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Parkinson’s: an interview with Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson’s UK

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that is caused when brain cells, that produce the chemical messenger dopamine, start to die.

24 Dec 2012

Autism genome not shy about tinkering with important genes

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered that "random" mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study, to be published in the journal Cell on December 21, shows that the DNA sequence in some regions of the human genome is quite volatile and can mutate ten times more frequently than the rest of the genome. Genes that are linked to autism and a variety of other disorders have a particularly strong tendency to mutate.

21 Dec 2012

Protein complex plays critical role in development of Alzheimer's disease

The Bonn site of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Bonn are leading contributors.

21 Dec 2012

UAB research succeeds in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis

A research coordinated by the UAB has succeeded in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis. The vaccine was tested with the best animal model existing, the golden hamster, and can be produced at low costs by using insect larvae.

21 Dec 2012

New technique may prevent inheritance of mitochondrial diseases in children

A joint team of scientists from The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has developed a technique that may prevent the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases in children.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species.

21 Dec 2012

Oscillation of gene activity may underlie how embryos grow in proportion

From a single-cell egg to a fully functional body: as embryos develop and grow, they must form organs that are in proportion to the overall size of the embryo. The exact mechanism underlying this fundamental characteristic, called scaling, is still unclear. However, a team of researchers from EMBL Heidelberg is now one step closer to understanding it.

21 Dec 2012

Study examines role of race and ethnicity in stem cell donation

New research examining the role of race and ethnicity in an individual's decision to become a donor for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) identifies several factors associated with varied participation rates in national donor registries across racial/ethnic groups. Results of this first-of-its-kind study are published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

21 Dec 2012

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study in this month's edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology describes a new target and potential treatment for melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. MicroRNA can decide which genes in a cell's DNA are expressed and which stay silent. Melanoma tends to lack microRNA-26a, which makes the gene SODD go silent.

21 Dec 2012

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

The protein kinase Akt is a key regulator of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, survival, and death. New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology from the lab of senior author Honglin Zhou, MD, PhD and Weihua Li, co-first author, both from the Center for Resuscitation Sciences, Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Xiaowei Xu, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, appears in Molecular Cell.

21 Dec 2012

Ebselen effectively inhibits thioredoxin reductase system in H. pylori, M. tuberculosis

A drug currently being used to treat ischemic strokes may prove to be a significant advance in the treatment of tuberculosis and ulcers. In a new research report appearing online in The FASEB Journal, a compound called ebselen effectively inhibits the thioredoxin reductase system in a wide variety of bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori which causes gastric ulcers and Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes tuberculosis.

21 Dec 2012

Two recent experimental treatments improve visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Two recent experimental treatments - one involving skin-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell grafts, the other gene therapy - have been shown to produce long-term improvement in visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), according to the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists who led the studies. At present, there is no cure for RP, the most common form of inherited blindness.

20 Dec 2012

Study finds new signaling pathway involved in development of chronic inflammation of brain cells

The number of Alzheimer's patients will continue to dramatically increase in the next several decades. Various teams of researchers worldwide are feverishly investigating precisely how the illness develops. A

20 Dec 2012

FUS RNA binding ability essential for development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Research led by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that the ability of a protein made by a gene called FUS to bind to RNA is essential to the development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This discovery identifies a possible therapeutic target for the fatal neurological disease.

20 Dec 2012

Scientists uncover TDP-43 protein as possible target for treatment of ALS, FTD

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center say they have new evidence that challenges scientific dogma involving two fatal neurodegenerative diseases - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) - and, in the process, have uncovered a possible therapeutic target as a novel strategy to treat both disorders.

20 Dec 2012

West African human population genomes provide important clues about evolution of HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have affected humans for much longer than is currently believed. Alfred Roca, an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, thinks that the genomes of an isolated West African human population provide important clues about how the disease has evolved.

20 Dec 2012

Investigators report non-coding miRNAs as appealing biomarkers for cancer malignancy

As many as 50 percent of all human protein-coding genes are regulated by microRNA (miRNA) molecules. While some miRNAs impact onset and progression of cancer, others can actually suppress the development of malignant tumors and are useful in cancer therapy. They can also serve as potential biomarkers for early cancer detection. In a new issue of Cancer Biomarkers, investigators report on non-coding miRNAs as appealing biomarkers for malignancy.

20 Dec 2012

Link made between muscular dystrophy and defective nerve wiring

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a particular protein helps nerve cells extend themselves along the spinal cord during mammalian development. Their results shed light on the subset of muscular dystrophies that result from mutations in the gene that holds the code for the protein, called dystroglycan, and also show how the nerve and muscle failings of the degenerative diseases are related.

20 Dec 2012

AAV-based gene therapy cocktail may help extend lives of children with Canavan disease

Results of a clinical trial that began in 2001 show that a gene therapy cocktail conveyed into the brain by a molecular special delivery vehicle may help extend the lives of children with Canavan disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

20 Dec 2012

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Promising new research provides evidence that ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be treatable using neural stem cells.

20 Dec 2012

Genes News and Research

Parkinson’s: an interview with Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson’s UK

Autism genome not shy about tinkering with important genes

Protein complex plays critical role in development of Alzheimer's disease

UAB research succeeds in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis

New technique may prevent inheritance of mitochondrial diseases in children

Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

Oscillation of gene activity may underlie how embryos grow in proportion

Study examines role of race and ethnicity in stem cell donation

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

Ebselen effectively inhibits thioredoxin reductase system in H. pylori, M. tuberculosis

Two recent experimental treatments improve visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Study finds new signaling pathway involved in development of chronic inflammation of brain cells

FUS RNA binding ability essential for development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Scientists uncover TDP-43 protein as possible target for treatment of ALS, FTD

West African human population genomes provide important clues about evolution of HIV

Investigators report non-coding miRNAs as appealing biomarkers for cancer malignancy

Link made between muscular dystrophy and defective nerve wiring

AAV-based gene therapy cocktail may help extend lives of children with Canavan disease

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

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