Cystic Fibrosis News and Research

Latest Cystic Fibrosis News and Research

Bacterial toxin closes gate on immune response

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes.

14 Feb 2008

Discovery of possible target for prevention and treatment of pneumonia

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have identified a key protein target that may be a crucial factor in the development of a vaccine to prevent and new therapies to treat pneumonia, the leading killer of children worldwide.

12 Feb 2008

Bone problems and cystic fibrosis

A recent study by Dr Christina Haston, a researcher of the McGill University Health Centre research Institute, sheds some new light on the bone problems that generally accompany cystic fibrosis.

8 Feb 2008

Chemical chaperone could open door to treatment of neurological disorder

An unexpected finding turned out to be a clue leading researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to propose a new treatment approach for Niemann-Pick disease, a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder.

7 Feb 2008

Experimental drug shows promise for cystic fibrosis

An experimental drug that has proven effective in treating muscular dystrophy also works for cystic fibrosis, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

5 Feb 2008

Study of successful drug targets could hasten development of new medications

Guidance from an innovative computational approach could speed up the process and cut down the cost of new drug development, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center and Columbia University suggest in a study to be published in the February 2008 issue of Genome Research, available early online.

5 Feb 2008

New understanding of ion channel regulation

A study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago published this week in the online version of Biophysical Journal proposes that bubbles may control the opening and closing of ion channels.

4 Feb 2008

Exposure to secondhand smoke linked to worsening of lung function in cystic fibrosis sufferers

Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with adverse effects on lung function among persons with cystic fibrosis, with this effect being worse for persons with certain gene variations, according to a study in the January 30 issue of JAMA.

31 Jan 2008

Debate over safety of gene therapy trials focuses on issue of informed consent

Can a patient who agrees to participate in a safety study of a gene therapy protocol give truly informed consent and understand the risks involved when the consent forms are highly technical and the physician or institution seeking their consent has a stake in the study and its outcome?

23 Jan 2008

Minute genetic differences have major consequences

A study led by McGill University researchers has demonstrated that small differences between individuals at the DNA level can lead to dramatic differences in the way genes produce proteins.

21 Jan 2008

Case researcher in RNA biology makes waves by challenging current thinking

In the January 18th issue of Molecular Cell, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher Kristian E. Baker, Ph.D. challenges molecular biology's established body of evidence and widely-accepted model for nonsense-mediated messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) decay.

21 Jan 2008

Highlights of pulmonary and critical care symposium

New perspectives on lung cancer screening, complications of sleep apnea, cystic fibrosis, and other key topics in pulmonary and critical care medicine are presented in the special January issue of The American Journal of Medical Sciences, published by the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, provider of leading healthcare content, context and consulting.

3 Jan 2008

Study uncovers clues to cystic fibrosis gene dysfunction and gastrointestinal disease

A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, offers new insight into the role that the cystic fibrosis gene plays in the development of gastrointestinal disease.

14 Dec 2007

Cell trafficking finding may aid drug development

With findings highlighted on a recent cover of Developmental Cell , researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have shed important new light on key trafficking mechanisms within epithelial cells. Epithelial cells line the outside of nearly all organs.

12 Dec 2007

Protein-dependent "switch" regulates intracellular trafficking in epithelial cells

12 Dec 2007

Researchers photograph cystic fibrosis protein interaction

New microscopic pictures show the first-ever physical evidence of interaction between two proteins involved in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) disease.

10 Dec 2007

Molecular technology used to identify unexpected bacteria in cystic fibrosis patients

Molecular technology developed by a University of Colorado at Boulder professor to probe extreme life forms in undersea hydrothermal vents has been used to identify unexpected bacteria strains in the lung fluid of Denver children suffering from cystic fibrosis, findings that may lead to more effective therapies.

4 Dec 2007