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Study explores genetic imbalances that give rise to childhood brain tumors

The most comprehensive analysis yet of the genetic imbalances at the heart of childhood brain tumors known as high-grade gliomas (HGGs) identified a cancer gene that is unusually active in some tumors and is now the focus of a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital clinical trial.

21 May 2010

Research team converts astroglia into two main classes of cortical neurons

The research team led by Professor Magdalena Götz of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich reports a major step forward in discovering a therapy for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or stroke. The researchers were able to convert glial cells of the brain into two different functional classes of neurons. The findings are published on May 18th in the renowned journal PLoS Biology.

19 May 2010

Carcinogenic potential of mobile phone use not clear cut

The most comprehensive international study to date on the association between mobile phone use and brain cancers has not shown a strong causal link between the two but research on their relationship needs to continue, Professor Bruce Armstrong from the School of Public Health says.

17 May 2010

Potential drug to annul ADAM-17 protein activity needed

Over the past four years, in the installations of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, a group of researchers, headed by Doctor Carmen Estrada, has been studying neurogenesis - the process of forming new neurons from mother cells - in the adult mammal brain. The purpose of this research project is to contribute to the knowledge of this process with the object of finding some additional mechanism that would facilitate the treatment of pathologies of the central nervous system (CNS) that are suffered in consequence of neuronal death.

19 Apr 2010

DNA modification can define early onset glioblastoma

A class of brain tumor that tends to emerge in younger patients but is less aggressive than others can be identified by examining DNA methylation of a specific set of genes, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues with The Cancer Genome Atlas report today online at Cancer Cell.

16 Apr 2010

Clinical utility and pharmacological action of MN-166 in treatment of MS

MediciNova, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange, today reported that this week's issue of Neurology includes two articles related to the potential clinical utility and unique pharmacological action of MN-166 in treating multiple sclerosis (MS).

3 Apr 2010

Research reveals link between repeated anaesthesia and memory impairment

There is a link between repeated anaesthesia in children and memory impairment, though physical activity can help to form new cells that improve memory, reveals new research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

9 Mar 2010

Repeated anaesthesia in children linked to memory impairment

8 Mar 2010

Biovail reports 33% increase in total revenues for fourth-quarter 2009

Biovail Corporation today announced financial results for the three-month and 12-month periods ending December 31, 2009.

25 Feb 2010

Unusual molecule in brain and retina can trigger vision loss

Scientists have identified a double agent in the eye that, once triggered, can morph from neuron protector to neuron killer. The discovery has significant health implications since the neurons killed through this process results in vision loss and blindness.

2 Feb 2010

Geron collaborates to explore hESC-based product for Alzheimer’s disease

Geron Corporation today announced that it has entered into a collaboration jointly funded by Geron and a University of California Discovery Research and Training Grant to investigate the therapeutic potential of its human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based product, GRNOPC1, for Alzheimer’s disease. The company is currently developing GRNOPC1 for the potential treatment of spinal cord injury.

27 Jan 2010

Research reveals gene activation is linked to most aggressive type of brain cancer

Glioblastoma (GBM), the brain cancer better known for having killed Senator Ted Kennedy a few months ago, is the most aggressive and lethal of all brain tumours.

18 Jan 2010

M. D. Anderson researchers discover mechanism that helps glioblastomas evade immune attack

Cancer-initiating cells that launch glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type of brain tumor, also suppress an immune system attack on the disease, scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in a paper featured on the cover of the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

18 Jan 2010

MedGenesis Therapeutix enters into license agreement with Amgen

MedGenesis Therapeutix Inc. ("MedGenesis"), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative treatments for patients with serious central nervous system (CNS) diseases, announced today that it has successfully entered into an agreement with Amgen Inc. ("Amgen"), granting MedGenesis an exclusive, worldwide license for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) protein in CNS and non-CNS indications, subject to the rights of a co-exclusive licensee for CNS indications in certain countries, as further described below.

12 Jan 2010

Nanoscaffolds could play a central role in tissue and organ reconstruction

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a study in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (18:9), now freely available on line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct, that explores ways to successfully keep stem cells "forever young" during implantation by slowing their growth, differentiation and proliferation.

28 Dec 2009

RORalpha protein revealed as an essential regulator of inflammatory factors

How do the brain cells called astrocytes ensure the protection of neurons? By studying the protagonists in the protection and satisfactory functioning of neurons, scientists at the Laboratoire Neurobiologie des Processus Adaptatifs (CNRS/UPMC) have found a mechanism that clarifies the role of astrocytes.

15 Dec 2009

Moores UCSD Cancer Center awarded $20 million for cancer research

Researchers led by Moores UCSD Cancer Center Director Dennis A. Carson, MD, professor of medicine, and Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Stem Cell Research Program at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have been awarded $20 million over four years to develop novel drugs against leukemia stem cells.

28 Oct 2009

ALS patients' bone marrow cells capable of differentiating into nerve-supporting cells

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and therapeutics, announced today that bone marrow cells taken from ALS patients were capable of differentiating into nerve-supporting cells.

5 Oct 2009

Researching the causes of Alzheimer's disease

The standard explanation for what causes Alzheimer's is known as the amyloid hypothesis, which posits that the disease results from of an accumulation of the peptide amyloid beta, the toxic protein fragments that deposit in the brain and become the sticky plaques that have defined Alzheimer's for more than 100 years.

23 Sep 2009

Monoamine oxidases responsible for personality and behaviour

Antisocial and aggressive behaviours represent a widespread and expensive social problem. Recent research has convincingly shown that there is a strong interaction between genetic inheritance and environment for development of personality and behaviour.

14 Sep 2009