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Relaxin improves poor blood flow and kidney function in a rat model of PKD

After a four-week course of the vasodilator hormone relaxin, kidney function and blood flow immediately improved in lab rats genetically altered to model polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a life-threatening genetic disorder, according to research presented on Dec. 6 at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in Denver.

7 Dec 2011

Four PhD graduates to showcase cutting-edge research in University of Leicester lectures

The University of Leicester has announced its upcoming Doctoral Inaugural Lectures for 2011, which celebrate and showcase four doctoral graduates who are both outstanding academically and able to present their work in a way that is accessible and engaging. The speakers will talk about their doctoral research, with subjects including: personalising asthma prescriptions, understanding growth disorders of bodily organs, building models of human brain function and defining the mechanisms of pollen fertility in plants.

30 Nov 2011

Researchers use baker's yeast to gain insight into chromosome separation process

Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research used, ironically enough, the single-celled organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae -- commonly known as baker's yeast -- to gain new insight into the process by which chromosomes are physically segregated during cell division.

18 Nov 2011

Clues into how gene defects may cause ARPKD in babies

Babies born with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) often develop kidney failure because they have very large kidneys filled with tiny cysts. Even with excellent medical care, about 30% die shortly after birth. New research now provides clues into how gene defects may cause this condition, which occurs in 1 out of 20,000 newborns.

22 Oct 2011

Normal Htt protein regulates formation of cellular structures in mouse model of HD

Huntington disease is a devastating neurogenerative disorder that causes a progressive loss of functional capacity and reduced life span. It is an inherited condition caused by a mutant HTT gene. Although this has been known for many years, the functions of the normal Htt protein and the mechanisms by which the mutant protein generated from the mutant HTT gene causes disease are not well understood.

11 Oct 2011

Flatworms provide new insight into organ regeneration, evolution of mammalian kidneys

Our bodies are perfectly capable of renewing billions of cells every day but fail miserably when it comes to replacing damaged organs such as kidneys. Using the flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea-famous for its capacity to regrow complete animals from minuscule flecks of tissue-as an eloquent example, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research demonstrated how our distant evolutionary cousins regenerate their excretory systems from scratch.

10 Aug 2011

Caffeine reduces women's chances of becoming pregnant

Caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman's ovaries to her womb. "Our experiments were conducted in mice, but this finding goes a long way towards explaining why drinking caffeinated drinks can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant," says Sean Ward, professor of physiology and cell biology, at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, who conducted the study.

21 Jul 2011

Researchers discover how genetic mutations cause rare human diseases

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and in Michigan, North Carolina and Spain have discovered how genetic mutations cause a number of rare human diseases, which include Meckel syndrome, Joubert syndrome and several other disorders.

11 Jul 2011

Eighteen scientists receive Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

7 Jul 2011

Integromics announces winners of proteomics grant competition

Integromics, a leader in IT solutions for life sciences in the field of genomics and proteomics, today announces the two winners of the Integromics 'Proteomics Mass Spectrometry Research Grant' competition, for the creative use of Integromics' OmicsHub(R) proteomics solution. The winners are Prof. Stephen Pennington from University College Dublin and Dr. Michelle Cilia from the USDA-ARS (U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service).

22 Jun 2011

Study: Dyslexia gene controls cilia in brain neurons

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a gene linked to dyslexia has a surprising biological function: it controls cilia, the antenna-like projections that cells use to communicate.

20 Jun 2011

Oncogene Aurora A may contribute to polycystic kidney disease

The Aurora A kinase may contribute to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) by inactivating a key calcium channel in kidney cells, according to a study in the June 13 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology.

13 Jun 2011

Research provides new insights into how cilia are assembled on the cell surface

Body cells detect signals that control their behavior through tiny hairs on the cell surface called cilia. Serious diseases and disorders can result when these cilia do not work properly.

9 Jun 2011

Caffeine reduces muscle activity in Fallopian tubes

Caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman's ovaries to her womb. "Our experiments were conducted in mice, but this finding goes a long way towards explaining why drinking caffeinated drinks can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant," says Professor Sean Ward from the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, USA. Ward's study is published today in the British Journal of Pharmacology

24 May 2011

Scientists reveal unknown role of cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have described a previously unknown role for the cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis, the process by which a dividing cell separates its chromosomes containing the cell's DNA into two identical sets of new daughter cells.

5 Apr 2011

Research outlines how cilia disease gene products regulate early cilium formation

An international collaboration jointly led by University College Dublin, University of Alabama and Simon Fraser University, British Columbia has outlined in the Journal of Cell Biology how cilia disease gene products regulate important aspects of early cilium formation and the integrity of the ciliary transport gate.

21 Mar 2011

Researchers discover new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome

Dutch researchers of the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen found a new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome (Journal of Medical Genetics, 2011 Mar 4). The mutation adds support to the hypothesis that defects in ciliar transport are the cause of the disease. Project leader Dr. Heleen H. Arts is supported by a Kolff Junior Postdoc Grant of the Dutch Kidney Foundation.

14 Mar 2011

Study sheds light on how signals from CSF help drive neural development

Cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid found in and around the brain and spinal cord, may play a larger role in the developing brain than previously thought, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston.

11 Mar 2011

New study provides insight into developing therapeutics for airway disease

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified how nanoparticles from diesel exhaust damage lung airway cells, a finding that could lead to new therapies for people susceptible to airway disease.

19 Jan 2011

CF patients with normal to mildly impaired lung function may benefit from new investigational drug

Cystic fibrosis patients with normal to mildly impaired lung function may benefit from a new investigational drug designed to help prevent formation of the sticky mucus that is a hallmark of the disease, according to researchers involved in a phase 3 clinical trial of the drug.

19 Dec 2010