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Researchers examine how toxin triggers motor neuron death

In most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, a toxin released by cells that normally nurture neurons in the brain and spinal cord can trigger loss of the nerve cells affected in the disease, Columbia researchers reported today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

7 Feb 2014

New biological pathway-based computational model to identify genetic links with diseases

Dartmouth researchers developed a new biological pathway-based computational model, called the Pathway-based Human Phenotype Network (PHPN), to identify underlying genetic connections between different diseases as reported in BioDataMining this week.

31 Jan 2014

Scientists explore underlying driving forces, constraints that influence evolution of multicellularity

In the beginning there were single cells. Today, many millions of years later, most plants, animals, fungi, and algae are composed of multiple cells that work collaboratively as a single being.

26 Jan 2014

Overdiagnosis concerns raised for CT lung cancer screening

People participating in any future computed tomography lung cancer screening program would face a significant risk for overdiagnosis, US researchers caution in JAMA Internal Medicine.

22 Jan 2014

TSRI scientists use new technique to discover two antibodies that protect human cells from cold virus

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have demonstrated the power of a new drug discovery technique, which allows them to find-relatively quickly and cheaply-antibodies that have a desired effect on cells. The TSRI scientists used the technique to discover two antibodies that protect human cells from a cold virus.

20 Jan 2014

Sleep disorder linked to poor nonmotor status in Parkinson’s disease

The presence of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder is associated with more severe nonmotor symptoms in patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease, a study shows.

8 Jan 2014

Schizophrenia brain marker matches genetic risk

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia correlates with neural inefficiency in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, say researchers.

24 Dec 2013

Manipulating epigenetic mechanism may promote cell death in pediatric brain cancer

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, the university hospital (Hospital de Cl-nicas de Porto Alegre, HCPA) and the Children's Cancer Institute (Instituto do C-ncer Infantil do Rio Grande do Sul, ICI-RS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have shown that manipulating an epigenetic mechanism, which regulates gene expression, may promote cell death and favor maturation towards less malignant-prone phenotypes in pediatric brain cancer cell lines.

22 Dec 2013

Aerobic glycolysis is a cause of malignancy, show Berkeley Lab researchers

Metabolism was lost in the shadows of cancer research for decades but has recently been reclaiming some of the spotlight. Now, Mina Bissell, Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division and a leading authority on breast cancer, has shown that aerobic glycolysis - glucose metabolism in the presence of oxygen - is not the consequence of the cancerous activity of malignant cells but is itself a cancerous event.

18 Dec 2013

Arizona scientists investigate intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens

At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Cheryl Nickerson and her team have been investigating the intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens.

17 Dec 2013

Experimental drug that targets macrophages decreases cancer's growth

An experimental drug that targets macrophages, a type of immune cells, in the microenvironment surrounding the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme decreased the cancer's growth and extended survival of laboratory mice with the cancer, scientists will report on Tuesday Dec. 17, at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in New Orleans.

16 Dec 2013

Cancer cells that fuse with macrophages play key role in the spread of cancer

Cancer cells that spontaneously fuse with macrophages, the immune system's healthy scavenger cells, play a key role in the metastasis, or spread of the cancer to other areas of the body, according to research to be presented Sunday, Dec. 15, at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in New Orleans.

16 Dec 2013

New mechanism explains why anti-tumor activity of specific immune suppressed during tumor growth

The Leuven-based VIB researchers have revealed a mechanism that explains why the anti-tumor activity of specific immune cells called macrophages is suppressed during tumor growth. They have also demonstrated that blocking the protein Nrp1 can restore this anti-tumor immune response.

12 Dec 2013

Shared genetic risk for bipolar and alcohol use disorders

Shared genetic factors affect the risk for bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder, suggesting a common underlying biology, research shows.

11 Dec 2013

Early antibiotic use linked to asthma, not atopy

Research from the UK has found a “robust and dose-dependent” association between antibiotic use in the first 2 years of life and subsequent asthma at the age of 7 and a half years.

11 Dec 2013

Researchers explain why anti-tumor activity of specific immune cells suppress during tumor growth

The Leuven-based VIB researchers have revealed a mechanism that explains why the anti-tumor activity of specific immune cells called macrophages is suppressed during tumor growth.

10 Dec 2013

Alnylam presents new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3 for treatment of hemophilia and RBD

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has presented new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic targeting antithrombin (AT) for the treatment of hemophilia and rare bleeding disorders (RBD), at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) held December 7 - 10, 2013 in New Orleans.