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WPI-led study provides clues to new ways to treat difficult-to-cure fungal infections

A study by a multidisciplinary research team, co-directed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, offers new insights into how virulent fungi adapt through genetic modifications to fight back against the effects of medication designed to block their spread, and how that battle leaves them temporarily weakened. These insights may provide clues to new ways to treat notoriously difficult-to-cure fungal infections like thrush and vaginitis.

7 Jul 2015

Findings reveal new pathway to develop effective treatments and therapies for asthma, allergy

Investigators have discovered the precise molecular steps that enable immune cells implicated in certain forms of asthma and allergy to develop and survive in the body. The findings from Weill Cornell Medical College reveal a new pathway that scientists could use to develop more effective treatments and therapies for the chronic lung disorder.

7 Jul 2015

Researchers identify link between autoimmune diseases, medications and Long QT syndrome

Mohamed Boutjdir, PhD, professor of medicine, cell biology, and physiology and pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has led a study with international collaborators identifying the mechanism by which patients with various autoimmune and connective tissue disorders may be at risk for life-threatening cardiac events if they take certain anti-histamine or anti-depressant medications.

7 Jul 2015

Penn biologists reveal recent migratory history of blacklegged ticks in Northeastern United States

Lyme disease cases are on the rise, with diagnoses occurring in areas that were historically Lyme-free. Scientists attribute the spread to the fact that populations of blacklegged ticks, which carry the bacteria that causes the disease, now flourish in areas once thought to be devoid of ticks.

7 Jul 2015

New findings can help scientists generate tailor-made proteins optimized for use in optogenetics

Optogenetics techniques, which allow scientists to map and control nerve cells using light stimulation, are being used to study neural circuits in the brain with unprecedented precision. This revolutionary technology relies on light-sensitive proteins such as channelrhodopsins, and researchers at UC Santa Cruz have now determined the molecular mechanism involved in the light-induced activation of one of these proteins.

7 Jul 2015

Study uncovers complicated role of simple protein in spread of osteosarcoma

The investigation of a simple protein has uncovered its uniquely complicated role in the spread of the childhood cancer, osteosarcoma. It turns out the protein, called ezrin, acts like an air traffic controller, coordinating multiple functions within a cancer cell and allowing it to endure stress conditions encountered during metastasis.

7 Jul 2015

Extra set of guanines in DNA may function like 'spare' to help prevent cancers from developing

Carrying around a spare tire is a good thing -- you never know when you'll get a flat. Turns out we're all carrying around "spare tires" in our genomes, too. Today, in ACS Central Science, researchers report that an extra set of guanines (or "G"s) in our DNA may function just like a "spare" to help prevent many cancers from developing.

7 Jul 2015

Study could provide paradigm shift in treatment of age-related disease, cancer

Intermittent dosing with rapamycin selectively breaks the cascade of inflammatory events that follow cellular senescence, a phenomena in which cells cease to divide in response to DNA damaging agents, including many chemotherapies.

7 Jul 2015

Unique diagnostic test could help detect world's deadliest superbugs, infectious diseases

Infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and some of the world's deadliest superbugs--C. difficile and MRSA among them--could soon be detected much earlier by a unique diagnostic test, designed to easily and quickly identify dangerous pathogens.

7 Jul 2015

New therapeutic alternative found for children suffering from Ewing's sarcoma

A research consortium made up of the Virgen del Rocio hospital in Seville, Sant Joan de Deu and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, has found a new therapeutic alternative for children who suffer from a malignant pediatric tumor bone and soft tissue called Ewing's sarcoma.

7 Jul 2015

Blood-borne molecule promotes age-related cognitive decline

A blood-borne molecule that increases in abundance as we age blocks regeneration of brain cells and promotes cognitive decline, suggests a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco and Stanford School of Medicine.

7 Jul 2015

New research suggests that Bcl-Rambo protein can protect against heart failure

A protein dubbed 'Bcl-Rambo' can protect against heart failure, suggests new research from King's College London and funded by the British Heart Foundation.

7 Jul 2015

University of Adelaide research may lead to new treatments for transplant patients

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered a new method for culturing stem cells which sees the highly therapeutic cells grow faster and stronger.

7 Jul 2015

Sialic acid attached to brain cells may affect brain structure, cause neurological problems

New research from The Johns Hopkins University suggests that a molecule commonly found “decorating” brain cells in higher animals, including humans, may affect brain structure.

7 Jul 2015

Breakthrough discovery could help young girls suffering from rare form of epilepsy

An international team, led by a University of Adelaide genetics expert, has made a breakthrough discovery which is expected to help thousands of young girls worldwide who are suffering from a rare yet debilitating form of epilepsy.

7 Jul 2015

Common arthritis drug could help to treat patients with blood cancers

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have discovered that a common drug given to arthritis sufferers could also help to treat patients with blood cancers.

7 Jul 2015

Researchers unravel mechanisms that enable accumulation of tumour promoting protease in stressed cancer cells

A mechanism beyond the level of gene regulation, which is often the underlying reason for changes in protein levels, does enable the strong accumulation of a tumour promoting protease in stressed cancer cells. The group of BIOSS researcher Prof. Dr. Thomas Reinheckel teamed up with BIOSS investigator Prof. Dr. Sabine Rospert and their colleagues from the University Medical Center Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Elmar Stickeler and Dr. Peter Bronsert, in order to unravel mechanisms by which stress-resistant production of cancer promoting proteins occurs.

6 Jul 2015

Umeå University researchers capture and describe 'invisible' protein structure

A research group at Umeå University in Sweden has managed to capture and describe a protein structure that, until now, has been impossible to study. The discovery lays the base for developing designed enzymes as catalysts to new chemical reactions for instance in biotechnological applications.

3 Jul 2015

Discovery reveals possibility of using water for finer analysis of the brain's functioning

To observe the brain in action, scientists and physicians use imaging techniques, among which functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the best known. These techniques are not based on direct observations of electric impulses from activated neurons, but on one of their consequences. Indeed, this stimulation triggers physiological modifications in the activated cerebral region, changes that become visible by imaging.

3 Jul 2015

Harvard Medical School scientists reveal structure of vesicular stomatitis virus protein

Viruses need us. In order to multiply, viruses have to invade a host cell and copy their genetic information. To do so, viruses encode their own replication machinery or components that subvert the host replication machinery to their advantage.

3 Jul 2015

Medical Science News

WPI-led study provides clues to new ways to treat difficult-to-cure fungal infections

Findings reveal new pathway to develop effective treatments and therapies for asthma, allergy

Researchers identify link between autoimmune diseases, medications and Long QT syndrome

Penn biologists reveal recent migratory history of blacklegged ticks in Northeastern United States

New findings can help scientists generate tailor-made proteins optimized for use in optogenetics

Study uncovers complicated role of simple protein in spread of osteosarcoma

Extra set of guanines in DNA may function like 'spare' to help prevent cancers from developing

Study could provide paradigm shift in treatment of age-related disease, cancer

Unique diagnostic test could help detect world's deadliest superbugs, infectious diseases

New therapeutic alternative found for children suffering from Ewing's sarcoma

Blood-borne molecule promotes age-related cognitive decline

New research suggests that Bcl-Rambo protein can protect against heart failure

University of Adelaide research may lead to new treatments for transplant patients

Sialic acid attached to brain cells may affect brain structure, cause neurological problems

Breakthrough discovery could help young girls suffering from rare form of epilepsy

Common arthritis drug could help to treat patients with blood cancers

Researchers unravel mechanisms that enable accumulation of tumour promoting protease in stressed cancer cells

Umeå University researchers capture and describe 'invisible' protein structure

Discovery reveals possibility of using water for finer analysis of the brain's functioning

Harvard Medical School scientists reveal structure of vesicular stomatitis virus protein

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