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Study shows why thiazolidinediones cause edema and helps understand role of kidneys in hypertension

In related discoveries with far-reaching implications for treating diabetes and understanding hypertension, University of Utah researchers have learned why thiazolidinediones (TZDs), a major anti-diabetes drug, cause edema and also have found a new pathway critical to fluid metabolism. Identification of this pathway may help understand fundamental mechanisms of blood pressure control.

19 Jun 2005

Gene research may help explain how adorable children become surly teenagers

University of Utah researchers showed that a fruit fly gene is crucial for determining when juveniles begin to mature into adults, and how the transformation initially proceeds. Understanding this process in humans may help explain how adorable children become surly teenagers.

3 Jun 2005

'Brown fat cells' hold clues for possible obesity treatments

Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have discovered a group of genes that govern the genesis of calorie-burning fat cells. This discovery may lead to novel ways to treat obesity in humans.

26 May 2005

Anti-inflammatory protein annexin 1 may protect patients from the detrimental effects of severe inflammatory response syndrome

Severe inflammatory response syndrome, or SIRS, occurs when the body's response to an overwhelming infection becomes uncontrolled. The very immune response meant to clear the pathogen and its toxins actually causes damage to the host's own tissues when it goes into overdrive, releasing too many immune signals.

23 May 2005

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

23 May 2005

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

Embryonic stem cells with identical genomes grow into distinctive tissues, such as heart, bone, and brain. At one time, scientists believed the differences among cell types arose from various sets of genes switched on inside developing cells. Then, studies showed that adult neurons uniquely lack a protein that permanently turns off neuronal genes in the rest of the body's cells.

20 May 2005

Nutrition gene key in regulating immune system

A gene that signals a yeast cell to make bread rise and mice to eat a better diet also helps selectively silence the immune system, researchers have found.

18 May 2005

New fat is needed to clear old fat from the system

Where fat comes from determines whether the body can metabolize it effectively. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the "old" fat stored in the body's peripheral tissues -- that is, around the belly, thighs or bottom -- can't be burned efficiently unless "new" fat is eaten in the diet or made in the liver.

9 May 2005

Clues about how alcoholic behavior is “switched” on

As part of an ongoing effort to understand the biochemical basis of alcohol abuse, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have published two studies on how modulating receptors for dopamine - a chemical “signaler” in the brain’s reward circuits - affects drinking behavior in mice and rats.

9 May 2005

Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (MADM) - A powerful new tool to study diseases and genetics

A powerful laboratory technique used by fruit fly geneticists for more than a decade is now available to scientists studying genes and diseases in mice.

5 May 2005

New findings about insulin-signaling in the liver could prove useful in understanding type 2 diabetes

A collaborative effort led by The Burnham Institute's Gen-Sheng Feng has created a mouse with improved glucose tolerance and insulin activity in the liver, and generated new findings about insulin-signaling in the liver that could prove useful in understanding the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.

12 Apr 2005

Protein that regulates cholesterol levels may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity

A protein that regulates cholesterol levels in the body also is responsible for maintaining a healthy balance between fat storage and fat burning, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center study that may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity.

12 Apr 2005

Pcsk9 gene - new target for cholesterol-lowering drugs

Mice lacking a key protein involved in cholesterol regulation have low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, levels more than 50 percent lower than normal mice, and researchers suggest that inhibiting the same protein in humans could lead to new cholesterol-lowering drugs.

29 Mar 2005

Definitive evidence that TRPV3 is a temperature sensor

The human brain is like a general in a bunker. Floating in its bubble of cerebrospinal fluid, it has no direct window to the outside world, so the only way for the brain to observe, comprehend, and order the body into action is to rely on information it receives.

6 Mar 2005

Lack of collagen increases likelihood of osteoarthritis

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that joints whose cartilage lacks a specific type of collagen will develop osteoarthritis – the so-called "wear-and-tear" form of the disease – at a greatly accelerated rate.

20 Feb 2005

Discovery offers promise for treatment of age-related hearing loss

Researchers have discovered that deletion of a specific gene permits the proliferation of new hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear -- a finding that offers promise for treatment of age-related hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is caused by aging, disease, certain drugs, and the cacophony of modern life. It is the most common cause of hearing loss in older people.

13 Jan 2005

Potential new therapies for cancer and bleeding disorders

Lexicon Genetics announced today that it has advanced two of its drug discovery programs into preclinical development in preparation for investigational new drug (IND) applications.

10 Jan 2005

Rett Syndrome, the first identified epigenetic disease - linked to specific defects in the three-dimensional folding of chromatin

Sometime between the age of 6 and 18 months, after a period of seemingly normal development, girls affected with Rett Syndrome lose interest in play; they gradually become withdrawn and anxious, develop autistic-like behaviors, and acquire specific symptoms like repetitive teeth-grinding and hand-wringing.

20 Dec 2004

Experimental compound prevents cholesterol gallstone disease

A promising experimental compound prevents cholesterol gallstone disease in mice by stimulating the biochemical pathway that controls bile acid secretion by the liver, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

23 Nov 2004

Research provides more evidence of communication between developing nerves and blood vessels

In a developing embryo, the growth of nerves cannot outpace the establishment of life-giving blood vessels. Now, researchers have found that a protein intimately involved in blood vessel patterning actually belongs to a family of proteins known to guide neural development.

18 Nov 2004