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Study provides important clue in type 1 diabetes

In type 1 diabetes (T1D), pancreatic beta cells die from a misguided autoimmune attack, but how and why that happens is still unclear. Now, JDRF-funded scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine have found that a specific type of cellular stress takes place in pancreatic beta cells before the onset of T1D, and that this stress response in the beta cell may in fact help ignite the autoimmune attack.

23 Mar 2012

PFKFB4 gene leads to excessive growth of prostate cancer cells

Cancer cell metabolism may present a new target for therapy as scientists have uncovered a possible gene that leads to greater growth of prostate cancer cells.

23 Mar 2012

Verapamil drug may reverse diabetes-related death of pancreatic beta cells

A common high-blood-pressure medication appears to reverse the diabetes-related death of pancreatic beta cells, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published today in the journal Diabetes.

23 Mar 2012

Study identifies abnormal brain gene expression patterns in autism

A study led by Eric Courchesne, PhD, director of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has, for the first time, identified in young autism patients genetic mechanisms involved in abnormal early brain development and overgrowth that occurs in the disorder. The findings suggest novel genetic and molecular targets that could lead to discoveries of new prevention strategies and treatment for the disorder.

23 Mar 2012

WCI technique uses MRS to detect oncometabolites

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute have developed a technique for detecting an "oncometabolite", a chemical produced by some brain tumors' warped metabolism, via non-invasive imaging.

23 Mar 2012

Towards a more comprehensive view of brain-hand relationship

Research at Arizona State University and Columbia University to better understand the intricate sensory and cognitive connections between the brain and the hands has won support from the National Science Foundation. New discoveries about such connections could benefit people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and cerebral palsy, and those who need prosthetic hands.

22 Mar 2012

Biobanks should set rules for overall process of recognizing IFs and IRRs

Bioethicists at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics are co-authors on a consensus article placing "significant responsibility" on biobanks to report individual research results (IRRs) and incidental findings (IFs) to the contributors of genetic material.

22 Mar 2012

A rare forum on stem cell biology, engineering and clinical translation

On March 23, during the 41st Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 36th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, a symposium titled "TMJ: Stem Cell Biology and Engineering toward Clinical Translation" will provide a rare forum for multidisciplinary discussion of the biology, engineering and clinical translation of fundamental discoveries towards novel clinical therapy.

22 Mar 2012

Reading Arabic is more challenging to the brain

Readers whose mother tongue is Arabic have more challenges reading in Arabic than native Hebrew or English speakers have reading their native languages, because the two halves of the brain divide the labor differently when the brain processes Arabic than when it processes Hebrew or English.

22 Mar 2012

Study uses Veridex CellSearch technology to capture CECs in MI patients

Veridex, LLC today announced the publication of a new, investigational study published this week in Science Translational Medicine that lays the foundation for research that may potentially result in a blood test to determine imminent risk of heart attack within high-risk populations.

22 Mar 2012

Study identifies ROS in the gaseous phase of cigarette smoke

A team of researchers led by A. K. Rajasekaran, PhD, Director of the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research, has shown that a key protein involved in cell function and regulation is stopped by a substance present in cigarette smoke.

22 Mar 2012

Study shows how brain function differs in children with math anxiety

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown for the first time how brain function differs in people who have math anxiety from those who don't.

22 Mar 2012

Study demonstrates molecular mechanisms of cadmium-induced prostate cancer

A recent study conducted at Marshall University may eventually help scientists develop new treatments for prostate cancer, the most common malignancy in American men.

22 Mar 2012

Opioids may influence breast cancer survival

A new study in the April issue of Anesthesiology analyzed inherited (genetic) differences in how the body responds to its own morphine-like chemicals and pain-relieving opioid drugs, and whether they influence breast cancer survival. Preclinical animal studies have suggested that opioids may promote tumor growth.

22 Mar 2012

AACR to honor PU professor with Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research

A researcher from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and Princeton University who is helping to advance the molecular understanding of cancer metastasis is being recognized for his work by cancer specialists from around the globe.

22 Mar 2012

Allen Institute for Brain Science receives $300M gift to expand scientific programs

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today that, given its achievements to date, Paul G. Allen has committed an additional $300 million to the Institute to significantly expand its scientific programs.

22 Mar 2012

Extreme norovirus flexibility may allow for broad antibody recognition

Twenty million Americans get sick from norovirus each year according to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Often called vomiting illness, it can spread rapidly on cruise ships, and in dormitories and hospitals. Recent data from the CDC shows deaths from gastrointestinal infections have more than doubled and have become a particular threat to the elderly.

22 Mar 2012

Computer program could help dementia patients manage their disease

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a computer program that has tracked the manner in which different forms of dementia spread within a human brain. They say their mathematic model can be used to predict where and approximately when an individual patient's brain will suffer from the spread, neuron to neuron, of "prion-like" toxic proteins -- a process they say underlies all forms of dementia.

22 Mar 2012

MRI screening could be cost effective for women with familial risk of breast cancer

Adding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to standard breast cancer screening approaches is expensive, though it could be cost effective for a group of women who may not have inherited the breast cancer susceptibility genes, but who have a familial risk of developing the disease.

22 Mar 2012

Alpha-5 GABA type A receptors linked to anesthesia-related memory loss

A drug targeting one specific receptor may provide the first effective approach to treatment for the common problem of memory loss after surgery and anesthesia, according to an experimental study in the April issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

22 Mar 2012