Medical Science News

RSS

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes choroidal neovascularization

Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization.

5 May 2012

PDE4 enzyme regulates division of tumour cells and blood vessel growth in cancer tissue

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death throughout the world. Standard treatment methods do not usually result in long-term recovery. In addition to the proliferation of the tumour cells, the growth of blood vessels controls tumors development. The blood vessel growth is controlled by several signalling molecules. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and Justus Liebig University Giessen have discovered a molecule that plays a key role in this process. They succeeded in reducing tumour growth in their experiments by blocking the phosphodiesterase PDE4.

5 May 2012

Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium to enhance collaboration among three universities

Stem cell research laboratories at the University of California, Riverside, Loma Linda University and the California State University at San Bernardino have formed the "Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium" to enhance collaboration among the three universities and bring focus to stem cell work being done in inland Southern California.

5 May 2012

Research identifies molecular trigger of fibroid uterine tumors

Fibroid uterine tumors affect an estimated 15 million women in the United States, causing irregular bleeding, anemia, pain and infertility. Despite the high prevalence of the tumors, which occur in 60 percent of women by age 45, the molecular cause has been unknown.

5 May 2012

Dilp8 provides an important signal to slow body growth and delay insect development

Two independent groups of researchers have identified a hormone that is responsible for keeping the growth and development of insects on track. The results, which are reported in the journal Science, suggest that Dilp8 provides an important signal to slow body growth and delay insect development.

5 May 2012

MicroRNAs in breast cancer play a role in development of resistance to tamoxifen

Many breast cancer patients are treated with a drug called tamoxifen. The substance blocks the effect of estrogen and thus suppresses the growth signals of this hormone in cancer cells. When resistance to the drug develops, tumor cells change their growth program: They change their behavior and shape, become more mobile and also adopt the ability to invade surrounding tissue. Scientists working with PD (Associate Professor) Dr. Stefan Wiemann of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now also observed these changes in tamoxifen resistant breast cancer cells.

5 May 2012

Low levels of testosterone in men could increase risk of diabetes

Low levels of testosterone in men could increase their risk of developing diabetes, a study suggests.

5 May 2012

Patterns of brain activity that play a role in recall of memories and decision-making

UCSF scientists have identified patterns of brain activity in the rat brain that play a role in the formation and recall of memories and decision-making. The discovery, which builds on the team's previous findings, offers a path for studying learning, decision-making and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

4 May 2012

Awake mental replay essential for making informed choices

Awake mental replay of past experiences is essential for making informed choices, suggests a study in rats. Without it, the animals- memory-based decision-making faltered, say scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health. The researchers blocked learning from, and acting on, past experience by selectively suppressing replay - encoded as split-second bursts of neuronal activity in the memory hubs of rats performing a maze task.

4 May 2012

Presence of fetal cells is a double-edged sword for women

For the first time, scientists have found what could be a causative link between the concentration of circulating Y-chromosome fetal cells in women who gave birth to children of either sex and their risk of later developing breast cancer and colon cancer.

4 May 2012

Malfunctioning single proteins cause disruptions in neuronal junctions leading to autism

Malfunctioning single proteins can cause disruptions in neuronal junctions leading to autistic forms of behavior. A current study, published in the scientific journal Nature, comes to this conclusion after examining genetically altered mice.

4 May 2012

Potential breast cancer patients for new immune-targeting therapies

Breast cancer patients whose tumors express high levels of genes related to immune response are more likely to have their tumor completely eradicated by pre-operative chemotherapy compared to patients with low expression of these genes, Belgian researchers report at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

4 May 2012

New analysis may help identify breast cancer patients who will benefit from immune suppressant

A new analysis may help doctors identify breast cancer patients who will benefit from treatment with the immune suppressant drug everolimus, say French researchers at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

4 May 2012

An Achilles heel within cells that bacteria exploit to cause infection

Scientists have discovered an Achilles heel within our cells that bacteria are able to exploit to cause and spread infection.

4 May 2012

Researchers identify new functions of cohesin SA1 that are relevant for cancer and CdLS

Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein complex involved in the spatial organization of the genome and in mitotic chromosome structure. Vertebrate somatic cells have two versions of cohesin that contain either SA1 or SA2, but their functional specificity has been largely ignored. Researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) under the direction of Ana Losada have identified new functions of cohesin SA1 that are relevant for two human diseases, cancer and Cornelia de Lange Syndrome.

4 May 2012

Researchers discover two defective genes that cause auriculocondylar syndrome

Researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute and their collaborators have discovered a pair of defective genes that cause a rare congenital malformation syndrome that can make it impossible for the child to breathe or eat properly without reparative surgery.

4 May 2012

TGen to lead multidisciplinary search for new drugs that could help treat GBM

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) will lead a multidisciplinary search for new drugs that could help treat the most common and lethal form of brain cancer.

4 May 2012

Potential ways for doctors to improve hormone receptor-positive breast cancer treatment

American and Spanish researchers have found potential ways for doctors to improve the treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer even if they lack access to costly multi-gene tests, as they report at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference.

4 May 2012

GOS prompts body's natural killer cells to ward off colon cancer

Researchers at Michigan State University have shown a prebiotic may help the body's own natural killer cells fight bacterial infection and reduce inflammation, greatly decreasing the risk of colon cancer.

4 May 2012

Researchers investigate hydrogels' potential in drug delivery

The flexible properties of hydrogels - highly absorbent, gelatinous polymers that shrink and expand depending on environmental conditions such as humidity, pH and temperature - have made them ideal for applications from contact lenses to baby diapers and adhesives.

4 May 2012

Medical Science News

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes choroidal neovascularization

PDE4 enzyme regulates division of tumour cells and blood vessel growth in cancer tissue

Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium to enhance collaboration among three universities

Research identifies molecular trigger of fibroid uterine tumors

Dilp8 provides an important signal to slow body growth and delay insect development

MicroRNAs in breast cancer play a role in development of resistance to tamoxifen

Low levels of testosterone in men could increase risk of diabetes

Patterns of brain activity that play a role in recall of memories and decision-making

Awake mental replay essential for making informed choices

Presence of fetal cells is a double-edged sword for women

Malfunctioning single proteins cause disruptions in neuronal junctions leading to autism

Potential breast cancer patients for new immune-targeting therapies

New analysis may help identify breast cancer patients who will benefit from immune suppressant

An Achilles heel within cells that bacteria exploit to cause infection

Researchers identify new functions of cohesin SA1 that are relevant for cancer and CdLS

Researchers discover two defective genes that cause auriculocondylar syndrome

TGen to lead multidisciplinary search for new drugs that could help treat GBM

Potential ways for doctors to improve hormone receptor-positive breast cancer treatment

GOS prompts body's natural killer cells to ward off colon cancer

Researchers investigate hydrogels' potential in drug delivery

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

Scaling B-cell cloning workflows for antibody development

Fluidics in Modern Healthcare & Medical Device Innovation

Latest News