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Pulsing heart cell provides clues into how heart disease develops

A pulsing heart cell is giving Oregon Health & Science University researchers insight into how it sends and receives signals, and that's providing clues into how heart disease and other disorders develop.

27 Sep 2005

Innovative new treatment for moderate to severe heart failure

Cardiologists at Beth Israel Medical Center are currently enrolling patients in an investigational study that is looking at the safety and efficacy of an innovative new treatment for moderate to severe heart failure, in which a unique pacemaker-like device helps strengthen the heart's pumping power

26 Sep 2005

Microtubules critical to development of mental disorders

Neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo have shown in two recently published papers that destabilization of structures called microtubules, intracellular highways that transport receptors to their working sites in the brain, likely underlie many mental disorders and could be promising targets for intervention.

12 Sep 2005

Sugar-coated markers of brain cell development may help success of stem cell transplants

Four sugar-coated faces made by stem cells as they differentiate into brain cells during development have been identified by scientists.

10 Sep 2005

Genomics reveals mechanisms that engineer remarkable heat resistance in bacteria

Warm-blooded creatures maintain a relatively stable body temperature that cannot tolerate the stress of intense heat (or cold). When it's too hot proteins destabilize and degrade--in some cases, with fatal results.

24 Aug 2005

Rotenone study may lead to novel therapies for Parkinson's disease

Neuroscientists from the University at Buffalo have described for the first time how rotenone, an environmental toxin linked specifically to Parkinson's disease, selectively destroys the neurons that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter critical to body movement and muscle control.

23 Aug 2005

SH2-B enhances brain's leptin sensitivity - may lead to clues for treatment of obesity and diabetes

What do laboratory mice at the University of Michigan Medical School have in common with millions of overweight Americans? Like many of us, these mice just can't stop eating.

18 Aug 2005

Calcium fights prostate cancer

Calcium, more familiar in its role as one of the building blocks of the body, is being enlisted as a tool in the fight against prostate cancer.

15 Aug 2005

Researchers discover that tumors secrete fatty acids which inhibit the cytotoxic T lymphocytes' ability to kill tumor cells

Researchers have discovered that tumors release fatty acids that interfere with the cells that are trying to kill them. Consequently, strategies that reduce the amount of fatty acids surrounding the tumors may give a boost to anti-cancer therapeutics.

11 Aug 2005

Multiple rare mutations within a single gene may increase risk for autism

While debate still rages over the 'cause' of autism, mounting evidence suggests that genetic factors play a major role in the disease.

25 Jul 2005

Definitive proof that Ab42 is the culprit molecule that underlies the pathology of Alzheimer's disease

One puzzle in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research is why mice engineered to have the abnormal protein underlying the disease in humans show little pathology of the disease. Specifically, such mice are genetically altered to overproduce mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP).

21 Jul 2005

Chemical sealant - poloxamer 188 can repair damage to cardiac muscle cell membrane

A common chemical used in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries can repair damage to cardiac muscle cell membranes and prevent heart failure in mice with the genetic mutation that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School.

18 Jul 2005

Biologists determine structure of a common-cold virus

Biologists at Purdue University have determined the combined structure of a common-cold virus attached to a molecule that enables the virus to infect its host, information that ultimately may help researchers develop methods for treating certain viral infections.

13 Jul 2005

Saturated fats combined with genetic trait may make people more susceptible to type 2 diabetes

A University of Alberta team of researchers has discovered an additional 2 million Canadians who have a high fat diet or are overweight may be at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes if they carry a particular type of common specific genetic trait known as a polymorphism.

29 Jun 2005

Jumping genes help detemine uniqueness of individual brains

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found one explanation for the puzzling variety in brain organization and function: mobile elements, pieces of DNA that can jump from one place in the genome to another, randomly changing the genetic information in single brain cells.

15 Jun 2005

New understanding of DNA repair processes may pave way to cancer treatments

A Burnham Institute study has found that a protein known for its role in gene regulation has another important function, that of initiating DNA repair. The study, published in the May 27th edition of Molecular Cell, points to new targets for treatment of cancer.

30 May 2005

Scientists watch agents of brain-wasting diseases invade and move within brain cells

Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells.

25 May 2005

Cytogen Corporation and Dowpharma collaborate to create a targeted oncology product designed to treat prostate and other cancers

Under the agreement, Dowpharma's proprietary MeO-DOTA bifunctional chelant technology will be used to radiolabel Cytogen's prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) antibody with a therapeutic radionuclide. PSMA is a protein highly expressed on the surface of prostate cancer cells and the neovasculature of many solid tumors.

10 May 2005

Researchers determine mechanism of action of chemotherapy drug motexafin gadolinium

The chemotherapy drug motexafin gadolinium (brand name: Xcytrin, manufactured by Pharmacyclics, Inc.) works to thwart cancer cells by disrupting key enzymes involved in cellular metabolism, according to a team of researchers led by Joseph Hacia, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

1 May 2005

Autistic children found to have abnormal metabolic profile

Autism, a neurodevelopment disorder which has increased tenfold over the last 15 years, now affects 30 of every 10,000 children in the United States.

4 Apr 2005