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Relaxin improves poor blood flow and kidney function in a rat model of PKD

After a four-week course of the vasodilator hormone relaxin, kidney function and blood flow immediately improved in lab rats genetically altered to model polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a life-threatening genetic disorder, according to research presented on Dec. 6 at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in Denver.

7 Dec 2011

Scientists understand how nervous system becomes wired during early development

Thanks to a new study of the retina, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a greater understanding of how the nervous system becomes wired during early development.

7 Dec 2011

Towards a national plan of action for rare diseases

"Rare diseases", by their very definition, occur in no more than 5 people out of every 10,000 inhabitants. Barely noticed by the general public, only around 1,000 of the currently 6,000 or so different rare diseases currently listed on the Internet platform Orphanet are treatable nowadays.

5 Dec 2011

Cancer cells can 'bag up and bin' a toxic protein to cheat death

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that cancer cells can 'bag up and bin' a toxic protein to cheat death - revealing a new Achilles heel in cancer cells that could be targeted for treatment, reveals research in Nature Cell Biology today.

5 Dec 2011

World Cell Race pulls 70 entries for title of world's fastest cell

A "team" of fast-moving, bone marrow stem cells from a research laboratory in Singapore has run away with the first World Cell Race, finishing first with a cellular speed record of 5.2 microns per minute (or 0.000204 inches per minute) in results announced today at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB).

3 Dec 2011

New technique allows production of medically useful amounts of endoderm cells from human PSCs

Scientists in Canada have overcome a key research hurdle to developing regenerative treatments for diabetes and liver disease with a technique to produce medically useful amounts of endoderm cells from human pluripotent stem cells. The research, published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, can be transferred to other areas of stem cell research helping scientists to navigate the route to clinical use known as the 'valley of death'.

3 Dec 2011

Researchers identify cancer cell mitochondria as 'Achilles' heel' of tumor growth

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have identified cancer cell mitochondria as the unsuspecting powerhouse and "Achilles' heel" of tumor growth, opening up the door for new therapeutic targets in breast cancer and other tumor types.

2 Dec 2011

Insights into causes of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Tracking individual cells within the lung as they move around and multiply has given Duke University researchers new insights into the causes of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) a disease which can only be treated now by lung transplantation.

1 Dec 2011

New discovery of adult stem cells gives fresh possibilities for heart regeneration

Sydney researchers have discovered a new population of adult stem cells in the heart, which could augment the development of new regeneration and repair therapies for people who have suffered heart attack or heart failure, the leading cause of death in Australia.

1 Dec 2011

Affymetrix signs definitive agreement to acquire eBioscience

Affymetrix, Inc., today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eBioscience, Inc., a privately-held San Diego, CA-based company with an industry-leading position in flow cytometry and immunoassay reagents for immunology and oncology research and diagnostics. Under the terms of the agreement, Affymetrix will acquire eBioscience for $330 million in cash subject to certain customary adjustments.

30 Nov 2011

Collegium Ramazzini honors UC Riverside toxicologist with fellowship

Toxicologist David Eastmond at the University of California, Riverside has been elected a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, an organization of international scholars who work towards solutions of occupational and environmental health problems around the world.

30 Nov 2011

Seizure drug slows spread of uveal melanoma

A drug commonly used to treat seizures appears to make eye tumors less likely to grow if they spread to other parts of the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Nov 2011

NIH awards $3.2M for development of highly efficient system of generating nucleic acid molecules

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $3.2 million to a team of preeminent engineering, chemistry, and biology researchers to develop a highly efficient system of generating nucleic acid molecules, called aptamers.

29 Nov 2011

FDA grants IND for AEZS-130 Phase 2A trial in cancer cachexia

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Jose M. Garcia, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism, Departments of Medicine and Molecular and Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine and Michael I. DeBakey Veterans Administration Medical Center, in Houston Texas, an Investigational New Drug approval for the initiation of a Phase 2A trial to assess the safety and efficacy of repeated doses of the Company's ghrelin agonist, AEZS-130, in patients with cancer cachexia.

28 Nov 2011

Scientists decode how Machado-Joseph disease arises

Neurodegenerative diseases represent one of the greatest challenges of our aging society. However, investigation into these diseases is made particularly difficult due to the limited availability of human brain tissue. Scientists from the Life & Brain Research Center and Neurology Clinic of Bonn University have now taken a roundabout path: They reprogrammed skin cells from patients with a hereditary movement disorder into so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and obtained functional nerve cells from them.

24 Nov 2011

Dendritic cells play a novel protective role in pancreas

NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered the novel protective role dendritic cells play in the pancreas. The new study, published in the November issue of journal Gastroenterology, shows dendritic cells can safeguard the pancreas against acute pancreatitis, a sudden dangerous swelling and inflammation of the pancreas gland.

23 Nov 2011