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PTEN protein helps prevent autoimmune diseases

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered that a protein widely known for suppressing tumor formation also helps prevent autoimmune diseases and other problems by putting the brakes on the immune response.

15 Jan 2015

UCSD nanoengineers develop temporary tattoo to measure glucose levels

Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego have tested a temporary tattoo that both extracts and measures the level of glucose in the fluid in between skin cells. This first-ever example of the flexible, easy-to-wear device could be a promising step forward in noninvasive glucose testing for patients with diabetes.

15 Jan 2015

UH Case Medical Center researchers find that coenzyme A plays key role in cell metabolism

Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals Case Medical Center researchers and physicians have discovered that the molecule known as coenzyme A plays a key role in cell metabolism by regulating the actions of nitric oxide. Cell metabolism is the ongoing process of chemical transformations within the body's cells that sustains life, and alterations in metabolism are a common cause of human disease, including cancer and heart disease.

15 Jan 2015

Potassium salts in plant foods improve bone health

Latest research from the University of Surrey has found that the potassium salts (bicarbonate and citrate) plentiful in fruit and vegetables, play an important part in improving bone health. For the first time, the results also showed that these potassium salts reduce bone resorption, the process by which bone is broken down, therefore increasing their strength.

15 Jan 2015

BellBrook Labs announces launch of new Transcreener UDP TR-FRET Assay

BellBrook Labs, a leader in high throughput screening assays for drug discovery, announced the launch of a TR-FRET (time resolved Forster resonance energy transfer) version of the company's Transcreener UDP Assay, a high throughput screening assay for glycosyltransferases and other UDP-producing enzymes.

15 Jan 2015

Scientists identify first genetic marker linked to severe neurological toxicity

Paclitaxel is a chemotherapeutic drug that has been shown to be highly effective when treating solid tumours, such as breast, ovarian and lung tumours. However, its use frequently causes peripheral neuropathies, neurological problems that affect the vast majority of patients.

15 Jan 2015

Vascular and Alzheimer's-related brain abnormalities cause dementia in older people

A growing body of research suggests that the most common cause of dementia in older people is a mix of vascular and Alzheimer's-related brain abnormalities, and that approximately half of people who die with Alzheimer's also have evidence of strokes in their brains. Furthermore, when strokes and hallmark Alzheimer's plaques and tangles are combined, it increases a person's likelihood of experiencing dementia.

15 Jan 2015

People with iron overload disease are more vulnerable to Vibrio vulnificus infections

Every summer, the news reports on a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus found in warm saltwater that causes people to get sick, or die, after they eat raw tainted shellfish or when an open wound comes in contact with seawater.

15 Jan 2015

Venom of cone snails provides leads for possible treatment of cancer, addiction

While considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, snails have found a more intriguing use to scientists and the medical profession offering a plethora of research possibilities. Cone snails are marine mollusks, just as conch, octopi and squid, but they capture their prey using venom.

15 Jan 2015

TSRI scientists identify novel synthetic compound that reduces activity of a cancer-related protein

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a novel synthetic compound that sharply inhibits the activity of a protein that plays an important role in in the progression of breast and pancreatic cancers.

15 Jan 2015

Study: Depression, behavioral changes may occur in Alzheimer's disease before memory declines

Depression and behavioral changes may occur before memory declines in people who will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

14 Jan 2015

Sweetpotato leaves can provide essential vitamins, study finds

Sweetpotato is known to be a good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and certain B vitamins that are considered essential to human health. Besides the commonly consumed root of the plant, certain tissues in sweetpotato are also edible and high in nutritional value. Although studies have confirmed that water-soluble vitamins exist in sweetpotato roots and leaves, there has been limited information about how these vitamins are actually distributed in the plants.

14 Jan 2015

Urinary levels of novel biomarkers linked to adverse long-term outcomes in AKI patients

High levels of two novel urinary biomarkers early in critical illness are associated with adverse long-term outcomes in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), according to an international, multi-center study led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Researchers.

14 Jan 2015

Weightlessness in space causes blood shift in astronauts

In a study published today in The Journal of Physiology, researchers found that in space, the shift of blood and fluid from the lower to the upper body caused by weightlessness is much higher and the blood pressure much lower than previously thought.

14 Jan 2015

Neurobiologists find paradoxical effect of abuse-related cues in infants, adults

Neurobiologists at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere have found a surprising and paradoxical effect of abuse-related cues in rat pups: those cues also can lower depressive-like behavior when the rat pups are fully grown.

14 Jan 2015

Third annual Food Labs Conference to be held in conjunction with Pittcon 2015

The Pittcon Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the third annual Food Labs Conference, the only food conference focused on the food laboratory, will be held in conjunction with Pittcon 2015, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The co-location of the two conferences provides that the registration fee to attend the two-day Food Lab Conference, March. 9-10, will also include unlimited week long admission to the Pittcon exposition floor and technical program.

14 Jan 2015

TERT mutations may make smokers more susceptible to emphysema

Mutations in a gene that helps repair damaged chromosome ends may make smokers — especially female smokers — more susceptible to emphysema, according to results of a new study led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers.

14 Jan 2015

Major investment boosts Scotland's gene research

A major investment in gene sequencing technology will secure Scotland's place as a world leader in a genomics revolution that is set to transform healthcare.

14 Jan 2015

Researchers identify new target that could lead to potential therapies for GBM

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute for Molecular Medicine have identified a new protein-protein interaction that could serve as a target for future therapies for the most common form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

14 Jan 2015

Sophia Genetics obtains CE-IVD marking for BRCA1/2 testing solution

Sophia Genetics, the European leader in Data Driven Medicine, has today obtained CE-IVD marking for its solution to detect BRCA1/2 associated genetic variants in live tumours.

14 Jan 2015