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Diabetes drug may hold potential as treatment for epilepsy, using same mechanism as ketogenic diet

Two years ago, University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists reported they had suppressed epileptic seizures in rats by giving them a glycolytic-inhibitor, inhibiting the brain's ability to turn sugar into excess energy and blocking the expression of seizure-related genes.

9 Apr 2008

A diaphanous control during embryo formation

The research now published in the journal Development shows how Dia mutations in fruit flies embryos result in a serious of defects during morphogenesis (process by which cells differentiate into tissues and structures), including loss of adhesion, abnormal movements and even migration of cells from one tissue to another.

9 Apr 2008

Caffeine prevents multiple sclerosis-like disease in mice

Mice given caffeine equivalent to a human drinking six to eight cups of coffee a day were protected from developing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model for the human disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS), according to researchers at Cornell University.

8 Apr 2008

Synthetic molecules may be less expensive alternative to therapeutic antibodies

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed a simple and inexpensive method to screen small synthetic molecules and pull out a handful that might treat cancer and other diseases less expensively than current methods.

7 Apr 2008

Common molecule tRNA involved in building protein can trigger cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that a common molecule previously known to play a fundamental role in building protein, can also trigger cancer.

7 Apr 2008

Discovery of new genetic links to psoriasis

In the first comprehensive study of the genetic basis of psoriasis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered seven new sites of common DNA variation that increase the risk of the troublesome skin condition.

4 Apr 2008

Researchers learn how signaling molecule orchestrates breast cancer's spread

A study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has uncovered how breast tumors use a particular type of molecule to promote metastasis -- the spread of cancer cells. Metastasis is the cause of approximately 90 percent of all cancer-related deaths.

4 Apr 2008

Rare genetic syndrome may hold key to cure for heat stroke

A genetic disorder that can cause a fatal rise in body temperature in some patients undergoing general anesthesia may hold the key to a cure for heat stroke, according to research published in the April 4 edition of the journal Cell.

4 Apr 2008

Genetic mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

Researchers with the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) here and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have published a patient outcome study in the March 30 online edition of Nature Medicine that may signal a need for a change of thought in the management of HIV.

3 Apr 2008

Potential new treatments for polycystic kidney disease

A family of small molecules called CFTR inhibitors show promising effects in slowing the progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the most common genetic disease of the kidneys, according to preliminary research reported in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Apr 2008

Unraveling how a drug helps patients with multiple sclerosis

Although the drug IFN-beta is commonly used to treat individuals with the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS), little is known about the mechanism(s) by which it acts.

2 Apr 2008

Scientists discover how polyketides form their ringlike shape

Many top-selling drugs used to treat cancer and lower cholesterol are made from organic compounds called polyketides, which are found in nature but historically difficult for chemists to alter and reproduce in large quantities.

2 Apr 2008

Molecular evolution of influenza A viruses circulated in Fujian Province, China

Fujian Center for Disease Control & Prevention, China, reported the molecular evolution of influenza A (H3N2) viruses in Fujian Province, south of China during the period 1996 to 2004 and demonstrated some key codons responsible for antigenic drift.

2 Apr 2008

New type of imaging system illuminates tumors to nearly one-trillionth of a meter

Doctors' quest to see what is happening inside a living body has been hampered by the limits on detecting tiny components of internal structures and events.

1 Apr 2008

Researchers discover how HIV can hide in cells

Researchers have discovered how Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, can hide itself in our cells and dodge the attention of our normal defences, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

1 Apr 2008