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Researchers find potential new way to better control immune-mediated diseases

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that T-cells - a type of white blood cell that learns to recognize and attack microbial pathogens - are activated by a pain receptor.

6 Oct 2014

Understanding how neurons encode information

Nathan Urban, interim provost and the Dr. Frederick A. Schwertz Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences, and Robert Kass, professor of statistics and machine learning, have received a $930,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to apply biological and statistical neuroscience approaches in order to create a better overall understanding of how neurons encode information.

29 Sep 2014

International researchers identify novel causes for severe childhood epilepsies

In the largest collaborative study so far, an international team of researchers, including scientists from VIB and Antwerp University identified novel causes for severe childhood epilepsies.

26 Sep 2014

Adding common epilepsy drug to morphine can result in better pain control, say IU researchers

Adding a common epilepsy drug to a morphine regimen can result in better pain control with fewer side effects. Moreover, the combination can reduce the dosage of the opioid needed to be effective, according to a team of pain researchers at Indiana University.

17 Sep 2014

Scientists aim to develop rapid test system for immune dysfunction to treat cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a frequent genetic disease affecting the lung and the gastrointestinal tract. Scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München now have shown that many of the adult patients with CF in addition lack a cell surface molecule, which is important for immune defence. The results have been published recently in the 'Journal of Molecular Medicine'.

4 Sep 2014

Flow through pain-sensing molecule helps worms adapt to pain

When you accidentally touch a hot oven, you rapidly pull your hand away. Although scientists know the basic neural circuits involved in sensing and responding to such painful stimuli, they are still sorting out the molecular players.

2 Sep 2014

Study sheds new light on how carbon monoxide could help protect hearts against arrhythmias

A study, funded by the British Heart Foundation and Medical Research Council, has shed new light on how carbon monoxide could be used to protect against life-threatening arrhythmias after a heart attack.

16 Aug 2014

Researchers at NIH-FEI Living Lab for Structural Biology achieve breakthrough biological results

FEI is pleased to announce that researchers at the NIH-FEI Living Lab for Structural Biology have achieved breakthrough biological results, using FEI’s Titan Krios™ transmission electron microscope (TEM), to elucidate the structural mechanism by which glutamate receptors participate in the transmission of signals between neurons in the brain. Their work is described in Nature, “Structural Mechanism of Glutamate Receptor Activation and Desensitization,” by Meyerson, et al., (DOI: 10.1038/nature13603), http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13603.html .

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Electron Microscopy Solutions 4 Aug 2014

Study: Spicy capsaicin can reduce risk of colorectal tumors

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that dietary capsaicin - the active ingredient in chili peppers - produces chronic activation of a receptor on cells lining the intestines of mice, triggering a reaction that ultimately reduces the risk of colorectal tumors.

3 Aug 2014

New way to protect crops from insect plagues in safe and environmentally responsible way

Using spider toxins to study the proteins that let nerve cells send out electrical signals, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have stumbled upon a biological tactic that may offer a new way to protect crops from insect plagues in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

11 Jul 2014

New evidence for painless AF treatment to be presented at FCVB 2014

The first evidence for a shockless treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) will be presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. T

4 Jul 2014

Targeting ASIC-related neurotransmission may lead to new therapies for treating drug addiction

University of Iowa researchers have discovered a new form of neurotransmission that influences the long-lasting memory created by addictive drugs, like cocaine and opioids, and the subsequent craving for these drugs of abuse. Loss of this type of neurotransmission creates changes in brains cells that resemble the changes caused by drug addiction.

28 Jun 2014

Neuroscientists can control muscle movement by applying optogenetics

For the first time, MIT neuroscientists have shown they can control muscle movement by applying optogenetics - a technique that allows scientists to control neurons' electrical impulses with light - to the spinal cords of animals that are awake and alert.

27 Jun 2014

Study: Women who are overweight have faulty switch

Crucially, the discovery, published today in the journal Nature Communications, shows that women who are overweight have a faulty switch.

19 Jun 2014

Distribution partnership announced by Nanion Technologies and Axion Biosystems

Nanion Technologies, a leading provider of automated patch clamp platforms, and Axion Biosystems, originator of the first high throughput microelectrode array system, today announce a distribution partnership in Europe and China. Nanion will immediately carry Axion’s MEA-products, supporting a broad range of biomedical applications.

17 Jun 2014

Autifony Therapeutics awarded £2.2 million to progress first-in-class drug for tinnitus into Phase IIa study

Autifony Therapeutics Limited (“Autifony”), which is pioneering the development of novel pharmaceutical treatments for hearing disorders, today announced that it has been awarded funding of £2.2 million towards a Phase IIa clinical trial in tinnitus patients with its lead compound AUT00063, by the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board.

4 Jun 2014

Molecular mechanism linked to increased risk of diabetes in people with cystic fibrosis

Many people with cystic fibrosis develop diabetes. The reasons for this have been largely unknown, but now researchers at Lund University in Sweden and  Karolinska institutet have identified a molecular mechanism that contributes to the raised diabetes risk.

2 Jun 2014

Biologists show bioelectrical signals control tumors arising from cancer-causing genes, fatty acid

Developmental biologists at Tufts University, using a tadpole model, have shown that bioelectrical signals from distant cells control the incidence of tumors arising from cancer-causing genes and that this process is impacted by levels of a common fatty acid produced by bacteria found in the tadpole and also in humans.

28 May 2014

Shift switches pain sensor from cold-sensitive to hot-sensitive

Ice cream lovers and hot tea drinkers with sensitive teeth could one day have a reason to celebrate a new finding from Duke University researchers. The scientists have found a very small change in a single protein that turns a cold-sensitive receptor into one that senses heat.

9 May 2014

Cellectricon, Neusentis to host webinar on phenotypic screening approaches in pain research

Cellectricon, a leading provider of advanced cell-based screening technologies and services, will co-host a webinar with Neusentis, describing the use of native cells to develop an assay with improved physiological relevance over traditional approaches in pain drug discovery research.

From Cellectricon 8 May 2014