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Study: Children who were breastfed in infancy more likely to recover from stuttering

A study of 47 children who began stuttering at an early age found that those who were breastfed in infancy were more likely to recover from stuttering and return to fluent speech.

6 Aug 2013

Study offers new hope for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Researchers have discovered how an experimental drug is capable of completely eradicating human lymphoma in mice after just five doses. The study, led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, sets the stage for testing the drug in clinical trials of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, itself the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer in the U.S.

2 Aug 2013

CHOP researchers advance stem cell studies in childhood leukemia, Diamond Blackfan anemia

First produced only in the past decade, human induced pluripotent stem cells are capable of developing into many or even all human cell types. In new research, scientists reprogrammed skin cells from patients with rare blood disorders into iPSCs, highlighting the great promise of these cells in advancing understanding of those challenging diseases-and eventually in treating them.

31 Jul 2013

Collaborative research yields a wiring map on how TB responds to changes in environment

Despite decades of research on the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), scientists have not had a comprehensive understanding of how the bacterium is wired to adapt to changing conditions in the host.

5 Jul 2013

Discovery sheds new light on aggressiveness of certain breast cancers

In a discovery that sheds new light on the aggressiveness of certain breast cancers, Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a transcription factor, known as ZEB1, that is capable of converting non-aggressive basal-type cancer cells into highly malignant, tumor-forming cancer stem cells (CSCs). Intriguingly, luminal breast cancer cells, which are associated with a much better clinical prognosis, carry this gene in a state in which it seems to be permanently shut down.

4 Jul 2013

Scientists identify molecular signals that spur the formation of arteries

The ability to form blood vessels is one of evolution's crowning achievements, and something that separates vertebrates (animals with a backbone) from the rest of the animal kingdom.

4 Jul 2013

Prader-Willi syndrome results in dysregulation of circadian and metabolic genes

Researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute and Agilent Laboratories have found that Prader-Willi syndrome - a genetic disorder best known for causing an insatiable appetite that can lead to morbid obesity - is associated with the loss of non-coding RNAs, resulting in the dysregulation of circadian and metabolic genes, accelerated energy expenditure and metabolic differences during sleep.

26 Jun 2013

Targeting SALL4 protein with druglike molecules could halt tumor growth, say researchers

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have identified in the most aggressive forms of cancer a gene known to regulate embryonic stem cell self-renewal, beginning a creative search for a drug that can block its activity.

18 Jun 2013

Mount Sinai researchers produce cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells

By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day.

14 Jun 2013

Researchers identify a new mechanism that appears to suppress tumor growth

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center, have identified a new mechanism that appears to suppress tumor growth, opening the possibility of developing a new class of anti-cancer drugs.

4 Jun 2013

Better understanding of cells' development has implications in study of inflammatory diseases

Labs around the world, and a core group at Penn, have been studying recently described populations of immune cells called innate lymphoid cells. Some researchers liken them to foot soldiers that protect boundary tissues such as the skin, the lining of the lung, and the lining of the gut from microbial onslaught. They also have shown they play a role in inflammatory disease, when the body's immune system is too active.

15 May 2013

Gene study may uncover regulatory network that influences development of cardiovascular disease

University of North Carolina researchers have discovered that disrupting a gene that acts as a regulatory switch to turn on other genes can keep blood vessels from forming and developing properly.

30 Apr 2013

Investigators report that cell-permeable NLS peptide shows promise in controlling atherosclerotic disease

Atherosclerosis - sometimes called "hardening of the arteries" - is a leading cause of death and morbidity in Western countries. A cell-permeable peptide containing the NF-ĸB nuclear localization sequence (NLS) shows promise as a potential agent in controlling the development of atherosclerotic disease.

18 Apr 2013

Research: Transcription factors regulating oxygen levels in blood play a role in melanoma metastases

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered that transcription factors regulating the levels of oxygen in the blood also play a role in the spread of the skin cancer melanoma.

17 Apr 2013

Brown fat cells protective against obesity and diabetes

Brown fat is a hot topic, pardon the pun. Brown fats cells, as opposed to white fat cells, make heat for the body, and are thought to have evolved to help mammals cope with the cold. But, their role in generating warmth might also be applied to coping with obesity and diabetes.

15 Mar 2013

Study finds how to shut down Bcl6 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

The powerful master regulatory transcription factor called Bcl6 is key to the survival of a majority of aggressive lymphomas, which arise from the B-cells of the immune system. The protein has long been considered too complex to target with a drug since it is also crucial to the healthy functioning of many immune cells in the body, not just B cells gone bad.

4 Mar 2013

FOXC2 vital to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development.

14 Feb 2013

Non-coding RNA essential for normal embryonic cardiogenesis

Many different tissues and organs form from pluripotent stem cells during embryonic development. To date it had been known that these processes are controlled by transcription factors for specific tissues. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, in collaboration with colleagues at MIT and the Broad Institute in Boston, have now been able to demonstrate that RNA molecules, which do not act as templates for protein synthesis, participate in these processes as well.

30 Jan 2013

Researchers find new genetic differences in human hearts

Healthy men and women show little difference in their hearts, except for small electrocardiographic disparities. But new genetic differences found by Washington University in St. Louis researchers in hearts with disease could ultimately lead to personalized treatment of various heart ailments.

25 Jan 2013

Repression of PTB protein in fibroblasts can convert pluripotent stem cells into functional neurons

Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells - abundantly found in connective tissues - into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell.

11 Jan 2013