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Researchers zero in on process by which stem cells maintain proper undifferentiated state

The ability of embryonic stem cells to differentiate into different types of cells with different functions is regulated and maintained by a complex series of chemical interactions, which are not well understood. Learning more about this process could prove useful for stem cell-based therapies down the road. New research from a team led by Carnegie's Yixian Zheng zeroes in on the process by which stem cells maintain their proper undifferentiated state.

29 Oct 2012

Maternal bariatric surgery affects cardiovascular risk profile of offsprings

Kids born to moms who have lost a substantial amount of weight after undergoing bariatric surgery have fewer cardiovascular risk factors than their siblings who were born before the weight loss surgery.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers identify genes linked to serous endometrial cancer

Researchers have identified several genes that are linked to one of the most lethal forms of uterine cancer, serous endometrial cancer.

29 Oct 2012

Chemists' innovation may be a better model for disease diagnostic kits

When someone develops liver cancer, the disease introduces a very subtle difference to their bloodstream, increasing the concentration of a particular molecule by just 10 parts per billion.

29 Oct 2012

Study identifies genetic variations as predictors of prostate cancer-related fatigue

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have found that men with prostate cancer who receive androgen deprivation therapy may predictably suffer from fatigue if they have single nucleotide polymorphisms in three pro-inflammatory genes. The discovery highlights the importance of personalized medicine, in which therapies are tailored to a patient's genetic profile.

29 Oct 2012

Pfizer receives FDA approval for Synribo to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) to treat adults with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a blood and bone marrow disease.

29 Oct 2012

Study describes how Dbr1 gene halts toxic buildup of TDP-43-a protein

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how modifying a gene halts the toxic buildup of a protein found in nerve cells. These findings point to a potential new tactic for treating a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease)-a fatal disease for which there is no cure.

29 Oct 2012

Diabetes drug could treat illicit drug addiction

Researchers have found that a drug currently used to treat Type 2 diabetes could treat addiction to drugs such as cocaine.

26 Oct 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

Ancestry could simplify searches for harmful mutations

Explosive advancement in human genome sequencing opens new possibilities for identifying the genetic roots of certain diseases and finding cures. However, so many variations among individual genomes exist that identifying mutations responsible for a specific disease has in many cases proven an insurmountable challenge.

26 Oct 2012

mTor molecule plays a significant role in myeloid differentiation

University of Illinois cell and developmental Biology professor Fei Wang and colleagues have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage.

26 Oct 2012

Zebrafish model can test unique individual genetic differences in humans

The zebrafish is a potential tool for testing one class of unique individual genetic differences found in humans, and may yield information helpful for the emerging field of personalized medicine, according to a team led by Penn State College of Medicine scientists. The differences, or mutations, in question create minor changes in amino acids -- the building blocks of DNA -- from person to person.

26 Oct 2012

NHCS researchers develop human heart cell model of ARVC

Researchers at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) have successfully created a human heart cell model of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), an inherited heart muscle disorder which puts one at high risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

26 Oct 2012

Human Gene Therapy articles describe two novel anti-tumor therapies

Targeted T-cells can seek out and destroy tumor cells that carry specific antigen markers. Two novel anti-tumor therapies that take advantage of this T-cell response are described in articles published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

26 Oct 2012

Researchers identify new means to eradicate malaria infections

Researchers have identified a new means to eradicate malaria infections by rapidly killing the blood-borne Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease.

26 Oct 2012

Highlights from 25th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress

In the course of the 25th ECNP Congress leading experts and five and a half thousand psychiatrists, neurologists, neuroscience researchers and public health professionals from over 90 different countries met from 13 to 17 October 2012 in Vienna, Austria, to celebrate ECNP´s 25-year anniversary and engage in groundbreaking debate.

26 Oct 2012

Study defines complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers

A large-scale study that defines the complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers in more than 100 patients was published in Nature today.

26 Oct 2012

Artificial CSP proteins reduce S. pneumoniae competence y more than 90%

The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae - which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, bacteremia and sepsis - likes to share its antibiotic-defeating weaponry with its neighbors. Individual cells can pass resistance genes to one another through a process called horizontal gene transfer, or by "transformation," the uptake of DNA from the environment.

26 Oct 2012

HCFC1 protein may cause intellectual disability

Genetics researchers at the University of Adelaide have solved a 40-year mystery for a family beset by a rare intellectual disability - and they've discovered something new about the causes of intellectual disability in the process.

26 Oct 2012

Researchers discover genetic biomarker for age-related hearing loss

University of South Florida researchers have identified a genetic biomarker for age-related hearing loss, a major breakthrough in understanding and preventing a condition of aging that affects 30 million Americans and greatly diminishes their quality of life.

26 Oct 2012