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Removing damaged mitochondria may relieve chronic inflammatory conditions

Researchers have discovered a potential new way to treat chronic inflammatory diseases, by eliminating damaged mitochondria before they trigger excessive inflammation.

12 Apr 2019

Researchers discover unique approach to treat some chronic inflammatory diseases

Inflammation is a balanced physiological response -- the body needs it to eliminate invasive organisms and foreign irritants, but excessive inflammation can harm healthy cells, contributing to aging and chronic diseases.

12 Apr 2019

The two-hit model can lead to better understanding of heart failure

Nearly half of current hospital admissions for heart failure are caused by a type of the disease with no treatment options. Cardiology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are changing that reality with a fresh approach, recently published in Nature.

12 Apr 2019

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 enzyme found in advanced liver diseases

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is associated with liver inflammation in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and it can progress to liver fibrosis at an advanced stage, and also to hepatocellular carcinoma and portal hypertension.

12 Apr 2019

Study describes vulnerability shared by large subset of cancer cell lines

Cancer cells adapt to potentially fatal mutations and other molecular malfunctions by adjusting one or more other genes' activity, in the process becoming dependent on those genes for their survival and growth.

12 Apr 2019

Hundreds of new anti-cancer drug targets identified using CRISPR

A team of scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute have identified the genes that are essential for the survival of thirty types of cancer cells.

11 Apr 2019

New quantum material effectively detects early signs of neurological diseases

What if the brain could detect its own disease? Researchers have been trying to create a material that "thinks" like the brain does, which would be more sensitive to early signs of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's.

11 Apr 2019

Large-scale screen efficiently identifies drugs that are potent cancer-killers

UC San Francisco scientists have designed a large-scale screen that efficiently identifies drugs that are potent cancer-killers when combined, but only weakly effective when used alone.

10 Apr 2019

TGen review associates a gene with hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a long medical name for the most common form of liver cancer, a malignancy whose incidence has nearly doubled over the past decade, making it the fastest growing type of cancer in the U.S., and the third-leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide.

9 Apr 2019

New technique to test for viral infections discovered

A team of Colorado State University researchers has developed technology that can detect extremely small amounts of antibodies in a person's blood. Antibodies develop to infect cells or kill pathogens, essentially fighting off a bacteria or virus. The levels of antibodies in the blood can tell whether that person is sick.

9 Apr 2019

Unexpected function of enzyme in sounding alarm about liver damage could lead to new treatments

On a normal day, the cells of a human liver do what they do best - making key blood proteins, clearing toxins from the blood and sending their remains down the digestive tract in a never-ending stream of bile.

9 Apr 2019

Cellular protein could take on role of restriction factor for hepatitis B virus

Hepatitis B is a viral liver infection that can lead to acute or chronic conditions. Although there is a vaccine that offers protection against the virus, current treatments which prevent the virus from replicating are not curative for infected individuals.

8 Apr 2019

A gene regulatory multi-tool plays key role in unjamming the genome after DNA damage

A protein complex that is involved in nearly every step in the regulatory control of gene expression in cells has now been shown also to play a key role in clearing potential traffic jams in the production of RNA.

5 Apr 2019

UCI discovery may lead to mitigation of side effects caused by erectile dysfunction drugs

In a study published in Science Advances magazine, researchers from the University of California, Irvine have captured, for the first time, the full-length structure of the rod photoreceptor phosphodiesterase 6 (PDE6), an enzyme that plays an indispensable role in human vision.

5 Apr 2019

Study offers novel insights into how a major tumor suppressor pathway becomes deactivated

The Hippo pathway is an important biological tumor suppressor program that controls cell growth and organ size in humans.

5 Apr 2019

New hope for treating devastating brain cancer in children

There could be new treatments on the horizon for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, a devastating form of brain cancer that afflicts young children and is currently incurable.

5 Apr 2019

Popular weed killer’s alleged link to cancer spreads concern

Clumps of dandelions have popped up in your yard, so you reach for a bottle of Roundup, the popular weed killer. It is known for being very effective, but its main ingredient, glyphosate, is getting a lot of attention because of lawsuits alleging links to cancer.

4 Apr 2019

Researchers unravel 3D structure of key molecular target for cancer treatment

Columbia University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from Nimbus Therapeutics, have demystified a metabolic enzyme that could be the next major molecular target in cancer treatment.

4 Apr 2019

New computational model of human kinase may provide insights for cancer drug development

Researchers have developed a computational model for human MEK1, a protein with potential as a drug target for a variety of human cancers.

4 Apr 2019

Patent-pending probiotic could help patients with gastrointestinal diseases avoid harmful biofilms

Probiotics typically aim to rebalance bacteria populations in the gut, but new research suggests they may also help break apart stubborn biofilms. Biofilms are living microbial communities--they provide a haven for microbes and are often resistant to antibiotics.

4 Apr 2019