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Study reveals that tumors factors inhibit repair of damaged muscle fibers during cancer wasting

A new study reveals that tumors release factors into the bloodstream that inhibit the repair of damaged muscle fibers, and that this contributes to muscle loss during cancer wasting.

24 Oct 2013

Study shows oxytocin hormone enhances placebo response in analgesia model

The hormone oxytocin may mediate processes such as empathy, trust, and social learning. These are key elements of the patient-physician relationship, which is an important mediator of placebo responses, according to background information in a Research Letter appearing in the October 23/30 issue of JAMA.

24 Oct 2013

Study shows plant sterols appear to prevent onset of Alzheimer's disease

It's no secret that many of the phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables have a positive effect on our health. For instance, plant sterols (also known as phytosterols) help to lower cholesterol levels. According to a new study by researchers at Saarland University, they also appear to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

24 Oct 2013

Scientists find disparities in regulation of transposons between humans and non-human primate cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have, for the first time, taken chimpanzee and bonobo skin cells and turned them into induced pluripotent stem cells, a type of cell that has the ability to form any other cell or tissue in the body.

24 Oct 2013

Leukemia drug reverses symptoms of colitis in lab tests

A drug currently on the market to treat leukemia reversed symptoms of colitis in lab tests, according to recently published findings by medical researchers with the University of Alberta.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers reveal why sleep deprivation increases risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes

The fact that sleep deprivation has an impact on the function of the human immune system is well known. In their latest study, the University of Helsinki research group Sleep Team has now discovered new biological links between sleep loss and the immune system. The results provide at least a partial explanation of why sleep deprivation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

24 Oct 2013

Unique approach to help discover how cell changes shape in response to topographies

Cells in the human body change shape as they crawl, split, or cling to other surfaces, but while the scientific literature is filled with examples of how cell shapes shift in response to things they touch, little is known about the rules that govern these changes. And there has been no high-throughput way to systematically test different topologies against different types of cells to optimize the surface of something like a medical implant.

24 Oct 2013

BUSM researchers capture images of channels that direct proteins to right place in cell membranes

Similar to passengers on an urban transit system, every protein made in the cell has a specific destination and function. Channels in cell membranes help direct these proteins to their appropriate target. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and their colleagues have now captured images of these channels as they open to allow proteins to pass through a membrane, while the proteins are being made.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers use nanopores to smuggle DNA or proteins across membranes

A living cell is built with barriers to keep things out - and researchers are constantly trying to find ways to smuggle molecules in.‬ ‪Professor Giovanni Maglia (Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology, KU Leuven) and his team have engineered a biological nanopore that acts as a selective revolving door through a cell's lipid membrane. The nanopore could potentially be used in gene therapy and targeted drug delivery.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

24 Oct 2013

Nanometric scale diamond particles offer new way to detect cancer far earlier

Real-time monitoring of cancer cell processes could soon be possible thanks to nanometric scale diamonds used as biosensors.

24 Oct 2013

Activation mechanism of protective protein in ocular lens resolved

The lens of the human eye is made up of a highly concentrated protein solution that imparts the eye its high refractive power. Yet, despite this high protein content the ocular lens must remain clear and transparent.

24 Oct 2013

Biocompatible compounds can be used to develop customized implant designs with 3-D printing

Researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Laser Zentrum Hannover have discovered that a naturally-occurring compound can be incorporated into three-dimensional (3-D) printing processes to create medical implants out of non-toxic polymers.

24 Oct 2013

Study uncovers new genetic pathways that could revolutionise acute dendritic leukaemia treatment

Acute dendritic leukaemia is a rare type of leukaemia, but one with the worst prognosis-the average patient survival rate is just 12-14 months-that is difficult to treat. Juan Cruz Cigudosa's team, from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre's Molecular Cytogenetics Group, has for the first time sequenced the exome -the coding, or protein-generating, regions of the genome- of dendritic cell leukaemia.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers identify potential way to combat TB

Researchers have identified a potential way to manipulate the immune system to improve its ability to fight off tuberculosis.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers describe why current medications only moderately reduce Fragile X symptoms

When you experience something, neurons in the brain send chemical signals called neurotransmitters across synapses to receptors on other neurons. How well that process unfolds determines how you comprehend the experience and what behaviors might follow. In people with Fragile X syndrome, a third of whom are eventually diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, that process is severely hindered, leading to intellectual impairments and abnormal behaviors.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers explore the origin of sweat gland stem cells

Without sweat, we would overheat and die. In a recent paper in the journal PLOS ONE, USC faculty member Krzysztof Kobielak and a team of researchers explored the ultimate origin of this sticky, stinky but vital substance - sweat gland stem cells.

24 Oct 2013

Scientists to converge at nation's first conference on computational psychiatry

More than 70 scientists from around the world and from a range of intellectual traditions will convene in Miami this week for what is believed to be the nation's first conference on computational psychiatry, an emerging field in neuroscience.

23 Oct 2013

Newly discovered proteins in spinal fluid can serve as markers for Alzheimer's disease

23 Oct 2013

Researchers uncover mechanism for improving song learning in juvenile zebra finches

Most songbirds learn their songs from an adult model, mostly from the father. However, there are relatively large differences in the accuracy how these songs are copied.

23 Oct 2013

New technological approach may help improve stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases

An international research group has successfully tested the use of a new type of porous material for the efficient delivery of key molecules to transplanted cells derived from stem cells. These results can lead to improvements in the way stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases are treated.

23 Oct 2013

Medical Science News

Study reveals that tumors factors inhibit repair of damaged muscle fibers during cancer wasting

Study shows oxytocin hormone enhances placebo response in analgesia model

Study shows plant sterols appear to prevent onset of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists find disparities in regulation of transposons between humans and non-human primate cells

Leukemia drug reverses symptoms of colitis in lab tests

Researchers reveal why sleep deprivation increases risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes

Unique approach to help discover how cell changes shape in response to topographies

BUSM researchers capture images of channels that direct proteins to right place in cell membranes

Researchers use nanopores to smuggle DNA or proteins across membranes

Nanometric scale diamond particles offer new way to detect cancer far earlier

Activation mechanism of protective protein in ocular lens resolved

Biocompatible compounds can be used to develop customized implant designs with 3-D printing

Study uncovers new genetic pathways that could revolutionise acute dendritic leukaemia treatment

Researchers identify potential way to combat TB

Researchers describe why current medications only moderately reduce Fragile X symptoms

Researchers explore the origin of sweat gland stem cells

Scientists to converge at nation's first conference on computational psychiatry

Newly discovered proteins in spinal fluid can serve as markers for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers uncover mechanism for improving song learning in juvenile zebra finches

New technological approach may help improve stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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