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Protein controls acid in cells by direct detection of volume changes

A protein responsible for regulating acid levels within cells - and pumping out acid accumulated in cardiac cells after a heart attack - activates in direct response to changes in a cell's volume, according to a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

5 Jul 2004

300,000 mad French cows since the 1980's

According to new French research reported in le figaro more than 300,000 French cows would have been infected by the agent BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ) since the 1980's.

3 Jul 2004

How DNA repair machinery detects and corrects errors in DNA replication

Biochemists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered key components that enable the cell's DNA repair machinery to adeptly launch its action in either direction along a DNA strand to strip out faulty DNA.

2 Jul 2004

Positron emission tomography offers a better way to observe the damage that strokes and neurodegenerative diseases wreak on brain cells

A laser-based microscopy technique may have settled a long-standing debate among neuroscientists about how brain cells process energy

2 Jul 2004

Children cured of acute lymphocytic leukemia after chemotherapy have a 5-20 times greater risk of developing secondary malignant neoplasm's

The alterations in the children's gene sequence remain embedded within their chromosomes and may pose elevated risk for development of second malignancies and other diseases later in life, cautioned Barry A. Finette, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont.

1 Jul 2004

Genetically engineering viruses to carry a suicide gene into ovarian cancer cells

Genetically engineering viruses to carry a suicide gene into ovarian cancer cells could become a potent way to tackle the disease, a leading Cancer Research UK scientist reveals at a conference in Glasgow today (Tuesday).

22 Jun 2004

Paclitaxel analog kills more cancer cells than natural product

Paclitaxel, a natural compound from yew trees, is the world's best-selling anticancer drug. Several analogs are in clinical trial, with others in preclinical development. One problem that paclitaxel and all its analogs share, however, is that they are all highly complex compounds, and cannot be prepared synthetically in a commercially viable way.

21 Jun 2004

New target to stop breast cancer growth

Two proteins that normally help cells move from place to place and are made in large quantities in breast cancer cells work together to promote the survival and spread of breast cancer, according to a new study by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

15 Jun 2004

Significant vaccine advance for Parkinson’s disease therapy

Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and Columbia University Medical Center in New York have discovered a new vaccine approach that successfully prevents the death of brain cells in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

15 Jun 2004

Non-aspirin pain drugs may help men with recurrent prostate cancer

Early results from a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study may determine if drugs called Cox-2 inhibitors, a newer type of non-aspirin pain medicine now widely prescribed for arthritis symptoms, may benefit men with recurrent prostate cancer.

10 Jun 2004

Lovastatin and Simvastatin have a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer

Men who take even small amounts of common cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lovastatin and Simvastatin have a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.

9 Jun 2004

Evidence that abnormally short telomeres play a role in the early development of cancer

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that abnormally short telomeres - the end-caps on chromosomes that normally preserve genetic integrity -appear to play a role in the early development of many types of cancer.

27 May 2004

Study indicates the number of people in the UK who could be incubating vCJD

The Journal of Pathology recently published a paper entitled Prevalence of lymphoreticular prion protein accumulation in UK tissue samples. The study looked at 12,674 stored appendix and tonsil samples, and found that 3 of them showed evidence of the prion protein associated with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD).

25 May 2004

Data suggests potential target for Alzheimer's disease treatment

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons have discovered at least one way in which beta-amyloid, the protein that forms stubborn plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, can kill nerve cells.

25 May 2004

Research shows that treatment with nitric oxide after storage may dramatically improve the viability of transplanted livers

About 5,000 liver transplants are performed annually in the United States, and a key factor ensuring success is maintaining a healthy donor organ that can function effectively in the recipient. However, transplanted livers typically incur substantial damage when blood flow is restored to the organ after the transplant.

24 May 2004

Manipulation of the body’s own natural killer cells to destroy cells containing the HIV virus

Current treatments for HIV block the virus from replicating, but don’t kill the cells that contain HIV. The existence of these HIV-harboring cells -- often called the “latent” or “resting reservoir” -- is regarded by many to be the main obstacle to finding a cure for HIV.

18 May 2004