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Multitasking proteins driving cell behavior

A study describing how cells within blood vessel walls move en masse overturns an assumption common in the age of genomics - that the proteins driving cell behavior are doing so much multitasking that it would be near impossible to group them according to a few discrete functions.

30 Nov 2008

Advance in K-Ras-mutated cancer research

A team of cancer researchers from several Boston academic medical centers has discovered a potential treatment for a group of tumors that have resisted previous targeted therapy approaches.

30 Nov 2008

Research identifies cell receptor as target for anti-inflammatory immune response

Cell reception. By comparing normal mice (left) with mice that are genetically engineered to lack certain receptors in their spleen (right), scientists have shown SIGNR1 receptors (blue) are required to facilitate an anti-inflammatory action.

28 Nov 2008

Discovery of new way in which epigenetic information is inherited

Hereditary information flows from parents to offspring not just through DNA but also through the millions of proteins and other molecules that cling to it.

28 Nov 2008

Vitamin K appears to slow development of insulin resistance in elderly men

Vitamin K slowed the development of insulin resistance in elderly men in a study of 355 non-diabetic men and women ages 60 to 80 who completed a three-year clinical trial at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).

26 Nov 2008

Noninvasive test for urine protein detects kidney dysfunction in transplant patients

A noninvasive test that analyzes proteins in the urine can correctly identify patients whose transplanted kidneys are failing, according to a study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

26 Nov 2008

Scientists uncover new RNA processing mechanism and a new class of small RNAs

A very small fraction of our genetic material - about 2% - performs the crucial task scientists once thought was the sole purpose of the genome: to serve as a blueprint for the production of proteins, the molecules that make cells work and sustain life.

26 Nov 2008

Scribble protein found to be an important regulator of breast cancer

In breast tissue, cells lining the breast's ducts have a certain shape that is required to maintain both organ structure and function.

26 Nov 2008

Understanding donor-recipient genetics could decrease early kidney transplant complications

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found an association between the genetics of donor-recipient matches in kidney transplants and complications during the first week after transplantation.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists reconstruct bat variant of SARS coronavirus

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have synthetically reconstructed the bat variant of the SARS coronavirus (CoV) that caused the SARS epidemic of 2003.

25 Nov 2008

Improvement seen regarding racial disparities for liver transplantation, disparities for women remain

Following introduction of a new system in 2002 to determine the allocation of donated livers, black patients no longer are less likely to receive a liver transplant, but disparities for women remain, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

25 Nov 2008

Researchers repair injured heart muscle with novel stem cells

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have been able to effectively repair damaged heart muscle in an animal model using a novel population of stem cells they discovered that is derived from human skeletal muscle tissue.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists develop 'barcode chip' to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing

In less than 10 minutes, and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

25 Nov 2008

$2.7 million boosts effort to create the big view of cancer

Many scientists like to discuss how each form of cancer is a distinct disease with its own causes and its own treatments. But researcher Hartmut "Hucky" Land, Ph.D., takes the opposite approach: He is hunting for the most basic rules that all cancers share to make good cells go bad.

25 Nov 2008

Researchers develop new strategy for broad spectrum anti-viral drugs

Bavituximab, an anti-viral drug developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, shows promise as a new strategy to fight viral diseases, including potential bioterrorism agents.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists discover that blocking a neuropeptide receptor decreases nicotine addiction

The study was published in an online Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the week of November 24.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of new species of bacterium that causes leprosy

A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of novel drug target for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have discovered what could be a novel drug target for an often difficult-to-treat form of leukemia.

24 Nov 2008

Brookhaven scientists receive patent for improved cancer therapy device

Four physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,432,516 B2 for the design of a "medical synchrotron" capable of delivering precision doses of proton radiation to cancerous tumors with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

24 Nov 2008

Evidence of retina self-repair in mammals

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have reported for the first time that mammals can be stimulated to regrow inner nerve cells in their damaged retinas.

24 Nov 2008