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Calcium fights prostate cancer

Calcium, more familiar in its role as one of the building blocks of the body, is being enlisted as a tool in the fight against prostate cancer.

15 Aug 2005

Combined gene therapy eliminates glioblastoma multiforme in lab studies

Despite aggressive treatment, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) - the most common and deadly of brain cancers - usually claims the lives of its victims within six to 12 months of diagnosis. Because GBM is so aggressive, the disease has been the target of a number of laboratory and clinical studies investigating the effectiveness of gene therapy to deliver novel therapies to the brain.

15 Aug 2005

Grandma was wrong, money can buy you happiness!

According to sociologists in the U.S., people who are financially rich are happier than poorer people.

15 Aug 2005

MiRNA is opening up a whole new way of understanding carcinogenesis

Scientists mining vast, largely unexplored regions of the human genome have identified a small handful of mini-molecules that play a major role in the development of cancer and perhaps many other diseases.

15 Aug 2005

Activated Stat5 protein in prostate cancer can predict outcome, may help target treatment

Researchers from Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University found that testing for an activated Stat5 protein in prostate tumor tissue effectively predicts which men have a form of prostate cancer that may become more aggressive and life threatening.

15 Aug 2005

New gene technique useful for identifying genes and drug targets for diseases such as cancers and diabetes

A collaborative project between American and Chinese researchers developed a way to study the function of genes in mice and man by using a moveable genetic element from moths, according to a report in the journal Cell.

13 Aug 2005

How negatively charged lipids stick to negatively charged DNA and self-organize into structures

Scientists studying the structure and interaction of negatively charged lipids and DNA molecules have created a "cookbook" for a class of nontoxic DNA delivery systems that will assist doctors and clinicians in the safe and effective delivery of genetic medicine.

13 Aug 2005

Researchers have found a signal that could lead to earlier detection and treatment of ovarian cancer

The Penn State team of scientists led by principal investigator Kathleen M. Mulder, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, and working in conjunction with a researcher from the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., studied "km23," a protein that helps to direct protein traffic in the cell.

13 Aug 2005

Oxytocin and ingestive behavior

More than 15 years ago Edward Stricker and Joseph Verbalis reported that oxytocin (OT) is involved in the neural control of food and salt intake in adult rats. Linda Rinaman at the University of Pittsburgh is investigating the anatomical organization of this system, and also is taking a developmental approach to determine how OT modulates eating and digestion.

11 Aug 2005

Pre-mRNA that codes for inflammatory protein identified

In a discovery that upends a longstanding tenet of human biology, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a key process in gene regulation can occur in human platelets, unique cells that are unusual because they don't have a nucleus (anucleate).

11 Aug 2005

How some antibiotics kill bacteria

Researchers have uncovered how members of one family of antibiotics kill bacteria that make people sick.

11 Aug 2005

Genes interact with behavior to affect how well people move

Genes can keep elderly people from benefiting equally from exercise, no matter how much effort they expend, according to research findings published in today's (Aug. 10) Journal of the American Medical Association.

11 Aug 2005

Key step in the production of beta-amyloid

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have defined a key step in the production of beta-amyloid, a short protein that is thought to be responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Understanding this step may aid in the discovery of drugs that could help block the disease from developing.

11 Aug 2005

Researchers find drug targets for treating metabolic syndrome

Ongoing studies by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and other institutions have uncovered the biochemical basis of many of the factors contributing to what is known as the metabolic syndrome, suggesting potential new drug targets for treating the condition.

11 Aug 2005