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New understanding about how placental growth is regulated before birth

Scientists at the Babraham Institute have gained a new understanding of how the growth of the placenta is regulated before birth, which has important implications for a healthy pregnancy.

11 Jun 2012

Researchers make white fat take on characteristics of brown fat

Brown seems to be the color of choice when it comes to the types of fat cells in our bodies. Brown fat expends energy, while its counterpart, white fat stores it. The danger in white fat cells, along with the increased risk for diabetes and heart disease it poses, seems especially linked to visceral fat. Visceral fat is the build-up of fat around the organs in the belly.

7 May 2012

Researchers discover novel genetic mechanism of idiopathic CD4 lymphopenia

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a novel genetic mechanism of immune deficiency. Magdalena M. Gorska, MD, PhD, and Rafeul Alam, MD, PhD, identified a mutation in Unc119 that causes immunodeficiency known as idiopathic CD4 lymphopenia.

21 Apr 2012

New study describes therapeutic approach to halt cancer progression

A new study describes a therapeutic approach to halting cancer progression by exploiting a previously unrecognized "addiction" of leukemia cells to specific signaling molecules. The research, published by Cell Press online on April 16th in the journal Cancer Cell, identifies non-classical oncogenes critical for tumor development and survival, and describes a potentially less toxic strategy that selectively targets these molecules.

17 Apr 2012

Scientists transform skin cells directly into induced neurons

Until recently, the production of pluripotent "multipurpose" stem cells from skin cells was considered to be the ultimate new development. In the meantime, it has become possible to directly convert cells of the body into one another - without the time-consuming detour via a pluripotent intermediate stage. However, this method has so far been rather inefficient.

12 Apr 2012

New dietary supplement may arrest, lower rising PSA in men with recurrent prostate cancer

Preliminary findings from an FDA-approved clinical trial indicate that the experimental dietary supplement Prostate Health Cocktail (PHC) may arrest and in some cases lower rising PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in men with recurrent prostate cancer.

9 Apr 2012

Researchers generate endodermal progenitor cells for future diabetes treatments

Researchers have generated a new type of human stem cell that can develop into numerous types of specialized cells, including functioning pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. Called endodermal progenitor (EP) cells, the new cells show two important advantages over embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells: they do not form tumors when transplanted into animals, and they can form functional pancreatic beta cells in the laboratory.

6 Apr 2012

Researchers discover MicroRNAs as new switch of adipose cell development

Hunger has always threatened mankind. This makes it unsurprising that human bodies attempt to store all surplus nourishment in adipose tissue. In developed countries, this life-saving craving is turning into a problem and obesity—adiposity—is turning into a danger. Why, though, does excess fat the body ill? How does fat trigger diabetes? And can these superfluous fat reserves be turned into warmth and just as well burnt?

30 Mar 2012

Tips to help ensure best plastic surgery results

Believe it or not, you play just as big a role in the overall success of your cosmetic surgery as your surgeon. Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Gregory A. Buford recently published a comprehensive list of tips to help ensure the best results, no matter what procedure you're preparing for.

29 Mar 2012

Disruptions in immune system regulation may play a role in NEC

Despite advances in neonatal care, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) - the most common gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants - continues to be a deadly disease. "We haven't made a lot of progress in identifying babies early who may be at risk for NEC, preventing it or treating it," said J-rn-Hendrik Weitkamp, M.D., a neonatologist and assistant professor of Pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

20 Mar 2012

CUMC scientists develop a way to recreate personalized immune mouse

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have developed a way to recreate an individual's immune system in a mouse. The "personalized immune mouse" offers researchers an unprecedented tool for individualized analysis of abnormalities that contribute to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases, starting at the onset of disease.

15 Mar 2012

Insulin and nutrition keep blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells

UCLA stem cell researchers have shown that insulin and nutrition keep blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, a finding that has implications for studying inflammatory response and blood development in response to dietary changes in humans.

12 Mar 2012

T-cells can develop in human tonsils

A new study provides evidence that a critical type of immune cell can develop in human tonsils. The cells, called T lymphocytes, or T cells, have been thought to develop only in the thymus, an organ of the immune system that sits on the heart.

6 Mar 2012

New breakthrough in early mammalian embryo development

Pioneering work by a leading University of Nottingham scientist has helped reveal for the first time a vital process in the development of the early mammalian embryo.

3 Mar 2012

Scientists observe maturation of immune cells in live zebrafish embryos

T-cells are the immune system's security force. They seek out pathogens and rogue cells in the body and put them out of action. Their precursors are formed in the bone marrow and migrate from there into the thymus. Here, they mature and differentiate to perform a variety of tasks. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have now succeeded for the first time in observing the maturation of immune cells in live zebrafish embryos.

17 Feb 2012

Study reveals new guiding principles for cancer genomics

That our chromosomes can break and reshuffle pieces of themselves is nothing new; scientists have recognized this for decades, especially in cancer cells. The rules for where chromosomes are likely to break and how the broken pieces come together are only just now starting to come into view.

17 Feb 2012

New technology helps scientists observe Parkinson's cell development

In the US alone, at least 500,000 people suffer from Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that affects a person's ability to control his or her movement. New technology from the University of Bonn in Germany lets researchers observe the development of the brain cells responsible for the disease.

1 Feb 2012

SENP1 prevents STAT5 from becoming trapped in nucleus

When SUMO grips STAT5, a protein that activates genes, it blocks the healthy embryonic development of immune B cells and T cells unless its nemesis breaks the hold, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports today in Molecular Cell.

30 Jan 2012

First details of genetic alterations that fuel early T-cell precursor ALL

Researchers have discovered that a subtype of leukemia characterized by a poor prognosis is fueled by mutations in pathways distinctly different from a seemingly similar leukemia associated with a much better outcome. The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) highlight a possible new strategy for treating patients with this more aggressive cancer.

12 Jan 2012

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation names 18 new Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jan 2012