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Unlocking proteins from their cellular shell

Applying physical stress to cells, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that everyday forces can alter the structure of proteins tucked within cells, unfold them and expose new targets in the fight against disease.

3 Aug 2007

Cell injury caused by brushing may help keep gums healthy

One way regular brushing may help keep gums firm and pink is, paradoxically, by tearing open cells, researchers have found.

2 Aug 2007

Gold nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis

When it comes to searching out cancer cells, gold may turn out to be a precious metal.

1 Aug 2007

Bone marrow restores fertility in female mice

A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers confirms that female mice that receive bone marrow transplantation after fertility-destroying chemotherapy can go on to have successful pregnancies throughout their normal reproductive life.

31 Jul 2007

Researchers track how a single molecule of RNA or DNA unwinds

The process by which genes are duplicated is mysterious and complex, involving a cast of characters with diverse talents and the ability to play well with others in extremely close quarters.

27 Jul 2007

Self-assembling nanoparticles image tumor cells

By taking advantage of the full range of ways in which molecules can interact with and bind to one another, a team of investigators at the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence has created nanoparticles that assemble themselves layer by layer.

23 Jul 2007

Antibody targets nanotubes to tumors

Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have created biocompatible single-walled carbon nanotubes that can target lymphomas and deliver both imaging and therapeutic molecules to these tumors.

23 Jul 2007

Nanoscale dots target and track apoptosis

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a hallmark effect triggered by effective anticancer drugs. Now, researchers in Korea have developed a biocompatible, fluorescent nanoparticle that could provide an early sign that apoptosis is occurring as a result of anticancer therapy.

23 Jul 2007

Lubert Stryer wins National Medal of Science

Neurobiologist Lubert Stryer, MD, of the Stanford University School of Medicine, will receive the nation's highest scientific honor, the National Medal of Science, for his achievements in a wide range of fields that included the development of a DNA chip used in genetics.

19 Jul 2007

RNA essential for survival of mature neurons

There are lots of things that brain cells need to survive. Add to that list microRNAs.

19 Jul 2007

Research on proteases and pathological processes

A research group of the UAB Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the UAB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, directed by Francesc Xavier Aviles, is the coordinator of a European project aimed at studying proteases with fluorescent molecules that allow their monitoring in healthy and pathological situations.

18 Jul 2007

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells suppress anti-tumor response to cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they have mapped out an escape route that cancers use to evade the body's immune system, allowing the disease to spread unchecked.

17 Jul 2007

Paint helps surgeons see where a tumor begins and ends

A tumor paint developed by researchers at Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will help surgeons see where a tumor begins and ends more precisely by illuminating the cancerous cells.

16 Jul 2007

University Jaume I patents fluorescent sensor

The University Jaume I (UJI) has patented a new fluorescent chemical sensor that is capable of detecting citric acid at low concentrations more rapidly and cheaply than the current optical sensors.

9 Jul 2007

Researchers discover brain pathway of depression in rats

Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma.

9 Jul 2007

Engineered blood vessels work like native tissue

Blood vessels that have been tissue-engineered from bone marrow adult stem cells may in the future serve as a patient's own source of new blood vessels following a coronary bypass or other procedures that require vessel replacement, according to new research from the University at Buffalo Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

9 Jul 2007

Scientists discover role of ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein in DNA repair

Scientists from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Integrative Bioinformatics Inc. have made an important discovery about the role of an enzyme called ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein (ATM) in the body's ability to repair damaged DNA.

28 Jun 2007

Novel cellular mechanism that may guide cell movement and possibly cancer cell invasion

Scientists have long thought that microtubules, part of the microscopic scaffolding that the cell uses to move things around in order to hold its shape and divide, originated from a tiny structure near the nucleus, called the centrosome.

23 Jun 2007

Entecavir can compromise HIV treatment

Treating hepatitis B patients with the drug entecavir can cause those who are also infected with HIV to become resistant to two of the most important drugs in the anti-HIV arsenal, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

23 Jun 2007

Multifunctional nanoparticle platforms for targeting and imaging cancer cells

There has been much recent interest in how nanotechnology will impact the field of medicine. Unfortunately, a number of promising nanostructured systems have turned out to be extremely toxic to humans, thus precluding their use in clinical applications and dashing hopes of an early success for the interdisciplinary field of nanobiotechnology.

21 Jun 2007