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Scientists identify two genes involved in establishing neuronal circuits required for breathing

Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified two genes involved in establishing the neuronal circuits required for breathing. They report their findings in a study published in the December issue of Nature Neuroscience.

30 Nov 2012

Combination of chemotherapy and selumetinib shows promise against NSCLC

A new study by an international team of investigators led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists is the first to demonstrate that chemotherapy and a new, targeted therapy work better in combination than chemotherapy alone in treating patients with the most common genetic subtype of lung cancer.

30 Nov 2012

JQ1 cancer drug may be useful in purging latent HIV infection

Breakthrough drugs have made it possible for people to live with HIV longer than ever before, but more work must be done to actually cure the disease. One of the challenges researchers face involves fully eradicating the virus when it is latent in the body.

30 Nov 2012

Article highlights Asian-American children’s variable vulnerability to obesity

Asian-American children have been at low risk for being overweight or obese compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., but that may be changing. Yet as rates of overweight and obesity rise, the risk appears to vary depending on the Asian country of origin, according to an article in Childhood Obesity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

30 Nov 2012

Epizyme to present data from DOT1L and EZH2 inhibitor programs at 54th ASH annual meeting

Epizyme, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the creation of personalized therapeutics to treat patients with genetically defined cancers, today announced the presentation of data evaluating the preclinical safety and efficacy of two of the Company's novel, potent and selective small molecule inhibitors. These inhibitors individually target DOT1L and EZH2, members of a class of epigenic enzymes called histone methyltransferases (HMTs).

30 Nov 2012

Ponatinib thwarts T315I gene mutation in chronic myeloid leukemia

A previously invincible mutation in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has been thwarted by an investigational drug in a phase I clinical trial reported in the current edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

29 Nov 2012

Study shows how PTPN22 variant linked with T1D influences susceptibility to autoimmunity

As part of their ongoing research on the role of genes in the development of type 1 diabetes, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Würzburg, have demonstrated how a genetic variant associated with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases influences susceptibility to autoimmunity. The findings appear in the upcoming issue of Diabetes.

29 Nov 2012

New antifungal drugs could be developed based on substance bacteria use to decompose mushrooms

Soft rot diseases cause a great deal of damage in agriculture, and turn fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms to mush. By using imaging mass spectrometry together with genetic and bioinformatic techniques (genome mining), German researchers have now discovered the substance the bacteria use to decompose mushrooms.

29 Nov 2012

microRNA-223 molecule plays a surprising role in protecting brain cells from stroke effects

A small molecule known to regulate white blood cells has a surprising second role in protecting brain cells from the deleterious effects of stroke, Johns Hopkins researchers report. The molecule, microRNA-223, affects how cells respond to the temporary loss of blood supply brought on by stroke - and thus the cells' likelihood of suffering permanent damage.

29 Nov 2012

IL17RC-mediated immune responses can be crucial in causing AMD

Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults, based on preliminary research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.

29 Nov 2012

Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy does not reduce breast cancer recurrence

About 70 percent of women who have both breasts removed following a breast cancer diagnosis do so despite a very low risk of facing cancer in the healthy breast, new research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.

28 Nov 2012

Study broadens understanding of how cells regulate X chromosome inactivation

In a paper published in the Nov. 21 issue of Cell, a team led by Mauro Calabrese, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina in the lab of Terry Magnuson, chair of the department of genetics and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, broadens the understanding of how cells regulate silencing of the X chromosome in a process known as X-inactivation.

28 Nov 2012

ABCA3 gene associated with respiratory distress syndrome in babies

Some infants are more susceptible to potentially life-threatening breathing problems after birth, and rare, inherited DNA differences may explain why, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

28 Nov 2012

Neurofibromatosis-1 may increase risk of breast cancer in women

New Johns Hopkins research showing a more than four-fold increase in the incidence of breast cancer in women with neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1) adds to growing evidence that women with this rare genetic disorder may benefit from early breast cancer screening with mammograms beginning at age 40, and manual breast exams as early as adolescence.

27 Nov 2012

New way to protect neurons that express mutant huntingtin proteins

By using a model, researchers at the University of Montreal have identified and "switched off" a chemical chain that causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and dementia. The findings could one day be of particular therapeutic benefit to Huntington's disease patients. "We've identified a new way to protect neurons that express mutant huntingtin proteins," explained Dr. Alex Parker of the University of Montreal's Department of Pathology and Cell Biology and its affiliated CRCHUM Research Centre.

27 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Sen. Corker's plan to avoid the 'fiscal cliff'; Romney's brave attempt to deal with health entitlements; Fixing the drug shortage

I have shared with House and Senate leaders as well as the White House a 242-page bill that, along with other agreed-upon cuts that are to be enacted, would produce $4.5 trillion in fiscal reforms and replace sequestration.

27 Nov 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

Researchers discover LSD-1 enzyme as important target for treatment of Ewing sarcoma

Discovery of a new drug with high potential to treat Ewing sarcoma, an often deadly cancer of children and young adults, and the previously unknown mechanism behind it, come hand-in-hand in a new study by researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah. The report appears in today's online issue of the journal Oncogene.

26 Nov 2012

Nonfunctional MED12 gene linked to chemotherapy resistance

Research published in Cell shows that people with tumors that have a nonfunctional version of the mediator 12 gene are resistant to drugs used to treat lung and colon cancer such as gefitinib.

26 Nov 2012

Chronic suppurative lung disease: an interview with Dr Robyn Marsh

Chronic suppurative lung disease, or CSLD, is used to describe a range of lung diseases characterised by a chronic wet cough and progressive lung damage. We are interested in the non-cystic fibrosis forms of the disease with a focus on bronchiectasis – the severe form of CSLD.

26 Nov 2012