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Study to investigate how dietary iron is used by cells

A four-year study on iron metabolism within cells, an essential process that impacts both iron deficiency and iron toxicity, conditions responsible for a multitude of human diseases, is underway at the University at Buffalo funded by a $1.16 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

23 Jun 2007

RNA polymerase points to new targets for drug design

Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) have new information on the structure of a key enzyme in bacteria that could lead to improved antibiotics and less antibiotic resistance.

23 Jun 2007

Why the cold hurts - research has implications for pain relief

Freeing knotted shoelaces with fingers that are frozen stiff is extremely difficult and can even be painful.

20 Jun 2007

New targets for Leishmaniasis

A comparison of three parasite species that cause Leishmaniasis has identified a small number of genes, many new to biology, that will provide a framework to target the search for new treatments.

19 Jun 2007

Alzheimer's-associated enzyme beta-secretase can disrupt neural activity in the brain

An enzyme involved in the formation of the amyloid-beta protein associated with Alzheimer's disease can also alter the mechanism by which signals are transmitted between brain cells, the disruption of which can cause seizures.

19 Jun 2007

50 million Europeans suffer from neurological diseases

About 50 million people in the EU suffer from neurological diseases such as epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, strokes and dementia.

18 Jun 2007

Microinjection of live single cells

Specialized pulsed lasers have been used to inject individual cells with a variety of materials, but little is known about how this type of injection might affect living cells.

17 Jun 2007

Scientists extend life of fruit fly

In a triumph for pests, scientists have figured out how to make the fruit fly live longer.

16 Jun 2007

In vivo imaging of siRNA delivery and silencing in tumors

Using magnetic nanoparticles labeled with dye molecules, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital has developed a delivery vehicle capable of transporting antitumor small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules into cells.

14 Jun 2007

New contributor to aggressive cancers

Mutations in the cell adhesion molecule known as integrin alpha 7 (integrin 7) lead to unchecked tumor cell proliferation and a significantly higher incidence in cancer spread, or metastasis, in several cancer cell lines, report researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

8 Jun 2007

HIV uses pathways to infect cells

Like hobos on a train, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, uses a pre-existing transport system to leave one infected cell and infect new ones, Hopkins scientists have discovered.

8 Jun 2007

Folic acid does not decrease the risk of benign colorectal tumors

New research indicates that folic acid supplementation does not decrease the risk of benign colorectal tumors, but may possibly increase the risk for some types of colorectal tumors, according to a study in the June 6 issue of JAMA .

8 Jun 2007

Scientists have captured on video the intracellular version of a postal delivery service

Reporting in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), bioengineering researchers at UC San Diego published videos of a key message-carrying protein called paxillin moving abruptly from hubs of communication and transportation activity on the cell surface toward the nucleus.

3 Jun 2007

Insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive

The discovery of how some abnormal cells can avoid a biochemical program of self-destruction by increasing their energy level and repairing the damage, is giving investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive.

3 Jun 2007

How cells breathe

Inhaling oxygen is only the first step in a long journey through the nooks and crannies of the body.

1 Jun 2007

Molecular motors may speed nutrient processing

Matthew Tyska, Ph.D., recalls being intrigued, from the first day of his postdoctoral fellowship in 1999, with a nearly 30-year-old photograph.

1 Jun 2007

Study looks at brain damage that occurs after stroke

Brain damage that occurs even days after a stroke, increasing stroke size and devastation, is the focus of researchers trying to identify new treatments.

1 Jun 2007

Cartilage shield restores hearing in some otitis media infection patients

Inserting a “shield” of cartilage into the inner ear is a less invasive and more cost-effective alternative to membrane reconstruction when treating hearing loss in selected patients suffering from chronic middle ear infections (otitis media), according to a new study published in the June 2007 edition of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery .

1 Jun 2007

Designer lipid-like peptides to play a key role in improving drug delivery systems

Scientists from Institute of Biophysics and Nanosystems Research (IBN), Austrian Academy of Sciences and of Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA report the study of Tuning Curvature and Stability of Monoolein Bilayers by Designer Lipid-Like Peptide Surfactants in the May 30th issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.

30 May 2007

Reversal of coma with an injection of glue

Neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center injected a biosynthetic “glue” to seal off a spinal fluid leak and restore a comatose patient to consciousness.

28 May 2007