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New discovery may help researchers tackle mitochondrial diseases and age-related diseases

Buck Institute faculty Judith Campisi, PhD, says age researchers need to stop thinking of cellular senescence, now accepted as an important driver of aging, as a single phenotype that stems from genotoxic stress. Research from her lab reveals that cellular senescence, a process whereby cells permanently lose the ability to divide, is also induced by signaling from dysfunctional mitochondria - and that the arrested cells secrete a distinctly different "stew" of biologically active factors in a process unrelated to the damaging free radicals that are created in mitochondria as part of oxygen metabolism.

13 Jan 2016

Simple paper test could confirm presence of illnesses even before patients feel symptoms

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers has developed a new diagnostic test that can change the medical landscape by making it possible for patients to quickly determine if they are infected with an illness, using a simple paper test sensitive enough to detect markers of various illnesses using minute amounts of blood, sweat, or other biological material.

13 Jan 2016

UCLA discovery could lead to new therapies for autism

UCLA scientists have discovered that an overlooked region in brain cells houses a motherlode of mutated genes previously tied to autism. Recently published in Neuron, the finding could provide fresh drug targets and lead to new therapies for the disorder, which affects one in 68 children in the United States.

13 Jan 2016

Estrogen may protect women against flu

The female sex hormone estrogen has anti-viral effects against the influenza A virus, commonly known as the flu, a new study in American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology reports.

13 Jan 2016

New UTMB study reveals link between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston fills an important gap in understanding the link between traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

13 Jan 2016

Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells act like sensor to orchestrate immune response

An uncommon and little-studied type of cell in the lungs has been found to act like a sensor, linking the pulmonary and central nervous systems to regulate immune response in reaction to environmental cues.

13 Jan 2016

Selenium supplementation may have positive and negative effects on immune system

A more thorough evaluation of selenium supplementation is needed, to better understand its benefits to our immune system, and the risks.

13 Jan 2016

Study opens new avenues for treatment of prostate cancer in obese patients

Obesity has direct consequences on health and is associated with the onset of aggressive cancers, but the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are little known. Researchers from the Institut de Pharmacologie et he Biologie Structurale (CNRS/Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier) have recently elucidated one of these mechanisms in prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in men: in obese patients, the adipose tissue surrounding the prostate gland facilitates the propagation of tumor cells outside the prostate.

13 Jan 2016

Researchers reveal secondary structure of Lewy bodies in the brain of Parkinson's disease patients

Lewy bodies had been considered to be a key element of pathogenesis for Parkinson's disease. Although structural analysis for Lewy bodies with an electron microscope had been performed, it had no secondary structural information of proteins, which is important for the development of drugs.

13 Jan 2016

Inflammation associated with elevated glutamate in the brain could guide depression treatments

Psychiatrists investigating depression have been energized in recent years by reports of rapid, successful treatment with drugs that interfere with the brain chemical glutamate, such as the anesthetic ketamine.

13 Jan 2016

CGP3466B compound may effectively treat depression

The compound CGP3466B, already proven nontoxic for people, may effectively and rapidly treat depression, according to results of a study in mice.

13 Jan 2016

Cornell researchers identify potent cancer-killing proteins that can kill tumors in bloodstream

Cornell researchers have discovered potent cancer-killing proteins that can travel by white blood cells to kill tumors in the bloodstream of mice with metastatic prostate cancer. The breakthrough study will be published Feb. 10 as the cover article in the Journal of Controlled Release.

13 Jan 2016

CPMC study discovers six genes that affect sleep duration

The Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, a research initiative exploring the utility of genetic information in the clinical setting, has published a study and identified six noteworthy genes that affect human sleep duration.

13 Jan 2016

New gene-filtering tool aims to predict disease-causing mutations

Despite their bad reputations, the vast majority of mutations are not harmful. Even in very rare genetic disorders, only one or two genetic variations — out of tens of thousands — is actually the cause of disease. Distinguishing between harmful and harmless mutations has long been a challenge.

13 Jan 2016

New mechanism of differentiation may offer novel therapeutic approaches to blood malignancies, solid tumors

In humans the differentiation of stem cells into hundreds of specialized cell types is vital. Differentiation drives development from fertilized egg to a newborn, and it underlies the continuous replacement of the 5 billion cells that die every hour in an adult. On the downside, mutations in differentiation pathways of different cell types can be drivers of cancers.

13 Jan 2016

Researchers discover molecular target for DNA repair defects behind Fanconi anemia

Researchers have identified a molecular target and experimental treatment strategy for DNA repair defects behind Fanconi anemia – a complex genetic disorder responsible for birth anomalies, organ damage, anemia and cancer.

12 Jan 2016

TRL becomes primary distributor of Kirkstall's QuasiVivo system in the US and Canada

Triangle Research Labs, LLC and Kirkstall, Ltd, are pleased to announce TRL as the primary distributor of Kirkstall's 3-D cell fluidic culture system, QuasiVivo, in the US and Canada.

12 Jan 2016

IMB scientists identify two proteins vital for demethylation of DNA

Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Mainz have identified a missing piece of the puzzle in understanding how epigenetic marks are removed from DNA. The research on DNA demethylation sheds new light on a fundamental process that is important in development and diseases such as cancer.

12 Jan 2016

Scientists identify unusual regulator of body weight, metabolic syndrome

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered an unusual regulator of body weight and the metabolic syndrome: a molecular mechanism more commonly associated with brain cells. Lowering levels of P75 neurotrophin receptor (NTR)--a receptor involved in neuron growth and survival--protected mice fed a high-fat diet from developing obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.

12 Jan 2016

Three new genetic associations identified for primary open angle glaucoma

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have led an international effort to identify three genetic associations that influence susceptibility to primary open angle glaucoma -- the most common form of adult onset glaucoma and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.

12 Jan 2016

Medical Science News

New discovery may help researchers tackle mitochondrial diseases and age-related diseases

Simple paper test could confirm presence of illnesses even before patients feel symptoms

UCLA discovery could lead to new therapies for autism

Estrogen may protect women against flu

New UTMB study reveals link between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease

Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells act like sensor to orchestrate immune response

Selenium supplementation may have positive and negative effects on immune system

Study opens new avenues for treatment of prostate cancer in obese patients

Researchers reveal secondary structure of Lewy bodies in the brain of Parkinson's disease patients

Inflammation associated with elevated glutamate in the brain could guide depression treatments

CGP3466B compound may effectively treat depression

Cornell researchers identify potent cancer-killing proteins that can kill tumors in bloodstream

CPMC study discovers six genes that affect sleep duration

New gene-filtering tool aims to predict disease-causing mutations

New mechanism of differentiation may offer novel therapeutic approaches to blood malignancies, solid tumors

Researchers discover molecular target for DNA repair defects behind Fanconi anemia

TRL becomes primary distributor of Kirkstall's QuasiVivo system in the US and Canada

IMB scientists identify two proteins vital for demethylation of DNA

Scientists identify unusual regulator of body weight, metabolic syndrome

Three new genetic associations identified for primary open angle glaucoma

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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