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Brown University neuroscience professor awarded EUREKA grant

Brown University neuroscience professor Gilad Barnea will receive a nearly $1.3 million, four-year federal grant toward development of a method to selectively monitor the activation of each of the five receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.

4 Sep 2009

Communal nesting may provide evolutionary advantage for reptiles

Reptiles are not known to be the most social of creatures. But when it comes to laying eggs, female reptiles can be remarkably communal, often laying their eggs in the nests of other females. New research in the September issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology suggests that this curiously out-of-character behavior is far more common in reptiles than was previously thought.

4 Sep 2009

Vaccinating women against HPV prevents breast cancer

Vaccinating women against the human papillomavirus (HPV) may prevent some forms of breast cancer and save tens of thousands of lives each year, new Australian research suggests.

4 Sep 2009

FOXO3a protein stimulates cancer development

In a biological rendition of fiction's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, researchers from the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida and Harvard Medical School have found that a protein thought to protect against cancer development can actually spur the spread of tumors.

4 Sep 2009

Genetic cause of progressive hearing loss discovered

A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has discovered a genetic cause of progressive hearing loss. The findings will help scientists better understand the nature of age-related decline in hearing and may lead to new therapies to prevent or treat the condition.

4 Sep 2009

ROS in cells contributes to aging

With all the hype about beneficial antioxidants in everything from face cream to cereal bars, you'd think their targets---oxygen radicals---must be up to no good. It's true, the buildup of oxygen radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells contributes to aging and possibly to diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

3 Sep 2009

RanBP9 protein targeted for developing new Alzheimer's drugs

"N60" might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Alzheimer's disease, but thanks to researchers from the United States, South Korea and France, this might change. That's because these researchers have found that the N60 section of a protein called "RanBP9" might be the key that unlocks an entirely new class of Alzheimer's drugs, and with them, hope. In a research report published online in The FASEB Journal, these scientists describe how the N60 fragment of the RanBP9 protein increases the production of the amyloid beta protein, which is present in excessive amounts in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

3 Sep 2009

Ecological catalysts to get ibuprofen and naxopren from oil production

The Compuestos de Coordinación y Organometálicos group of the University of Huelva is designing ecological catalysts to get important products such as adhesives, textiles and products with pharmacological, antibiotic or insecticide properties -from hydrocarbons, that is, organic molecules derived from oil production.

3 Sep 2009

Study assesses protective capabilities of DNA vaccines against SIV

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that data generated from a pre-clinical collaborative study by National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Inovio scientists were published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in a paper entitled: “DNA vaccination in rhesus macaques induces potent immune responses and decreases acute and chronic viremia after SIVmac251 challenge.”

3 Sep 2009

PTC Therapeutics collaborates with Roche for developing bioavailable small molecules

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced an exclusive research collaboration and licensing agreement with Roche for the development of orally bioavailable small molecules utilizing PTC's technology called Gene Expression Modulation by Small-molecules (GEMS(TM)).

3 Sep 2009

New probe for identifying chemical process affected proteins functions like GPS

Scientists in Michigan are reporting the development of a powerful new probe for identifying proteins affected by a key chemical process important in aging and disease. The probe works like a GPS or navigation system for finding these proteins in cells. It could lead to new insights into disease processes and identify new targets for disease treatments, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the Sept. 18 issue of ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal.

3 Sep 2009

Study identifies key compound that quickens recovery from life-threatening blood cell shortages

A key compound resupplies bone marrow with fast-acting stem cells that can more quickly rekindle blood cell production, according to a study published online today in the journal Blood. While the study was in mice, in the study authors say it has the potential to increase survival among patients with life-threatening blood cell shortages.

3 Sep 2009

Researchers to analyse nanoparticles

Researchers at Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth have been awarded £1 million by the Research Councils' Nanoscience through Engineering to Application cross-council programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), to analyse the levels at which nanoparticles can be deemed safe within cells.

3 Sep 2009

Boron-based molecules can be used as new pharmacophores

Chemists and biologists have successfully demonstrated that specially synthesized boron compounds are readily accepted in biologically active enzymes, a move that, they say, is a proof of concept that could lead to new drug design strategies.

3 Sep 2009

Alloantigen-specific Treg cells targeted for organ transplantation

An increased understanding of the role of the body's immune system in the development of diseases such as prostate cancer, squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer), type 1 diabetes, autoimmune liver disease, and in the rejection of transplanted organs by some transplant patients, has paved the way for a pioneering research programme which aims to develop 'enhanced' cells as therapies.

3 Sep 2009

Scientists demonstrate the link between cancer and diesel fumes

Scientists here are the first to demonstrate that the link between diesel fume exposure and cancer lies in the ability of diesel exhaust to induce the growth of new blood vessels that serve as a food supply for solid tumors.

2 Sep 2009

Innovative way for culturing liver cells improves drug toxicity screening

A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has developed an innovative way to culture liver cells for drug toxicity screening. In a report to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that has been released online, the investigators describe how liver cells grown in a high-oxygen environment and in a culture medium free of animal-derived serum quickly begin to function as they do within the liver.

2 Sep 2009

Gene causing periodontitis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis identified

Investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery, collaborating with researchers from other institutions, have contributed to the discovery that a gene called interferon regulator factor-8 (IRF-8) is involved in the development of diseases such as periodontitis (gum disease), rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. The study, which will be published online August 30, ahead of print, in the journal Nature Medicine, could lead to new treatments in the future.

2 Sep 2009

The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus causes more severe disease than human seasonal influenza viruses

Preliminary findings in ferrets suggest that the novel 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may outcompete human seasonal influenza viruses, researchers say. Tests in animals showed that levels of the 2009 H1N1 virus rose more quickly than levels of the seasonal virus strains, and the new virus caused more severe disease. In line with previous findings by other research groups, the University of Maryland researchers also observed that the novel H1N1 virus was transmitted more easily from infected to uninfected ferrets than either of the two seasonal influenza viruses.

2 Sep 2009

STEMCELL Technologies to conduct a two-day stem cell training program

STEMCELL Technologies has announced the schedule for their fall training program. This includes 2-day courses on mesenchymal stem cell biology (October 2nd and 3rd), mammary stem cell biology (October 17th and 18th), neural stem cell biology (October 30th and 31st), hematopoietic stem cell biology (October 30th and 31st), and human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell biology (November 14th and 15th).

2 Sep 2009