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Botch protein appears to play an important regulatory role in forming neurons, other cell types

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a protein that appears to play an important regulatory role in deciding whether stem cells differentiate into the cells that make up the brain, as well as countless other tissues.

23 May 2012

Thermo Scientific Watson LIMS offers enhanced functionality for bioanalytical laboratories

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced that its Thermo Scientific Watson LIMS (laboratory information management system) offers enhanced functionality for large molecule bioanalysis in pharmaceutical and contract research organization (CRO) laboratories.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 22 May 2012

“Sandwich” immunoassay used to search for new chemical reactions

Many discoveries are made by chance, but it is also possible to help it along: The chance of finding something interesting increases when the number of experiments rises. French researchers have now applied this principle to the search for new chemical reactions. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they have introduced a new concept based on antibodies and a “sandwich” immunoassay.

22 May 2012

Airway inflammation linked with asthma-related mortality rates in older adults

Higher mortality rates among older adult asthma patients compared to their younger counterparts may be due, at least in part, to an increase in airway inflammation, according to a study conducted by researchers in Canada, who note that their results imply that elderly patients are either less likely to follow asthma medication dosing instructions, or that the underlying airway inflammation in elderly patients is relatively resistant to current anti-inflammatory therapies.

22 May 2012

Noninvasive test can reduce feeding-related complications among premature infants

Tufts Medical Center researchers have shown that presence of a gene strongly linked to appetite regulation is highly predictive of a premature infant's readiness to feed orally. An analysis of just a drop of an infant's saliva could be the key to preventing many feeding problems and the expensive medical complications that can occur when infants are fed by mouth too early.

22 May 2012

European study on allergies investigates birch, olive and grass pollens

From Finland to Italy and from Spain to Lithuania, thirteen research institutes from eleven European countries took part in the three-year Hialine study. The coordinator was Professor Dr Jeroen Buters of TUM's Chair of Molecular Allergology and the Center of Allergy & Environment.

22 May 2012

Investigators describe how they synthesized polymers to stabilize proteins

Proteins are widely used as drugs - insulin for diabetics is the best known example - and as reagents in research laboratories, but they react poorly to fluctuations in temperature and are known to degrade in storage.

22 May 2012

TransCytos, Enginasion collaborate to develop new transfection technology

Enginasion and TransCytos announced today that their collaboration has resulted in a prototype 'transfection' technology that is designed to have a dramatic and positive impact on the drug-research industry.

22 May 2012

New knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria

Researchers from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered new knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria, concerning how malaria parasites are able to bind to cells in the brain and cause cerebral malaria - the most lethal form of the disease.

22 May 2012

Combination of vitamin D and BCG vaccine improves bladder cancer survival

The tuberculosis vaccine is often used as a treatment for bladder cancer, and adding vitamin D might improve the vaccine's effectiveness, according to new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center presented today at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

22 May 2012

Liposuction surgery reduces risk of ultraviolet-light induced skin cancer

Is it possible that liposuction or other fat removal procedures are beneficial for treating obesity and reducing the risk of cancer? When it comes to humans, scientists can't answer that question. They know that obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. But there have not been clinical studies to determine if the surgical removal of fat tissue would decrease cancer risk in humans.

22 May 2012

HSF-1 protein likely source of chemotherapy-related heart damage in mice

Blocking a protein in the heart that is produced under stressful conditions could be a strategy to prevent cardiac damage that results from chemotherapy, a new study suggests.

22 May 2012

New strategy can reactivate genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die

A team of scientists has developed a promising new strategy for "reactivating" genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die. The researchers hope that their discovery will aid in the development of an innovative anti-cancer drug that effectively targets unhealthy, cancerous tissue without damaging healthy, non-cancerous tissue and vital organs.

22 May 2012

Some patients appear to be more predisposed for recurrent infection from C. diff

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that some patients appear to be more predisposed for recurrent infection from the bacterium Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, and that it may advance to a more serious inflammatory condition in those individuals.

22 May 2012

VEN occurs also in the insula of macaque monkeys

The anterior insular cortex is a small brain region that plays a crucial role in human self-awareness and in related neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type - the von Economo neuron (VEN) - is located there. For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants.

22 May 2012

First insight into links between microbes and developing infant

A new multi-university study reports that differences in bacterial colonization of the infant gut in formula-fed and breast-fed babies lead to changes in the expression of genes involved in the infant's immune system.

22 May 2012

Study finds large amounts of melanopsin in the human brain

A new study by Oulu University found large amounts of a light-sensitive OPN4-protein, melanopsin, in the human brain.

22 May 2012

Human cytomegalovirus associated with neovascular AMD

A team of researchers, including a scientist from the Viral Immunology Center at Georgia State University, have found that a type of herpesvirus infection of the eye is associated with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that causes blindness in the elderly.

22 May 2012

Scientists unravel action mechanism of castor oil

Castor oil is known primarily as an effective laxative; however, it was also used in ancient times with pregnant women to induce labour. Only now have scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research succeeded in unravelling the mysteries of the action mechanism. A receptor by the name of EP3 on the cells of the intestine and uterus is apparently responsible. This is activated by an ingredient in the oil.

22 May 2012

T cell imbalance may put certain people at increased risk of C. difficile infection

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that an imbalance in the regulation of certain T cells-the cells in the body that fight off infection or attack the system in certain autoimmune diseases-may put certain people at a higher risk of having recurrent cases of Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff, infection.

22 May 2012