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Study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity

A St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows that T cells, the body's master immune regulators, do not use simple on/off switches to govern the cellular machinery that regulates their development and function. Rather, they possess sophisticated molecular controls that enable them to adjust their function with exquisite precision. Such subtle adjustment enables T cells to modulate their development and function, including avoiding autoimmunity

12 May 2008

Arsenic-based agent shown to help eradicate leukemia-initiating cells

In both leukemia and solid tumors, there exists among the multitude of warrior cancer cells a small subgroup that work undercover, patiently lying in wait to launch their attacks. Known as either cancer initiating cells (CICs) or leukemia initiating cells (LICs), these stealth populations are impervious to conventional chemotherapy and undaunted by targeted cancer therapies. When a leukemia patient relapses following a period of remission, it is the LICs that bear responsibility for the disease's reemergence.

12 May 2008

Researchers find link between altered dopamine activity and social anxiety disorder

Using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), researchers in The Netherlands were able to detect biochemical differences in the brains of individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia), providing evidence of a long-suspected biological cause for the dysfunction.

12 May 2008

Study looks at phantom limb syndrome

Losing a limb can be a traumatic experience and, in some cases, emotional and physical pain can linger for years. To better understand the phenomenon, dubbed "phantom limb syndrome," Université de Montreal graduate student Emma Duerden is inviting amputees to come forward and share their experiences for a major study.

12 May 2008

New data reveals impact of deadly human papillomavirus in Latin America, Caribbean

Thirty-three thousand women in Latin America and the Caribbean die each year of preventable cervical cancer, caused by a virus that infects 20 percent of men and women in the region and as many as 30 percent of the youngest women, according to a new study.

12 May 2008

Scientists identify heat sensing regulator - better understanding pain sensitivity

Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins are a step closer to understanding pain sensitivity - specifically why it's variable instead of constant - having identified a gene that regulates a heat-activated molecular sensor.

12 May 2008

Human vision inadequate for research on bird vision

The most attractive male birds attract more females and as a result are most successful in terms of reproduction. This is the starting point of many studies looking for factors that influence sexual selection in birds. However, is it reasonable to assume that birds see what we see? In a study published in the latest issue of American Naturalist, Uppsala researchers show that our human vision is not an adequate instrument.

12 May 2008

Scientists publish guidelines for the improved description of genomes and metagenomes

The Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC), an international initiative including representatives from a range of major sequencing and bioinformatics centres, has created a new guideline for describing genomes and metagenomes. The guideline, 'Minimum Information about a Genome Sequence' (MIGS), is published in the May issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

12 May 2008

Plants deliver: biofuels, medicines, bioplastics, flavours, pigments...

The need for a renewable and affordable source of carbon that can sustain future economic development without negatively impacting the environment is now widely recognised. It is also apparent that the increasingly high demand for fossil carbon will eventually deplete existing stocks.

12 May 2008

Demand for alternative sweeteners are increasing by 8% a year

The demand for alternative sweeteners to sugar is increasing at a rate of 8% per year. The market is showing more and more interest in natural sweeteners compared to synthetic ones. This has been reflected in a study carried out by researchers at the Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH) in Elche, Alicante.

12 May 2008

How embryonic stem cells develop into tissue-specific cells demonstrated by researchers

While it has long been known that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any kind of tissue-specific cells, the exact mechanism as to how this occurs has heretofore not been demonstrated.

12 May 2008

Think before you drink, says University research

People are being urged to think before they drink as part of a research project aimed at changing people's binge drinking habits.

12 May 2008

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells mature and specialize.

12 May 2008

New MRI technique detects subtle but serious brain injury

A new technique for analyzing magnetic resonance imaging data, developed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, can reveal serious brain injury missed by current tests and help predict a patient's degree of recovery.

12 May 2008

Ancient protein myosin 2 offers clues to killer condition

More than 600 million years of evolution has taken two unlikely distant cousins - turkeys and scallops - down very different physical paths from a common ancestor. But University of Leeds researchers have found that a motor protein, myosin 2, remains structurally identical in both creatures.

12 May 2008