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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

Injectable hydrogel offers double punch against bone infections

Surgery prompted by automobile accidents, combat wounds, cancer treatment and other conditions can lead to bone infections that are difficult to treat and can delay healing until they are resolved.

25 Jun 2019

Researchers identify missing link between amyloid plaques and tau tangles in Alzheimer's

Years before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease appear, two kinds of damaging proteins silently collect in the brain: amyloid beta and tau. Clumps of amyloid accumulate first, but tau is particularly noxious.

25 Jun 2019

Food allergy caused by absence of beneficial bacteria in the gut

A study by scientists at Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, published today in Nature Medicine, makes a strong case that the national epidemic of food allergy is caused by the absence of certain beneficial bacteria in the human gut.

25 Jun 2019

Study sheds light on rhodopsin dynamics in the retina

Photoreceptor cells in our eyes can adjust to both weak and strong light levels, but we still don't know exactly how they do it.

24 Jun 2019

Study shows how bacteria can destroy host cells from the inside

A bacterial pathogen that typically multiplies outside of host cells can enter and induce the destruction of cells called macrophages, according to a study published June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Anne-Béatrice Blanc-Potard of the Université de Montpellier in France, and colleagues.

From PLOS ONE 24 Jun 2019

Natural antibiotic made by Tübingen researchers interacts with human defense mechanisms

The natural antibiotic Lugdunin, discovered three years ago by Tübingen researchers, attacks pathogenic bacteria in several different ways simultaneously.

24 Jun 2019

New blood test could potentially diagnose Alzheimers even before symptoms appear

Doctors may one day be able to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of severe dementia, and monitor a patient's response to treatment by doing a simple blood test.

24 Jun 2019

Non-classical monocytes directly involved in regulation of immune response

Non-classical monocytes were long thought to play a purely surveillance role in the immune system. With the aid of a novel marker, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich researchers have now shown that they are directly involved in the regulation of immune response

24 Jun 2019

Promising strategies to control bad food choices

What's the best way to prevent children from overloading on bad food choices? Flinders University researchers have found that promoting substitution is the answer to turn around children's excessive consumption of nutrient-poor foods and beverages – resulting in nutritional benefits that are even better than reducing intake of these discretionary food and drink choices.

24 Jun 2019

Switch that decides fate of cells from neural stem cells discovered

Neurons and astrocytes are prominent cell types in the cerebral cortex. Neurons are the primary information processing cells in the brain, whereas astrocytes support and modulate their functions.

24 Jun 2019

New chemoimmunotherapy regimen for aggressive form of lymphoma gets FDA approval

A cancer therapy based on the work of Ben Seon, PhD, at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for patients with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

24 Jun 2019

Researchers shed light on bacterial fusion linked to Chlamydia’s pathogenicity

Most people know Chlamydia as the venereal disease that can cause infertility if left untreated. But for researchers studying the causative agent, Chlamydia trachomatis, it's a bacteria with intriguing properties.

24 Jun 2019

Study: Micronutrient deficiencies are common in adults at the time of celiac disease diagnosis

Micronutrient deficiencies, including vitamins B12 and D, as well as folate, iron, zinc and copper, are common in adults at the time of diagnosis with celiac disease.

24 Jun 2019

Study identifies proteins that interact with processes regulating gene p53

Scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center have discovered that the loss of a protein called DBC1 in breast cancer cells leads to the dysregulation of normal anti-cancer functions, contributing to cancer cell growth and resistance to therapies.

24 Jun 2019

Elite group of immune cells plays key role in fighting tumors

Immunotherapies hold promise as a way to prompt a patient's own immune system to fight cancer cells. Yet immunotherapies only work in about 30 percent of patients - and they can cause dangerous side effects.

24 Jun 2019

Study reveals how basic structure of the brain is formed

The human brain consists of neurons arranged into microscopic columns. The cortex, which is the seat of most cerebral functions and forms the largest part of the brain, is divided into uncountable micro-columns.

23 Jun 2019

Scientists discover new drug target for chemically induced Parkinson's disease

More than three decades ago, scientists discovered that a chemical found in a synthetic opioid, MPTP, induced the onset of a form of Parkinson's disease.

23 Jun 2019

FDA expands approval of cystic fibrosis treatment to include pediatric patients as young as 6 years old

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the indication for Symdeko (a combination of tezacaftor/ivacaftor) tablets for treatment of pediatric patients ages 6 years and older with cystic fibrosis who have certain genetic mutations.

22 Jun 2019

New mutation discovered in the leptin gene

The global obesity epidemic is so far-reaching it now has an overarching name: globesity. Texas Biomed Staff Scientist Raul Bastarrachea, M.D., is part of a team that discovered a new mutation in the gene that regulates the key hormone suppressing hunger called leptin.

22 Jun 2019

Study reveals genetic signature of failed immune response to cancer

Our immune system is programmed to destroy cancer cells. Sometimes it has trouble slowing disease progression because it doesn't act quickly or strongly enough.

21 Jun 2019