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Researchers test new strategy to increase effectiveness of topical anesthesia used in dentistry

Researchers from Brazil and Texas have started testing on humans a new strategy to increase the effectiveness of topical anesthesia used in dentistry, used by dentists to reduce patient discomfort during the application of injected anesthesia - required for more invasive procedures such as fillings, tooth extraction or surgery.

4 Oct 2017

New way of tagging exosomes could have long term benefits in treatment of life-threatening conditions

The development of a new technique for labelling the body’s own transporters – exosomes - could have long term benefits in the treatment of life-threatening medical conditions, including cancer.

28 Sep 2017

Research reveals novel mechanism of ribosome dimerization using cryo-electron microscopy

Antibiotics are the most common medication used to treat microbial infections. Many antibiotics target intracellular bacterial ribosomes - cellular factories that synthesize proteins - which are essential for bacterial survival and proliferation.

28 Sep 2017

Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles that may have different functions during infection

Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles (MVs), which are small particles that can transport virulence factors to neighboring bacteria or to the cells of a mammalian host. This special MV-based system for delivering toxic proteins and nucleic acids in a protected manner to the target cells may have different specific functions depending on whether the bacterium acts as an extracellular or intracellular pathogen.

18 Sep 2017

Research highlights problems with titanium based nanoparticles in joint implants

A team of researchers from Mayo Clinic have found that that Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles that are present in bone implants may be causing harm by impairing bone formation and interfering with resorption at the site of repair. This can lead to loosening of the implants and pain.

15 Sep 2017

Researchers develop fluorescent sensors for detecting, tracking GTP levels in living cells

For several decades, scientists have recognized the key role that a molecule known as GTP, one of the building blocks of RNA, plays in the development of cancer and other diseases.

13 Sep 2017

Researchers identify protein that offers likely target for treating high-risk pediatric cancers

Oncology researchers studying high-risk children's cancers have identified a protein that offers a likely target for immunotherapy--harnessing the immune system in medical treatments. In cell cultures and animal models, a potent drug attached to an antibody selectively zeroes in on cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

11 Sep 2017

Study sheds light on virulence strategy of intracellular bacteria that cause legionellosis

Intracellular pathogens adopt various strategies to circumvent the defences of the host cell and to proliferate intracellularly. One specific strategy is to target host organelles like the mitochondria. Mitochondria are well-defined cytoplasmic organelles, which take part in a variety of cellular metabolic functions.

7 Sep 2017

Discovery of sugar 'warehouse' provides new metabolic target to regulate immune activity

A surprising discovery that immune cells possess an internal warehouse of glycogen used to activate immune responses could help to increase immune activity in vaccines or suppress immune reactions in autoimmune disease or hyper-inflammatory conditions.

6 Sep 2017

Research provides novel insights into bacterial toxins

A toxin produced by a bacterium that causes urinary tract infections is related to, yet different in key ways from, the toxin that causes whooping cough, according to new research.

5 Sep 2017

Scientists show how receptors for drugs act inside cells

G protein-coupled receptors are the key target of a large number of drugs. Würzburg scientists have now been able to show more precisely how these receptors act in the cell interior.

5 Sep 2017

Research reveals underlying reason for intense pain in patients with shingles

Chickenpox is a typical childhood illness. In most cases, it is benign, and the symptoms disappear within ten days. However, its causative agent, Varicella zoster virus (VZV), remains in the organism forever. In some cases, the virus can be reactivated years later, causing a different disease known as herpes zoster, or shingles.

24 Aug 2017

Neuronal firing patterns influence proliferation, differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursors

Through their pattern of firing, neurons influence the behavior of the cells that upon maturation will provide insulation of neuronal axons, according to a new study publishing 22 August in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Balint Nagy, Maria Kukley and colleagues at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

23 Aug 2017

Scientists show how immune system can be modulated by manipulation of sugar metabolism

In its attempt to fight a serious bacterial infection, caused by listeria, for example, the immune system can become so over-activated that the resulting inflammatory response and its consequences can quickly lead to death.

21 Aug 2017

Study elucidates how aerobic exercise protects the sick heart

Regular exercise is considered an important form of treatment for heart failure, a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

18 Aug 2017

Research shows how glutamine plays role in regulating cellular differentiation programs

The 200 different types of cells in the body all start with the same DNA genome. To differentiate into families of bone cells, muscle cells, blood cells, neurons and the rest, differing gene programs have to be turned on or off.

17 Aug 2017

Counteracting premature aging

Aging is the continuing process of such stress exposures, and with advancing age (normal aging), we must carry lots of senescent cells within our bodies. Senescent cells also often provide some ‘bad influences’ to surrounding healthy cells; such as chronic inflammation and tumorigenesis

14 Aug 2017

Botulinum neurotoxin type X holds potential to open up new field of toxin therapeutics

Botulinum toxins are currently used on more than 80 medical conditions including Muscle spasms, Overactive bladder, Chronic migraine, Cervical dystonia, Sweating and Cerebral Palsy (CP).

3 Aug 2017

Boise State professors win $37,000 grant from NASA to study impact of bone loss in space

Our slim body of knowledge of the universe is vastly overshadowed by what we do not know – whether there is sentient life on other planets, whether there are other planets that can sustain human life, even how long-term space travel physically affects human beings.

31 Jul 2017

Researchers identify new way to increase immune response against cancer and infections

An international research team led by Université de Montréal medical professor Christopher Rudd, director of research in immunology and cell therapy at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre, has identified a key new mechanism that regulates the ability of T-cells of the immune system to react against foreign antigens and cancer.

19 Jul 2017