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Researchers identify Heme detoxification protein - potential target for developing new malaria drugs

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have identified Heme Detoxification Protein (HDP), a unique protein encoded in the malaria genome that represents a potential target for developing new malaria drugs.

24 Apr 2008

Pralatrexate for T-cell lymphoma

The fifth leading cause of cancer in the United States, lymphoma is made up of more than 40 rare and highly diverse diseases that target the body's lymphatic system. Lymphomas include both one of the fastest growing cancers -- Burkitt's lymphoma, which can double in size in as little as a day -- and one of the slowest, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

24 Apr 2008

Clearer understanding of how neurons give rise to motor behaviors

When the eye tracks a bird's flight across the sky, the visual experience is normally smooth, without interruption. But underlying this behavior is a complex coordination of neurons that has remained mysterious to scientists. Now, UCSF researchers have broken ground in understanding how the brain generates this tracking motion, a finding that offers a window, they say, into how neurons orchestrate all of the body's movements.

24 Apr 2008

AMPK signaling helps explain how cell growth is inhibited when nutrients are low

A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies think they know how many-if not most-living organisms answer this question. They recently showed that when food supplies dwindle, mammals, fruitflies, or frogs probably activate the same ancient cell signaling pathway in order to conserve energy.

24 Apr 2008

New 3-D ultrasound provides clear images of the major arteries within the brain

Using 3-D ultrasound technology they designed, Duke University bioengineers can compensate for the thickness and unevenness of the skull to see in real-time the arteries within the brain that most often clog up and cause strokes.

24 Apr 2008

Research reveals the signature of 70 genes controlled by two microRNAs

By restoring two small molecules that are often lost in chronic leukemia, researchers were able to block tumor growth in an animal model.

24 Apr 2008

Tredaptive and Janumet recommended for approval in European Union

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently reviewing the combination of extended release (ER) niacin and laropiprant under the trademark Cordaptive (ER niacin/laropiprant). The CHMP recommendation does not apply to regulatory decisions by the FDA and no inferences should be made about pending FDA regulatory actions based on the recommendation of the CHMP.

24 Apr 2008

FSU research may speed new malaria treatments, vaccines for children

April 25 is World Malaria Day 2008 and despite the grim statistics out of Africa there's cause for celebration. Florida State University biologists have discovered an autoimmune-like response in blood drawn from malaria-infected African children that helps to explain why existing DNA-based anti-malaria vaccines have repeatedly failed to protect them.

23 Apr 2008

Researchers unravel heparin death mystery

An international team of researchers led by MIT has explained how contaminated batches of the blood-thinner heparin were able to slip past traditional safety screens and kill dozens of patients recently in the United States and Germany.

23 Apr 2008

Scientists determine molecular structures of bacterial AlkB protein and its corresponding human protein, ABH2

A team of University of Chicago scientists has shown how two proteins locate and repair damaged genetic material inside cells.

23 Apr 2008

Breakthrough in stem cell research

Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells.

23 Apr 2008

Menstrual blood - an abundant sources of stem cells

Researchers seeking new and more abundant sources of stem cells for use in regenerative medicine have identified a potentially unlimited, noncontroversial, easily collectable, and inexpensive source - menstrual blood.

23 Apr 2008

NIH study reveals incidence, precursors and psychiatric sequelae of major psychiatric disorders

A new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) presents results on the first onset of substance use disorders (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse and dependence) and major mood and anxiety disorders, based on Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

22 Apr 2008

Red colobus monkeys in Uganda found to harbor antibodies to an unknown orthopoxvirus

Researchers report this month that red colobus monkeys in a park in western Uganda have been exposed to an unknown orthopoxvirus, a pathogen related to the viruses that cause smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox. Most of the monkeys screened harbor antibodies to a virus that is similar - but not identical - to known orthopoxviruses.

22 Apr 2008

Scientists solve mystery about critical mechanism of gene expression

Although letters representing the three billion pairs of molecules that form the "rungs" of the helical DNA "ladder" are routinely called the human "genetic code," the DNA they comprise transmits traits across generations in a variety of ways, not all of which depend on the sequence of letters in the code.

22 Apr 2008

Mechanism discovered that can send cells on the road to cancer

Using a common virus as a tool for investigating abnormal cell proliferation, a team led by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has succeeded in clarifying an intricate series of biochemical steps that shed light on a way that cancer can begin.

22 Apr 2008

New advance in use of oncolytic viruses as novel cancer treatments

Combining a herpes virus genetically altered to express a drug-enhancing enzyme with a chemotherapy drug effectively and safely reduced the size of highly malignant human sarcoma grafted into mice.

22 Apr 2008

Severe acute watery diarrhoea with Vibrio cholerae positive cases in Vietnam

Between 5 March and 22 April the Ministry of Health of Vietnam reported 2,490 cases of severe acute watery diarrhoea including 377 that were positive for Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium causing cholera.

22 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene that may influence metastasis risk in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pattern of gene activity in mice that may help to predict individual risk for breast cancer metastasis and survival in humans. A single gene, called bromodomain 4 (Brd4), regulates the expression of this pattern, also called a signature.

22 Apr 2008

Developing 'roadmaps' for enhancing the professional culture of medical schools

There is change afoot in the way medicine is being taught. Rigorous course work, state of the art laboratories and demanding clinical training are necessarily at the forefront. To complement the constant updating of the technical preparation of future physicians, a movement is growing determined to produce doctors who are not only outstanding clinicians, but who are also compassionate individuals able to communicate well with patients, their families and other caregivers.

22 Apr 2008