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Chemotherapy and blood stem cell transplantation results in long-term survival for amyloidosis patients

Researchers from the Stem Cell Transplant Program and the Amyloid Treatment and Research Program at Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) have found that high-dose chemotherapy and blood stem cell transplantation can result in long-term survival for patients diagnosed with primary systemic light chain (AL) Amyloidosis.

8 Aug 2007

Scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells

Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2007

New Canadian partnership enhances diabetes education and research

An innovative new partnership between the University Health Network and the University of Toronto's Banting & Best Diabetes Centre will enhance diabetes education, research and patient care and expand the search for a cure.

8 Aug 2007

Nanotech sensors and tiny transmitters to predict and prevent epileptic seizures

Purdue University researchers have developed new miniature devices designed to be implanted in the brain to predict and prevent epileptic seizures and a nanotech sensor for implantation in the eye to treat glaucoma.

8 Aug 2007

New player in the control of HDL cholesterol

Researchers have identified a new player in the control of so-called "good" cholesterol that circulates in the bloodstream and reduces heart attack risk, according to a report in the August issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

8 Aug 2007

Bcl-3 protein regulates inflammation by blocking ubiquitination

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine recently identified how a regulatory protein called Bcl-3 helps to control the body's inflammation response to infection by interfering a critical biochemical process called ubiquitination.

8 Aug 2007

High-intensity focused ultrasound may alerts the immune system to cancer

An intense form of ultrasound that shakes a tumor until its cells start to leak can trigger an alarm that enlists immune defenses against the cancerous invasion, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.

8 Aug 2007

Chemotherapy with bevacizumab increases risk of blood clots in arteries

Treatment with chemotherapy and bevacizumab, an anticancer drug, is associated with a greater risk of blood clots in patients, arteries compared with treatment with chemotherapy only, according to a study published online August 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

8 Aug 2007

Bacteria - you can live without 'em, but it won't do you any good!

The finding challenges the conventional wisdom that even harmless bacteria – and the immune response they provoke – suck up the energy of the host organism and hasten its death.

8 Aug 2007

Scientists tackle gene doping in athletes

Gene doping has the potential to spawn athletes capable of out-running, out-jumping and out-cycling the strongest of champions.

7 Aug 2007

New research may lead to future gene therapies for patients with sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying hemoglobin genes, mutations of which play a role in genetic blood disorders like sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia, have identified two proteins that are responsible for regulating overlapping groups of genes during the development of red blood cells.

7 Aug 2007

Overexposure to metals and Alzheimer's disease

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Emory University has defined for the first time how metal ions bind to amyloid fibrils in the brain in a way that appears toxic to neurons.

7 Aug 2007

New understanding of Leber congenital amaurosis

People suffering from a severe retinal disease will sooner or later lose their eyesight considerably or even become completely blind.

7 Aug 2007

Potential new ways to prevent smoking-related cellular damage

In the current issue of PLoS One, researchers show how a poorly understood and previously unsuspected mechanism may be the key to understanding how life-style associated forms of oxidative stress, such as exposure to cigarette smoke, damage cells in the lungs.

7 Aug 2007