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Powerful new tools can study glycans’ function

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed chemical compounds that can make key modifications to common sugar molecules ("glycans"), which are found on the surface of all cells in our body. The new study presents powerful new tools for studying these molecules' function, for example in cell signaling and immunity, and for investigating new treatments for chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancer metastasis, and related conditions.

11 Jun 2012

Knome announces start of early technology access program for knomeCLINIC

Knome, Inc., today announced the start of its early technology access program for knomeCLINIC, a software suite designed to help medical researchers and clinicians interpret human genomes for biological relevance.

11 Jun 2012

Nanocontainers can fight against atherosclerosis

In Switzerland, more than 20,000 people (37% of all deaths) die of cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis each year. Treatment options are currently available to people who suffer from the disease but no drug can target solely the diseased areas, often leading to generalized side effects.

11 Jun 2012

Researchers identify six genes that predispose to migraine without aura

Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings.

11 Jun 2012

MRI scans reveal how sleep deprivation impairs brain regions associated with food processing

MRI scans from a study being presented today at SLEEP 2012 reveal how sleep deprivation impairs the higher-order regions in the human brain where food choices are made, possibly helping explain the link between sleep loss and obesity that previous research has uncovered.

11 Jun 2012

Researchers identify new mitochondrial protein complex linked with type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Metabolic Solutions Development Company, LLC (MSDC) have identified a mitochondrial protein complex through which anti-diabetic drugs exert their insulin sensitizing effects when used to treat patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

11 Jun 2012

New understanding about how placental growth is regulated before birth

Scientists at the Babraham Institute have gained a new understanding of how the growth of the placenta is regulated before birth, which has important implications for a healthy pregnancy.

11 Jun 2012

Biomedical engineers develop SMART detector for flu diagnosis

In April 2009, the world took notice as reports surfaced of a virus in Mexico that had mutated from pigs and was being passed from human to human. The H1N1 "swine flu," as the virus was named, circulated worldwide, killing more than 18,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States said it was the first global pandemic in more than four decades.

11 Jun 2012

Sleep loss markedly exaggerates emotional reactivity in people with anxiety disorders

New research shows that sleep loss markedly exaggerates the degree to which we anticipate impending emotional events, particularly among highly anxious people, who are especially vulnerable.

11 Jun 2012

Study confirms linear association between JBA and future stroke rate

Researchers from the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine in London in the United Kingdom revealed that the presence and size of a juxtaluminal black (hypoechoic) area (JBA) on carotid ultrasound of asymptomatic carotid artery plaques can predict the occurrence of ipsilateral ischemic stroke.

11 Jun 2012

ADAM28 inhibits VWF-mediated cancer cell apoptosis and enhances lung metastases

ADAM28, a metalloproteinase belonging to the ADAM gene family, cleaves the von Willebrand factor (VWF) and inhibits VWF-mediated cancer cell apoptosis, thereby enhancing lung metastases, so inhibiting its expression gives a substantial reduction in lung metastases, according to a study published June 8 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

11 Jun 2012

Researchers describe germ line functions of par-5 gene

Certain proteins, such as 14-3-3, conserve their basic functions of cell cycle control in diverse organisms, from worms to humans. In a study led by Juli-n Cer-n and Sim- Schwartz Jr, researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Research Institute of Vall d'Hebron (VHIR) respectively, have described germ line functions of par-5, which is one of the two 14-3-3 proteins existing in Caenorhabditis elegans, worms used as experimental model in genetic studies.

10 Jun 2012

New synthetic vaccine effective in killing HPV-derived cancer

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have developed and tested in mice a synthetic vaccine and found it effective in killing human papillomavirus-derived cancer, a virus linked to cervical cancers among others.

10 Jun 2012

Discovery answers why mother's immune system does not reject developing fetus as foreign tissue

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have made an important discovery that partially answers the long-standing question of why a mother's immune system does not reject a developing fetus as foreign tissue.

8 Jun 2012

New fetal genetics testing technique could offer less risk, more controversy

The full genetic code of a fetus has been cracked.

8 Jun 2012

Effective ways of detecting onset of kidney disease

Research led by an Arizona State University biomedical engineer and physicist to find more effective ways of detecting the onset of kidney disease is getting support from the National Institutes of Health.

8 Jun 2012

Concussion victims have unique spatial patterns of brain abnormalities that change over time

Patients vary widely in their response to concussion, but scientists haven't understood why. Now, using a new technique for analyzing data from brain imaging studies, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center have found that concussion victims have unique spatial patterns of brain abnormalities that change over time

8 Jun 2012

Erivedge drug shows promise against advanced basal cell carcinoma

It's the most common form of skin cancer, but in its advanced stages, basal cell carcinoma has the potential to become disfiguring and life threatening. An international phase 2 study headed by Mayo Clinic led to the recent Food and Drug Administration approval of the first drug of its kind to help advanced basal cell carcinoma patients who have few treatment options.

8 Jun 2012

Researchers determine function of series proteins within the mosquito

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have, for the first time, determined the function of a series proteins within the mosquito that transduce a signal that enables the mosquito to fight off infection from the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

8 Jun 2012

Scientists unravel one important secret of bacterial adaptation

Learning the secrets of how pathogenic bacteria manage to survive in the body of an animal or human may carry great implications for future development of new and better medical treatments. Now, scientists at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry have unraveled one important secret of bacterial adaptation.

8 Jun 2012