells found in mature bone.

7 Mar 2012

Researchers reveal how melanoma develops resistance to Zelboraf

Cancer is tough to kill and has many ways of evading the drugs used by oncologists to try and eliminate it. Now, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered how an advanced form of melanoma gets around an inhibitor, Zelboraf, which targets the mutated BRAF gene.

7 Mar 2012