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Lack of very long chain fatty acids does not cause blindness in children with Stargardt type 3

Vision scientists long have thought that lack of very long chain fatty acids in photoreceptor cells caused blindness in children with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration, an incurable eye disease. But researchers at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center have shown in a new study that lack of these fatty acids does not cause blindness, meaning that the search for the mechanism that robs sight from children with the disease must start anew.

12 Mar 2013

Study identifies two gene mutations that lead to death of nerve cells in ALS

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has discovered mutations in two genes that lead to the death of nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and related degenerative diseases.

4 Mar 2013

Schistosome stem cells could explain how the worms survive for so many years

The parasites that cause schistosomiasis, one of the most common parasitic infections in the world, are notoriously long-lived. Researchers have now found stem cells inside the parasite that can regenerate worn-down organs, which may help explain how they can live for years or even decades inside their host.

24 Feb 2013

Two studies discover new enzyme that acts as a sensor of innate immunity

Two studies by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center could lead to new treatments for lupus and other autoimmune diseases and strengthen current therapies for viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

16 Feb 2013

UPC develops new system for electroporation of cell cultures

Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have developed a technique that improves and cuts the cost of a technique called electroporation, which involves opening pores in cell membranes using an electric field to introduce substances like drugs and DNA. Current methods are aggressive and expensive whereas the new system manages to apply low voltage electroporation with a small printed circuit board, which costs less than a Euro per unit and does not damage cells.

11 Feb 2013

Study provides new insight on cancer prevention

Clear communication between cells is essential to every aspect of the body's internal function. But since cells can't talk, or send emails, how do they communicate?

4 Feb 2013

Oncolytics Biotech reports new findings at ASCO’s 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

What did Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees have in common? Each was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world and the fourth most common cause of cancer death.

29 Jan 2013

Clathrin protein may have a role in suppressing tumors

Newly published research by Indiana University structural biologist Joel Ybe and colleagues identifies a "topology switch" in the protein clathrin, the function of which may shed light on molecular processes involved in tumor suppression.

16 Jan 2013

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

The association alfa-enolase/plasmin is a new selective target for treating muscular pathologies

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have described a new selective target in muscle regeneration. This is the association of alpha-enolase protein and plasmin.

19 Dec 2012

Researchers unlock mechanisms of how the body converts dietary carbohydrates into fat

A gene that helps the body convert that big plate of holiday cookies you just polished off into fat could provide a new target for potential treatments for fatty liver disease, diabetes and obesity.

6 Dec 2012

Enzalutamide shows promise in treating triple-negative and estrogen-positive breast cancer

Breast cancers are defined by their drivers - estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) and HER2 are the most common, and there are drugs targeting each. When breast cancer has an unknown driver, it also has fewer treatment options - this aggressive form of breast cancer without ER, PR or HER2, which was thought not to be driven by hormones, is known as triple negative.

3 Dec 2012

microRNAs play an important role during embryonic development

Sanford-Burnham researchers discover that microRNAs play an important role in germ layer formation-the process that determines which cells become which organs during embryonic development

3 Dec 2012

Paper illuminates importance of PKM2 in cancer development and progression

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have tracked down a cancer-promoting protein's pathway into the cell nucleus and discovered how, once there, it fires up a glucose metabolism pathway on which brain tumors thrive.

26 Nov 2012

Study shows how MCUR1 protein helps regulate movement of calcium into mitochondria

A team of scientists from Temple University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania has moved another step closer to solving a decades-long mystery of how the all-important flow of calcium into the cell's power source, the mitochondria, is controlled.

26 Nov 2012

Researchers characterize novel lysosomal PQ protein linked to cystinosis

Researchers at the Université Paris Descartes/CNRS and the Université libre de Bruxelles have made a major breakthrough in the study of cystinosis, a genetic disease that can lead to serious disorders, notably fatal kidney failure.

23 Nov 2012

New pathway appears to play a major role in information processing in the brain

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a new pathway that appears to play a major role in information processing in the brain. Their research also offers insight into how imbalances in this pathway could contribute to cognitive abnormalities in humans.

16 Nov 2012

Researchers use baker's yeast to identify new therapies for Lou Gehrig's disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastatingly cruel neurodegenerative disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to move, speak and, finally, breathe.

29 Oct 2012

Study identifies essential mechanism that regulates calcium flow into mitochondria

Most healthy cells rely on a complicated process to produce the fuel ATP. Knowing how ATP is produced by the cell's energy storehouse - the mitochondria -- is important for understanding a cell's normal state, as well as what happens when things go wrong, for example in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and many rare disorders of the mitochondria.

26 Oct 2012

Insight into calcium pumps in cells

When animals and plants are exposed to influences such as bacterial attack, odour and cold, calcium ions flow into the cells. The calcium provides the cells with a signal about what is going on outside, but as high concentrations of calcium are toxic to the cells, it must be quickly pumped out again.

22 Oct 2012