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New understanding of how bacteria survive in hostile environments

Using an innovative device with microscopic chambers, researchers from four institutions, including Johns Hopkins, have gleaned important new information about how bacteria survive in hostile environments by forming antibiotic-resistant communities called biofilms.

14 Nov 2007

GPRC5A gene found to be a tumor-suppressor for lung cancer

The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 21 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

14 Nov 2007

Tumor-suppressor gene for lung cancer identified

14 Nov 2007

Real-time 3-D analysis of breast cancer biopsies

A sophisticated microscope that offers a “real-time” 3-D analysis of tissue samples might, in the future, reduce the number of needle biopsies traditionally needed from women suspected of having breast cancer, according to recent research published at Georgetown University Medical Center's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

14 Nov 2007

Implanting myoblasts may improve severe urinary incontinence

Estimates are that up to 70 million people worldwide may be suffering from severe urinary incontinence. A major cause of urinary incontinence is a deficiency of the urethral sphincter muscle, often associated with trauma during child birth, resulting from prostate surgery, or due to aging.

14 Nov 2007

Zinc transporters regulate pancreatic cancer

Zinc, an important trace element for healthy growth and development, can be related to pancreatic cancer. Too much ZIP4, a molecule that enables the transport of zinc into cells, promotes the growth and spread of pancreatic tumors cells, said a group of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida in Gainesville, in a report which appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

13 Nov 2007

Researchers image a biomarker of neurogenesis

Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, M.D., Ph.D, and co-investigators from Stony Brook University Medical Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a way to image a biomarker of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) in the living human brain.

13 Nov 2007

Acne drug Roaccutane may disrupt serotonin production

New research has found that a drug used to treat severe forms of acne reduces the availability of the chemical serotonin, low levels of which have been linked to aggression and clinical depression.

13 Nov 2007

Nanoviricide drug candidate effectiveness confirmed against rabies and influenzas

NanoViricides, Inc. has said that in a confirmatory study, their nanoviricide drug candidates exhibited a consistent 20% to 30% survival in the test animals.

13 Nov 2007

Trial looks at ability of insulin to limit heart-tissue damage during a heart attack

The ability of insulin to limit heart-tissue damage during a heart attack will be tested in a landmark clinical trial led by Paresh Dandona, M.D., Ph.D., University at Buffalo Distinguished Professor in the departments of Medicine and Pharmacology and Toxicology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

13 Nov 2007

Anti-inflammation molecule helps fight MS-like disease

An immune system messenger molecule that normally helps quiet inflammation could be an effective tool against multiple sclerosis (MS). Neurology researchers led by Abdolmohamad Rostami, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia, have found that the protein interkeukin-27 (IL-27) helped block the onset or reverse symptoms in animals with an MS-like disease.

13 Nov 2007

Human Genome Sciences announces positive phase 2 LymphoStat-B results

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. has announced the presentation of Phase 2 clinical results demonstrating that LymphoStat-B (belimumab) achieved a sustained improvement in disease activity across multiple clinical measures, decreased the frequency of disease flares over time, and was well tolerated through 2.5 years on treatment in combination with standard of care in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

13 Nov 2007

Factor key to severity of community-associated methicillin-resistant staph infections identified

Newly described proteins in drug-resistant strains of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium attract and then destroy protective human white blood cells - a key process ensuring that S. aureus survives and causes severe disease, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

13 Nov 2007

Microfluidics chips used to watch worm behavior

They wriggle and turn and explore new territory until they find something edible, and then they stay the course until the food disappears.

13 Nov 2007

Abnormal immune cells may cause unprovoked idiopathic anaphylaxis

Two new clinical reports shed light on why some people suffer from recurrent episodes of idiopathic anaphylaxis--a potentially life-threatening condition of unknown cause characterized by a drop in blood pressure, fainting episodes, difficulty in breathing, and wheezing.

13 Nov 2007