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Mouse model could improve understanding of human brown fat’s role in metabolic processes

When it gets cold around you, your body turns up the heat to maintain its normal temperature. The heat is produced by brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, which also plays a role in how the body uses glucose and fat.

2 Jun 2017

Olive oil component may help prevent cancer developing in the brain

A compound found in olive oil may help to prevent cancer developing in the brain, a study shows. Research into oleic acid -- the primary ingredient in olive oil -- has shown how it can help prevent cancer-causing genes from functioning in cells.

2 Jun 2017

Tumorigenesis may be induced from neighboring tissues, study suggests

Current view is that cancer development is initiated from cells that acquire initial DNA mutations. These in turn provoke additional defects, and ultimately the affected cells begin to proliferate in an uncontrolled manner to develop primary tumors.

2 Jun 2017

Scientists locate crucial off-switch for central cell control

As the cell's molecular control center, the mTor kinase regulates cellular metabolism, growth and division. However, in cells affected by pathological change, the regulation goes array.

2 Jun 2017

Microbiologist explores new methods for analyzing fecal pollution in water

In a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the microbiologist Andreas Farnleitner is looking at new methods for analyzing faecal pollution in water. Using DNA analytics, the scientist aims to develop comprehensive and simple methods to determine the extent and origin of faecal pollution.

2 Jun 2017

Meal-times help to regulate our body clock, study finds

The human body works according to a roughly 24-hr cycle. It is controlled by a master clock in the brain and by peripheral clocks in other parts of the body, which are synchronized according to external cues such as light.

2 Jun 2017

Study underlines significance of microglia for homeostasis in the brain

The role of microglial cells in neurodegenerative disease is not fully understood. But new results from researchers in Munich and Basel suggest that stimulation of this arm of the immune system might well delay the onset of such disorders.

2 Jun 2017

Scientists test hypothesis about evolution of neural circuits and behavior

Scientists at Georgia State University have rewired the neural circuit of one species and given it the connections of another species to test a hypothesis about the evolution of neural circuits and behavior.

2 Jun 2017

Scientists receive $2.3 million NIH grant to uncover how omega-3 fatty acid stops lupus trigger

Michigan State University scientists have received a $2.3 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant to help uncover why an omega-3 fatty acid, known as DHA, is so effective in stopping a known trigger of lupus.

2 Jun 2017

New study suggests potential new therapeutic approach to septic shock recovery

A new study published online in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests a new approach to treating patients with sepsis, one of the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units.

1 Jun 2017

TSRI study reveals first-ever structure of Lassa virus protein

Before Ebola virus ever struck West Africa, locals were already on the lookout for a deadly pathogen: Lassa virus. With thousands dying from Lassa every year - and the potential for the virus to cause even larger outbreaks- researchers are committed to designing a vaccine to stop it.

1 Jun 2017

LMU researchers show how genetic variant in people of African ancestry modulates immune cells

A genetic variant that is particularly prevalent in people of African ancestry confers protection against malaria. LMU researchers have now shown how it modulates the properties of white blood cells that play a major role in immune defenses and inflammation.

1 Jun 2017

Scientists discover unexpected mechanism behind chronic nerve pain

It has long been assumed that chronic nerve pain is caused by hypersensitivity in the neurons that transmit pain.

1 Jun 2017

Study reveals how puberty hormones may impede flexible youthful learning

A University of California, Berkeley, study of mice reveals, for the first time, how puberty hormones might impede some aspects of flexible youthful learning.

1 Jun 2017

Researchers find new way to block type 1 diabetes

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory, Cyteir Therapeutics and collaborating institutions have found a way to protect beta cells from destruction -- achieving a longtime, elusive goal that could lead to therapies preventing type 1 diabetes (T1D).

1 Jun 2017

New study establishes link between prenatal stress and onset of eating disorders

Stress affects the body and can trigger illness -- from psychiatric disorders to heart disease. Humans are exposed to stress at different intensities throughout life -- as children, in adolescence, and in old age. But when is the impact of stress on our systems most powerful? Many researchers maintain that the critical effect occurs prenatally, inside the womb.

1 Jun 2017

Researchers discover new class of compounds that inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase

An international team of scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase.

1 Jun 2017

Scientists identify new gene that prompts muscle stem cells to fuse together

A detour on the road to regenerative medicine for people with muscular disorders is figuring out how to coax muscle stem cells to fuse together and form functioning skeletal muscle tissues.

1 Jun 2017

Impaired ability to understand social cues may be linked to brain changes in people with MS

For people with multiple sclerosis (MS), an impaired ability to understand how others feel and think may be linked to subtle brain changes, according to a study published in the May 31, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

1 Jun 2017

Chronic pain may occur when receptors migrate from nerve cell's surface to inner chambers

A study led by Columbia University Medical Center has shown that chronic pain may occur when pain receptors migrate from the nerve cell's surface to the cell's inner chambers, out of the reach of current pain medications.

1 Jun 2017