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Research reveals EBV virus infected cell manipulates cancer-producing cells

A new discovery by UNC scientists describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing.

9 Nov 2010

Water purification woes

According to an expert desalination plants that are built close to sewage outflows risk contaminating drinking water. An Australian National University professor of infectious diseases and microbiology Peter Collignon said that membrane technology is not fool proof when it comes to screening bugs. This comes coincidentally just after a “reporting error” by Sydney Water that showed E.coli had been found in processed drinking water at its $1.9 billion Kurnell desalination plant in Sydney's south. The plant's intake, which collects water to supply 1.5 million Sydney homes, is about 2.5km north of the Cronulla near-shore sewage outflow.

8 Nov 2010

Alnylam third quarter revenue increases from $24.2 million to $27.7 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010, and company highlights.

4 Nov 2010

Mechanism of rogue cell killer discovered

A team of Melbourne and London researchers have shown how a protein called perforin punches holes in, and kills, rogue cells in our bodies. Their discovery of the mechanism of this assassin is published today in the science journal Nature.

1 Nov 2010

Scientists use electron microscopes to study mechanism of perforin protein to punch holes in rogue cells

Scientists from the UK and Australia have seen the human immune system's assassin a protein called perforin in action for the first time. The UK team, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Wellcome Trust, is based at Birkbeck College where they used powerful electron microscopes to study the mechanism that perforin uses to punch holes in rogue cells.

1 Nov 2010

New findings on Th17 cells pave way for human cancer treatment protocol

A recently identified immune cell that directs other cells to fight infection plays a critical role in regulating the immune system in both health and disease. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a stimulatory molecule and a protein found on the membrane of another immune cell make T helper 17 cells multi-taskers of sorts. Th17 cells protect the body against infection and cancer, but are also culprits in some autoimmune diseases and out-of-control, cancerous cell growth.

29 Oct 2010

Scientists identify potential new treatment for Nipah and Hendra viruses

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified a potential new treatment for the Nipah and Hendra viruses, two lethal and emerging viruses for which there is currently no treatment or vaccine available. The approach could also lead to new therapies for measles, mumps and the flu. The new research appears in today's edition of the prestigious journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens.

29 Oct 2010

Malvern Zetasizer Nano used to characterize environmentally responsive nanoparticles

The rapid, real-time measurement capabilities of the Zetasizer Nano system from Malvern Panalytical have enabled quantified nanoscale characterization of the environmental sensitivity of novel solubilization nanoparticles.

From Malvern Panalytical 28 Oct 2010

Scientists determine tertiary structure of TehA membrane protein in Haemophilus bacteria

Proteins are molecular machines that transport substances, catalyze chemical reactions, pump ions, and identify signaling substances. They are chains of amino acids and the individual amino acid sequence is known for many of them. However, the functions a protein can carry out inside the cell are determined by the three-dimensional spatial structure of the protein. Establishing this so-called tertiary structure presents a great challenge to scientists.

28 Oct 2010

University of Padua Professor wins Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

Frankfurt am Main. The chemist and biologist Professor Cesare Montecucco, 62, of the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Padua, Italy, has won the 100,000 euro Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2011 for his contribution to research in the field of bacterial diseases, including tetanus, botulism, anthrax and Helicobacter pylori associated diseases.

27 Oct 2010

Salk discovers potential new target for MS

Scientists are closer to solving one of the many mysteries of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases, thanks to a recent study conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The research revealed a previously unknown connection between two ion channels, which, when misaligned, can cause the many bizarre symptoms that characterize the condition.

26 Oct 2010

Study reveals two enzymes help immune cells deploy pathogen-killing traps

A new study reveals that two enzymes help immune cells deploy pathogen-killing traps by unraveling and using the chromatin (DNA and its associated proteins) contained in the cells' nuclei to form defensive webs. The study appears online on October 25 in The Journal of Cell Biology.

26 Oct 2010

Researchers identify chain reaction of brain activity that controls sequential actions

As anyone who as ever picked up a guitar or a tennis racket knows, precise timing is often an essential part of performing complex tasks. Now, by studying the brain circuits that control bird song, MIT researchers have identified a "chain reaction" of brain activity that appears to control the timing of song.

25 Oct 2010

Scorpion’s toxins can reduce heart bypass failures: Research

A toxin found in the venom of the Central American bark scorpion (Centruroides margaritatus) could hold the key to reducing heart bypass failures, according to research from the University of Leeds.

22 Oct 2010

UW Medicine patient receives implantable device for vestibular problems

A University of Washington Medical Center patient on Thursday, Oct. 21, will be the world's first recipient of a device that aims to quell the disabling vertigo associated with Meniere's disease.

21 Oct 2010

Research on Reaper protein provides new treatment strategies for cancer

Our cells live ever on the verge of suicide, requiring the close attention of a team of molecules to prevent the cells from pulling the trigger. This self-destructive tendency can be a very good thing, as when dangerous precancerous cells are permitted to kill themselves, but it can also go horribly wrong, destroying brain cells that store memories, for instance. Rockefeller University scientists are parsing this perilous arrangement in ever finer detail in hopes that understanding the basic mechanisms of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, will enable them eventually to manipulate the process to kill the cells we want to kill and protect the ones we don't.

21 Oct 2010