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Brain wolfs energy even to stop thinking

Ever wonder why it's such an effort to forget about work while on vacation or to silence that annoying song that's playing over and over in your head?

21 Sep 2010

ASM awards UTHealth student 3-year, $33,000 fellowship for study of molecular details of protein folding in cells

Jennifer Abrams, a graduate student at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), has been awarded a three-year, $33,000 fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to support her innovative research into the molecular causes of protein misfolding diseases like Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's and Parkinson's.

21 Sep 2010

Social exclusion induces people to spend money and consume in service of affiliation

People who feel excluded will go to any length to try to become part of a group, even if it involves spending large sums of cash, eating something dicey, or doing illicit drugs, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

21 Sep 2010

Researchers to develop vaccine for plague

Given the many pressing concerns of the day, fear of plague probably isn't what causes most Americans to lose sleep. But for those whose responsibility it is to combat bioterrorism, plague is among the highest priorities. Those charged with that mission include scientists like medical researcher Steve Smiley, whose lab at the Trudeau Institute is working to develop a vaccine that will protect the public against weaponized forms of plague.

21 Sep 2010

Alpha-synuclein protein in Parkinson's disease inhibits autophagy: Research

A protein linked to Parkinson's disease may cause neurodegeneration by inhibiting autophagy-the process in which cells digest some of their contents-according to a study in the September 20 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology

21 Sep 2010

Researchers discover new drug to control acute and chronic pain

American and Italian researchers have found that a novel drug allows anandamide a marijuana like chemical in the body to effectively control pain at the site of an injury.

21 Sep 2010

National Science Foundation awards UofL researcher $500,000 for nervous system study

Michal Hetman, MD, PhD, associate professor and endowed chair in molecular signaling in the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and the UofL Department of Neurological Surgery, has received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a project that will aim to explain how the nervous system grows and develops.

21 Sep 2010

Scientists identify new pathway to control immune balance

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified a new pathway that helps control the immune balance through reciprocal regulation of specialized T lymphocytes, which play very different inflammatory roles.

21 Sep 2010

Trius and Scripps to develop antibiotics from marine biomedical sources

In an effort to tap into the vast potential of the oceans as a source for novel medical treatments, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a part of the Department of Defense (DoD), has awarded San Diego-based Trius Therapeutics, Inc. a four-and-a-half year contract worth up to $29.5 million to collaborate with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego for the development of novel antibiotics directed against microorganisms that cause serious infections.

21 Sep 2010

High screen use increases body fat in teenagers

Too much television, video games and Internet can increase body fat in teens. A five-year study from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, has found teenagers have four different patterns of screen use: increasers, decreasers, consistently high and consistently low users.

21 Sep 2010

Study suggests older people may not benefit from new tuberculosis vaccines

Elderly people might not benefit from some of the tuberculosis vaccines currently in development, recent research suggests.Some vaccines under study are designed to activate a specific molecule that is an early participant in the immune response against TB in young people. But a recent Ohio State University study suggests that in older people, this molecule remains relatively inactive, even in the face of TB infection.

21 Sep 2010

NIH awards grant to discover drug for alcoholism

With the ultimate goal to discover a drug that one day treats alcoholism, a University of Houston (UH) pharmacy professor is working on pinpointing the mechanisms in the brain that respond to alcohol.

21 Sep 2010

Six3 gene safeguards future retina

New research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators adds to evidence that the Six3 gene functions like a doorman in the developing brain and visual system, safeguarding the future retina by keeping the region where the eye is forming free of a signaling protein capable of disrupting the process.

21 Sep 2010

Clemson biochemist receives grants to study DNA repair pathways

A Clemson biochemist has received grants totaling $787,000 to study how cells repair damaged DNA, which can cause cancer and genetic illnesses. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Weiguo Cao three-year funding to investigate two DNA repair pathways.

21 Sep 2010

Biomarkers may help predict children at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Children who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes might be identified earlier by way of tell-tale genetic indicators known as biomarkers. Some of those new biomarkers might be pinpointed in research led by Nancy F. Butte and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Institutes of Health.

20 Sep 2010

Crestor suppressed human cancer cells transplanted to mice

A drug commonly prescribed for people with high cholesterol may also be effective in treating prostate cancer, according to new research by Dr. Xiao-Yan Wen at St. Michael's Hospital.

20 Sep 2010

Researchers identify protein essential for dendritic cell development

A protein called PU.1 is essential for the development of dendritic cells, the sentinels of the immune system, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have shown.

20 Sep 2010

APAF selects AB SCIEX TripleTOF 5600 System to help advance proteomics research

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility has chosen the AB SCIEX TripleTOF 5600 System to help advance proteomics research by significantly expanding proteome coverage. The TripleTOF 5600 System is the life science industry's fastest and most sensitive high-resolution mass spectrometer for high-performance qualitative and quantitative analysis.

20 Sep 2010

Chronix Biomedical completes Series E financing

Chronix Biomedical today announced that it has completed a Series E financing that raised $1.8 million from existing and new investors. Chronix is developing disease-specific biomarkers based on DNA fragments that are released into the bloodstream by damaged and dying (apoptotic) cells. Chronix's serum DNA biomarkers are applicable to a wide range of cancers and other chronic diseases.

20 Sep 2010

MultiStem multipotent adult progenitor cell therapy preserves 'blood brain barrier'

Athersys, Inc. announced today the publication of a key study in the October issue of Experimental Neurology conducted by researchers at Athersys, the University of Texas Medical School, the Michael E. DeBakey Institute for Comparative Cardiovascular Science and Biomedical Devices, and Texas A&M University.

20 Sep 2010