Medical Science News

RSS

Researchers discover single genetic mutation that accounts for disease

By inspecting the sequence of all 3 billion "letters" that make up the genome of a single person affected with a rare, inherited disorder, a Johns Hopkins and Duke University team ferreted out the single genetic mutation that accounts for the disease.

13 Jul 2010

Verbal cues influence even most elementary visual processing

Cognitive psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California have shown that an image displayed too quickly to be seen by an observer can be detected if the participant first hears the name of the object.

13 Jul 2010

Hormone leptin reduces food intake by activating hippocampus: Research

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that the hormone leptin reduces food intake, in part, by activating the hippocampus, an area of the brain that controls learning and memory function. Leptin is a hormone released from fat cells that acts on the brain to inhibit feeding.

13 Jul 2010

Researchers watch armed tumor-seeking immune system cells attack dangerous melanomas in real time

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center created a large, well armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune system cells and watched, in real time using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), as the special forces traveled throughout the body to locate and attack dangerous melanomas.

13 Jul 2010

Memoir traces lifelong, undetected bipolar disorder

When Jerry Jewler turned 60, he celebrated his "coming of age" with a splashy party -- and a glorious high. The next day, he awoke to a hell he had never known: sad and depressed, unable to make even idle chatter with his houseguests, and angry at the world.

13 Jul 2010

Research finding could yield new ideas for treating symptoms of motor neurone disease

Scientists in Aberdeen have discovered a mechanism that muscles use to regulate the nerves which control them. They believe their finding could yield new ideas for treating symptoms of motor neurone disease - a progressive and incurable neurodegenerative condition that leads to muscle weakness and wasting - and other neuromuscular conditions.

13 Jul 2010

Protein acetylation not rare in bacteria

Lowly bacteria are turning out to be much more complex than previously thought.

13 Jul 2010

Study identifies protein that turns non-malignant tumor into metastatic neuroendocrine tumor

Some types of prostate tumors are more aggressive and more likely to metastasize than others. Nearly one-third of these aggressive tumors contain a small nest of especially dangerous cells known as neuroendocrine-type cells. More rarely, some aggressive prostate tumors are made up entirely of neuroendocrine-type cells. The presence of neuroendocrine-type cancer cells is associated with a poor prognosis, but spotting these rare cells can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

13 Jul 2010

New approach in treating heart attack, cardiomyopathy using stem cells

Presenting at the UK National Stem Cell Network annual science conference today (13 July), Professor Michael Schneider describes a new approach to treating heart attack and cardiomyopathy using stem cells.

13 Jul 2010

Study highlights impact of diet on brain neurochemistry

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that prolonged exposure to a high fat diet is correlated with changes in the brain chemical dopamine within the striatum, a critical component of the brain's reward system. The authors measured 'real-time' changes in dopamine levels after rats consumed a high fat diet for either 2 or 6 weeks.

13 Jul 2010

Examination of cellular construction of motion detector in brain of fly

What would be the point of holding a soccer world championship if we couldn't distinguish the ball from its background? Simply unthinkable! But then again, wouldn't it be fantastic if your favourite team's striker could see the movements of the ball in slow motion! Unfortunately, this advantage only belongs to flies.

13 Jul 2010

Gene mutation that causes auditory neuropathy identified

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a rare form of hearing loss known as auditory neuropathy, according to U-M Medical School scientists.

13 Jul 2010

High fat diet while nursing poses greater risk for infant obesity

The future health of offspring is more negatively impacted when their mothers consume a high fat diet while nursing compared with high-fat diet consumption during pregnancy, according to animal research at Johns Hopkins University. These new research results are being presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior.

13 Jul 2010

TLR7, TLR9 proteins could be culprit behind lupus patients' resistance to steroid treatments: Scientists

Two immune system proteins could be the culprit behind many lupus patients' resistance to widely used steroid treatments, scientists with the Baylor Research Institute in Dallas announced today. It is estimated that more than 5 million people suffer from lupus worldwide.

13 Jul 2010

Roche obtains global co-exclusive license for PI3K biomarker from QIAGEN

Roche announced today that the company has obtained a worldwide co-exclusive license for the biomarker PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) from QIAGEN to develop real-time and endpoint PCR diagnostic assays. Johns Hopkins University owns the patent for the PI3K biomarker and has previously granted an exclusive license to QIAGEN's wholly owned subsidiary DxS, now QIAGEN Manchester.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 13 Jul 2010

Amorfix Life Sciences uses A(4) test to detect accumulation of Abeta in mouse models of AD

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for misfolded protein diseases including Alzheimer's disease, has used its A(4) test to compare the rate of accumulation of aggregated Abeta in the brain tissue of various mouse models of AD. Amorfix presented this new data at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease this week.

13 Jul 2010

Biodel reports preclinical test results of BIOD620 glucose-regulated or "smart" basal insulin product candidate

Biodel Inc. today reported results of preclinical tests which demonstrated the potential of the company's glucose-regulated or "smart" basal insulin product candidate, BIOD620, to release insulin proportionally in response to changing glucose conditions. In an oral presentation today at the 37th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society in Portland, Oregon, Nandini Kashyap, director of novel drug delivery at Biodel, described results of in vitro and in vivo studies with diabetic pigs which compared the use of BIOD620 to Lantus® (insulin glargine).

13 Jul 2010

New study on impact of bortezomib on mantle cell lymphoma

A new study by researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center sheds light on how bortezomib (VELCADE-), the first in a new class of cancer drugs known as proteasome inhibitors, works in mantle cell lymphoma. The study also provides preliminary evidence for which patients might benefit most from bortezomib.

13 Jul 2010

Stem cell transplantation from healthy donor helps cure aggressive form of CLL

The transplantation of stem cells from a healthy donor (allogeneic) offers the chance of cure for patients with an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), irrespective of genetic prognostic factors and the prior course of the disease. The German CLL Study Group proved this in a multicentric clinical phase II study led by Professor Dr. Peter Dreger, senior consultant and head of the division of stem cell transplantation at the Department of Internal Medicine V at Heidelberg University Hospital.

13 Jul 2010

GWAS suggests genetic variant with increased oncogene expression for cancer study

The study, published July 13th in Genome Research, showcases a new protocol for studying the activity of cancer-risk variants suggested by GWAS studies. The results also underscore the dramatic consequences of small genetic changes even in the vast stretches of DNA, known as "gene deserts," that do not code for proteins.

13 Jul 2010