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Study highlights role of Protein S in maintenance of healthy retina

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with researchers at the Salk Institute in California, have found for the first time that a specific protein is essential not only for maintaining a healthy retina in the eye, but also may have implications for understanding and possibly treating other conditions in the immune, reproductive, vascular and nervous systems, as well as in various cancers.

7 Jan 2013

Diabetes drug metformin works in different way than previously understood: Researchers

A team, led by senior author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Medicine, with the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, found that the diabetes drug metformin works in a different way than previously understood.

7 Jan 2013

JAMA column outlines need for frozen, larger specimens in DNA-sequencing era

Genetic sequencing technology is altering the way cancer is diagnosed and treated, but traditional specimen handling methods threaten to slow that progress.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers show that protein p62 balances metabolism in fat tissue

In many cases, obesity is caused by more than just overeating and a lack of exercise. Something in the body goes haywire, causing it to store more fat and burn less energy. But what is it? Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have a new theory-a protein called p62.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers identify four new genetic regions associated with Behcet's disease

Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers discover new pathway to reduce paradoxical pain

For individuals with agonizing pain, it is a cruel blow when the gold-standard medication actually causes more pain. Adults and children whose pain gets worse when treated with morphine may be closer to a solution, based on research published in the January 6 on-line edition of Nature Neuroscience.

7 Jan 2013

Link between Parkinson's and benomyl

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram - common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere - have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

6 Jan 2013

TRIP-Br2 plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage

As part of their ongoing research on the physiologic factors that contribute to the development of obesity, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have identified a cell cycle transcriptional co-regulator - TRIP-Br2 - that plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage.

6 Jan 2013

Paper provides comprehensive assessment of motor performance after cervical spinal cord injury

More than half of traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) in humans are cervical lesions, resulting in chronic loss of limb function. A better understanding of the link between the neurologic damage caused by SCI, spontaneous motor function recovery, and long-term motor deficits would lead to better therapeutic approaches, as discussed in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The

4 Jan 2013

Study reveals large microbial diversity in breast milk

Spanish researchers have traced the bacterial microbiota map in breast milk, which is the main source of nourishment for newborns. The study has revealed a larger microbial diversity than originally thought: more than 700 species.

4 Jan 2013

Women with menopausal transition experience cognitive difficulties

The memory problems that many women experience in their 40s and 50s as they approach and go through menopause are both real and appear to be most acute during the early period of post menopause. That is the conclusion of a study which appears today in the journal Menopause.

4 Jan 2013

Report shows how P. gingivalis manipulates body's immune system to disable normal processes

A new research report published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows how the bacteria known for causing gum disease--Porphyromonas gingivalis--manipulates the body's immune system to disable normal processes that would otherwise destroy it. Specifically, the report shows that this pathogen prompts the production of the anti-inflammatory molecule Interleukin-10 (IL-10).

4 Jan 2013

ParoChip can allow dentists to quickly detect and analyze periodontitis pathogens

Bleeding gums during tooth brushing or when biting into an apple could be an indication of periodontitis, an inflammatory disease of the tissues that surround and support the teeth. Bacterial plaque attacks the bone, meaning teeth can loosen over time and in the worst case even fall out, as they are left without a solid foundation to hold them in place.

4 Jan 2013

Nanoparticle researcher to deliver inaugural presentation at next ACS national meeting

A noted researcher in nanomedicine ― preventing, diagnosing and treating disease with particles so small that thousands fit across the width of a human hair ― will deliver the inaugural presentation in "The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture" at the next National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

4 Jan 2013

Color of containers where food and drink are served can enhance attributes like taste and aroma

Two researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Oxford have proven that hot chocolate tastes better in an orange or cream coloured cup than in a white or red one. The study adds to recent research demonstrating how our senses perceive food in a different way depending on the characteristics of the container from which we eat and drink.

4 Jan 2013

Costs and benefits of bigger brains

Bigger brains can make animals, well, brainier, but that boost in brain size and ability comes at a price. That's according to new evidence reported on January 3rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, in which researchers artificially selected guppies for large and small brain sizes.

4 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics

Researchers have uncovered a new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics.

4 Jan 2013

PKM-zeta-less adult mice still able to form long-term memories

A study by Johns Hopkins researchers has shown that a widely accepted model of long-term memory formation - that it hinges on a single enzyme in the brain - is flawed. The new study, published in the Jan. 2 issue of Nature, found that mice lacking the enzyme that purportedly builds memory were in fact still able to form long-term memories as well as normal mice could.

4 Jan 2013

Researchers create killer T lymphocytes from iPS cells

Researchers from the RIKEN Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology in Japan report today that they have succeeded for the first time in creating cancer-specific, immune system cells called killer T lymphocytes, from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells).

4 Jan 2013

Stanford scientists identify molecular basis for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

When a young athlete dies unexpectedly on the basketball court or the football field, it's both shocking and tragic. Now Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have, for the first time, identified the molecular basis for a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that is the most common cause for this type of sudden cardiac death.

4 Jan 2013