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New understanding of how cells cover gaps

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, came a step closer to understanding how cells close gaps not only during embryonic development but also during wound healing. Their study, published this week in the journal Cell, uncovers a fundamental misconception in the previous explanation for a developmental process called dorsal closure.

28 Jun 2009

'Trojan horse' cancer therapy beats tumours resistant to chemotherapy

A new therapy to treat cancer has been developed by Australian scientists and it promises to have far fewer unpleasant side effects than conventional treatments and should also be much cheaper.

28 Jun 2009

Living near water may raise your risk of skin cancer

Australian researchers say those living in coastal areas are probably more at risk for skin cancer because they spend more time in the sun.

28 Jun 2009

How ‘high carb’ foods cause heart attacks

It has been commonly known for a number of years that certain foods, such as white bread and corn flakes, are bad for cardiac health, but new research from Israeli scientists shows just how 'high carb' foods cause heart attacks.

28 Jun 2009

Even moderate exercise helps keep the brain healthy

Scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ) say they have found that exercise helps keep the brain healthy and even moderate exercise directly increases the number of stem cells in the ageing brain.

28 Jun 2009

Heart attacks kill 10,000 Australians each year and many could be avoided

A new report by Access Economics has revealed that this year 80,000 Australians can expect to be treated in hospital for heart attacks or chest pain - at a cost to the economy of $18 billion and 10,000 people will die from a heart attack.

28 Jun 2009

Discovery of novel mechanism that could be targeted to prevent cancer spread

Researchers have discovered a key to the function of a specific protein that helps control the levels of other critical proteins within cells, including a protein that suppresses the spread of cancer. The new information about the mechanism of action of the protein, called gp78, may enable researchers to explore new types of therapies to prevent the spread of cancer. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the June 26, 2009, issue of Molecular Cell.

28 Jun 2009

Multiparameter computational modeling of tumor invasion

Tumors are complex collections of cells whose behavior has proven difficult to understand, let alone predict. As a result, oncologists are often surprised by how a particular patient responds to a given course of therapy.

28 Jun 2009

Expanding quantum dot utility in cancer diagnosis and treatment

Quantum dots (QDs), nanoparticles that shine with extraordinary brightness when excited by light energy, have shown promise as new tools for detecting cancer at its earliest appearance, but concerns about potential toxicities have limited their clinical development. Researchers at the University of Buffalo may have found an answer to this limitation with their development of a new way to create QDs.

28 Jun 2009

Nanofountain-probe-based high-resolution patterning and single-cell injection of functionalized nanodiamonds

A research team at Northwestern University has developed a tool that can precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying nanomaterials to individual cells.

28 Jun 2009

Carbon nanotubes continue to show promise in battle against cancer

Carbon nanotubes, one of the original engineered nanomaterials, also may prove to be among the most versatile, as numerous teams of investigators continue to develop novel nanotube-based therapeutic and diagnostic tools. Over the past month, three new research papers have highlighted the potential of nanotubes as weapons against cancer.

28 Jun 2009

Nanofluidic biopsy detects subtle changes in cancer cells

By taking two standard laboratory techniques - capillary electrophoresis and antibody-based protein detection - and shrinking them to the nanoscale, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have created a new method for detecting miniscule changes in the levels of proteins associated with cancer.

28 Jun 2009

Nanoparticle-mediated targeting of MAPK signaling predisposes tumor to chemotherapy

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Sciences and Technology has demonstrated a better way to deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors.

28 Jun 2009

Harnessing nanoparticles to track cancer cell changes

The more dots there are, the more accurate a picture you get when you connect them. Cancer researchers adopting that philosophy have developed a new imaging technology that could give scientists the ability to simultaneously measure as many as 100 or more distinct features in or on a single cell. In a disease such as cancer, that capability would provide a much better picture of what is going on in individual tumor cells.

28 Jun 2009

Early detection of pancreatic cancer closer thanks to multifunctional nanoparticles

Pancreatic cancer has a devastatingly low survival rate (less than 5 percent after 5 years) because it is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. The initial symptoms, such as pain, jaundice, or weight loss, often do not allow the disease to be caught early enough for surgery and chemotherapy to be effective.

28 Jun 2009

Computer-guided nanoparticle therapy destroys tumors

Gold nanoshells are among the most promising new nanoscale therapeutics being developed to kill tumors, acting as antennas that turn light energy into heat that cooks cancer to death. Now, a multi-institutional research team has shown that polymer-coated gold nanorods one-up their spherical counterparts, with a single dose completely destroying all tumors in a nonhuman animal model of human cancer.

28 Jun 2009

Enzyme fights mutated protein in inherited Parkinson's disease

An enzyme that naturally occurs in the brain helps destroy the mutated protein that is the most common cause of inherited Parkinson's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

28 Jun 2009

Possible link between insulin glargine and cancer prompts urgent call for more research

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) has made an urgent call for more research into a possible link between use of insulin glargine (an insulin analogue) and increased risk of cancer, following evidence from studies in Germany, Sweden and Scotland. However, until this further research becomes available, these experts are stressing that patients with diabetes taking Lantus should continue to do so, although some might wish to consider alternative types of insulin. The studies are reported in Diabetologia (the journal of EASD), edited by Professor Edwin Gale of the University of Bristol.

28 Jun 2009

Blood pressure cuff could help improve the success of kidney transplants

The first clinical trial funded by the new Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme will investigate whether a simple procedure to activate one of the body's natural defence mechanisms improves the function of kidneys after transplantation. This research is funded by the Medical Research Council and managed by the National Institute for Health Research.

25 Jun 2009

HPV testing for cervical screening investigated

New research, published in The Lancet Oncology, has found that combining human papillomavirus (HPV) testing with routine liquid-based cytology (LBC) screening does not increase the detection of cervical cancer compared with LBC screening alone. The trial funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme aimed to determine whether testing for HPV in the cervix might increase the effectiveness of the cervical screening programme.

25 Jun 2009