Retinoic Acid News and Research

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Retinoic Acid is a nutrient that that body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy. All-trans retinoic acid is made in the body from vitamin A and helps cells to grow and develop, especially in the embryo. A form of all-trans retinoic acid made in the laboratory is put on the skin to treat conditions such as acne and is taken by mouth to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia (a fast-growing cancer in which there are too many immature blood-forming cells in the blood and bone marrow). All-trans retinoic acid is being studied in the prevention and treatment of other types of cancer. Also called ATRA, retinoic acid, tretinoin, and vitamin A acid.

Diabetes patients’ immune system can regulate insulin production

Inflammation processes are responsible for the failure of insulin production in diabetes patients. The patients' own immune systems can contribute to treatment of this disease: researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have found a feedback mechanism that could help maintain insulin production in overweight sufferers, as they report in the journal Immunity.

21 Nov 2017

Researchers discover new regulatory role for protein that links diet and disease

A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered how uncontrolled vitamin A metabolism in the gut can cause harmful inflammation.

23 Oct 2017

UI scientists discover gene linked to fatal renal agenesis in children

A team led by University of Iowa researchers has identified a gene linked to rare, often fatal kidney-related birth defects.

18 Sep 2017

Study offers potential new strategy for use of retinoids against some breast cancers

Estrogen-positive breast cancers are often treated with anti-estrogen therapies. But about half of these cancers contain a subpopulation of cells marked by the protein cytokeratin 5 (CK5), which resists treatment -- and breast cancers with higher CK5 expression have poorer prognosis.

26 Jul 2017

Chicken models may shed light on how humans develop sensitive daytime vision

Humans belong to a select club of species that enjoy crisp color vision in daylight, thanks to a small spot in the center of the retina at the back of the eye.

23 Jun 2017

Stowers scientists provide evidence of cross-talk between Nanog and Hox genes

Competing regulatory genes "talk" to each other to maintain balance of cell state, according to new research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

6 Jun 2017

Vitamin A deficiency leads to loss of blood stem cells

Many specialized cells, such as in the skin, gut or blood, have a lifespan of only a few days. Therefore, steady replenishment of these cells is indispensable. They arise from so-called "adult" stem cells that divide continuously.

5 May 2017

Vitamin A combined with high-fat diet may lead to increased risk for obesity and diabetes

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that the human body needs to function properly. But new research presented today at the American Physiological Society annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago suggests that normal levels of vitamin A within a high-fat diet can negatively affect expression of liver genes associated with glucose and fat metabolism.

26 Apr 2017

New study shows how activation of innate immunity promotes tissue regeneration

Houston Methodist researchers have identified an immune pathway that promotes the formation of a cell that can develop into new tissues and organs.

9 Mar 2017

IU study reveals new compounds with potential to boost enzyme that could protect against dementia

A study by Indiana University researchers has identified 24 compounds -- including caffeine -- with the potential to boost an enzyme in the brain shown to protect against dementia.

7 Mar 2017

SBP researchers identify new regulator of innate immune response to foreign invaders

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a new regulator of the innate immune response—the immediate, natural immune response to foreign invaders.

28 Feb 2017

Researchers evaluate use of regenerative human umbilical cord for in-utero spina bifida repair

In a study to be presented Saturday, Jan. 28, in the oral concurrent session at 8:45 a.m. PST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, researchers evaluated a possible regenerative patch by using human umbilical cord in two studies titled Cryopreserved Human Umbilical Cord (HUC) vs Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM) for In-Utero Spina Bifida Repair and the study Conventional vs cryopreserved human umbilical cord (HUC) patch based on repair for in-utero spina bifida in a sheep model.

23 Jan 2017

Study shows retinoic acid could prevent postsurgical lymphedema

A study conducted at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California showed that 9-cis retinoic acid (alitretinoin) could significantly prevent postsurgical lymphedema.

16 Sep 2016

Scientists make major advance in understanding how stem cells become specialized

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have made a major advance in understanding how the cells of an organism, which all contain the same genetic information, come to be so diverse.

5 Aug 2016

Research shows alcohol abuse drug inhibits ocular conjunctival scarring in mouse model

New research from University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Duke University School of Medicine has identified a gene that drives scarring, together with a rapidly translatable therapy, for the UK's most common cause of blinding conjunctivitis.

4 Aug 2016

Studies highlight key role for vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid in ocular fibrosis

Mucous membrane pemphigoid is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and scarring in mucosal tissues. Affected individuals frequently exhibit scarring in the eye, which can lead to blindness in as many as 20% of patients.

4 Aug 2016

Scientists identify new genetic variations contributing to onset of APL

A study led by a team of scientists from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore has identified new genetic alterations contributing to the onset of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL).

27 Jul 2016

EAD therapy can shrink size of triple-negative breast cancer tumors in mice

In a new study using mice and lab-grown human cells, a scientific team led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers show how a triple-drug cocktail can shrink triple-negative breast cancers by killing off cancer cells and halting new tumor growth.

20 May 2016

Studies on role of vitamin A in heart health have drawn opposite conclusions

Vitamin A is involved in many bodily processes, including vision and skin health, but its role in the heart is unclear. While vitamin A is critical for heart development of embryos—vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy leads to an abnormal heart and prenatal death—studies on vitamin A's role in heart health have drawn opposite conclusions.

29 Apr 2016

Noise in concentration of vitamin A derivative RA can lead to disruptions in brain development

Using cutting-edge imaging technology, University of California, Irvine biologists have determined that uncontrolled fluctuations (known at "noise) in the concentration of the vitamin A derivative Retinoic acid (RA) can lead to disruptions in brain organization during development.

18 Apr 2016