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Level of key immune cells in kidney transplant patients may predict risk of skin cancer

Measuring certain types of immune cells may predict the high risk of skin cancer after kidney transplantation, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

29 Jan 2010

Nontoxic drug halts and reverses rheumatoid arthritis

A researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has invented a novel way to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis. He developed an imitation of a suicide molecule that floats undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for the disease.

29 Jan 2010

Researchers reveal major shifts in structure of scientific research

How has the structure of scientific research changed over the past decade? A team of researchers from Ume- University, Sweden, and the University of Washington, USA, aims to answer this question and others in a study published on January 27th in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.

29 Jan 2010

iPierian receives UK patent for induced pluripotent stem cell technology

iPierian, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on changing the paradigm of drug discovery and development through the application of cellular reprogramming, today announced that the Intellectual Property Office in the United Kingdom has issued a Notification of Grant to iPierian for UK patent No. GB2450603, its first patent related to induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology.

29 Jan 2010

Scientists discover mechanism that regulates prolactin hormone

A mechanism for regulating the hormone prolactin has newly been revealed by scientists at Karolinska Institutet. The results are to be published in the scientific journal Neuron, and may be significant for conditions and functions such as breast-feeding, sexual libido, and metabolism.

28 Jan 2010

Florida State University research team to develop way of measuring zinc levels in the human body

A team of Florida State University researchers will use a five-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a way to measure levels of the trace metal zinc in the human body.

28 Jan 2010

DNA variations in genes increase risk of developing PI-IBS

Studies of the victims of the Walkerton, Ont. tainted drinking water tragedy have led researchers to discover DNA variations in genes that increase the risk of developing post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS). The sheer scale of infection and the recording of the health of Walkerton's citizens gave a team of researchers a unique opportunity to study the origin of this disorder.

28 Jan 2010

Blocking action of key protein boosts immune 'memory' to prevent or clear viral infection

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new way to stimulate the immune system to prevent or clear a viral infection. By blocking the action of a key protein in the mouse immune system, they were able to boost immune "memory" in those mice-work that may one day help doctors increase the effectiveness of human vaccines designed to prevent viral infections.

28 Jan 2010

New technique could reduce animal use in gene study

A new method of priming early embryos to form embryonic stem (ES) cells has allowed ES cells to be derived from mice used in diabetes research for the first time.

28 Jan 2010

Research suggests pomegranate seed extract could stimulate uterine contractions

The team identified beta-sitosterol - a steroid that can inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine - as the main constituent of pomegranate seed extract. The research suggests that pomegranate extract could be used as a natural stimulant to encourage the uterus to contract during labour.

28 Jan 2010

Researchers to test newest implant in restoring vision damaged by disease

Researchers trying to restore vision damaged by disease have found promise in a tiny implant that sows seeds of new cells in the eye.

28 Jan 2010

New insight into reprogramming of cells

A discovery by Babraham scientists brings new insight into how cells are reprogrammed and a greater understanding of how the environment, or factors like nutritional signals, can interact with our genes to affect health. As an embryo develops, cells acquire a particular fate, for example becoming a nerve or skin cell. The findings, reported online in the journal Nature, pinpoint a protein called AID as being important for complete cellular reprogramming in mammals.

28 Jan 2010

Blocking CRF may prevent excessive alcohol consumption

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found that a specific stress hormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), is key to the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence in animal models.

28 Jan 2010

Posible new method to assess loss of consciousness

The brains of people under anesthesia respond to stimuli as they do in the deepest part of sleep - lending credence to a developing theory of consciousness and suggesting a new method to assess loss of consciousness in conditions such as coma.

28 Jan 2010

NNSA helps funding development of domestic radioisotope supply

SNM applauds a move by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to help fund the development of a domestic supply of radioisotopes, which are used to help millions of patients each year through the diagnosis and staging of cancer, thyroid and heart disease.

28 Jan 2010

Special issue explores how evolution can help doctors understand and treat diseases

What does evolution - a field that often deals with changes over many generations - have to do with preventing and treating disease in our lifetime?

28 Jan 2010

Scientists discover new technique to investigate cancer stem cells

Scientists at Oxford University, funded by Cancer Research UK, have discovered a way to investigate cancer stem cells more efficiently in the laboratory.

28 Jan 2010

Researchers challenge prevailing assumptions in interpreting genome-wide studies

In the decade since the Human Genome Project produced the first map of DNA sequences in the human genome, scientists throughout the world have combed through genome data to identify genes and gene variants that cause human disease.

28 Jan 2010

Leukemia cells rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and evade cell death

Leukemia cells, like most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate their energy, but new research shows for the first time that these cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and to evade cell death.

28 Jan 2010

Adipose tissue, a promising new source of HSPCs

Bone marrow is a leading source of adult stem cells, which are increasingly used for research and therapeutic interventions, but extracting the cells is an arduous and often painful process. Now, researchers have found evidence that fat tissue, known as adipose tissue, may be a promising new source of valuable and easy-to-obtain regenerative cells called hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), according to astudy prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

28 Jan 2010