In the article, C&EN associate editor Lisa Jarvis cites a growing body of research suggesting that a dangerous "Met" (short for metastatic) protein keeps cancer cells alive and helps the disease spread from the original tumor to distant parts of the body. Researchers have recently developed several Met inhibitors ...
The accompanying image illustrates the stages of enzyme activity of the first step of folate biosynthesis: free enzyme (orange), enzyme with substrate bound (salmon), and enzyme with pyrophosphate bound (gold), superimposed on a drawing of E. coli and the folate biosynthetic pathway. The ...
Stroke is the result of an infarction, or bleeding, within the brain, and it may lead to impaired movement, impaired sensation, and difficulties in cognitive function and speech. Approximately 30,000 people are affected by stroke each year in Sweden, and it is the most common cause of long-term dependence on ...
"Since CT urography was first conceived, in the late 90s, there have been a multitude of protocols described in the literature. The vast majority of these protocols entail scanning patients before contrast and at multiple phases after the administration of IV contrast," said Lawrence C. Chow, MD, lead author of ...
These results could help design new drugs that prevent cancer cells from metastasizing, or spreading throughout the body. "In order to spread, cancer cells release chemicals that make neighboring platelets aggregate and surround the cancer cells, helping them evade the immune system and allowing them to bind to the blood ...
The Collaborative Cross, begun in 2005 with a grant from the Ellison Medical Foundation, represents a fundamentally new way of conducting genetics research and aims to create 1,000 strains of mice that feature the genetic diversity of the world population. When completed in about five years, the research community ...
In the study, consumers chose beverages, side dishes, and desserts containing up to 131% more calories when the main course was positioned as "healthy" compared to when it was not. (Credit: iStockphoto) "In our black and white view, most food is good or not ...
Dr. Jonathan Graff led a research team which found that a single gene might control whether or not individuals tend to accumulate fat. (Credit: Image courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center) "From worms to mammals, this gene controls fat formation," said Dr. Jonathan Graff, associate ...
Animals without a working copy of the gene, known as Adipose (Adp), become obese and resistant to insulin, while those with increased Adp activity in fat tissue become slimmer, the researchers found. Moreover, the gene’s "dose" seems to determine how slender an animal turns out to be. "Maybe if you could ...
The Functional Dyspepsia Treatment Trial (FDTT) will determine if either of two FDA-approved drugs that act on both the brain and the ...
Peter Gernburd and Alejandro Jadad at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, University of Toronto and University Health Network, Canada, studied e-mail messages sent to three accounts over a one month period. The three accounts received 4,153 spam messages (82% of the total messages received), and a third of this ...
"Because native cartilage is unable to heal itself, researchers have long looked for ways to grow replacement cartilage in the lab that could be used to surgically repair injuries," said lead researcher Kyriacos A. Athanasiou, the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Bioengineering. "This research offers a novel approach for producing ...
Each predictor - of prognosis, of sensitivity to chemotherapy and sensitivity to hormone therapy - is independent of the others, providing unique information to physicians and patients considering treatment options, says W. Fraser Symmans, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Pathology. "Existing genomic tests for breast cancer provide information ...
New Australian research suggests there is widespread confusion in the community about managing children’s fevers. (Credit: Image courtesy of Queensland University of Technology) QUT senior research fellow Anne Walsh conducted the first study into how Australian parents’ manage childhood fever as part of her PhD. ...
Past studies have suggested that deficiencies in vitamin D might be associated with a higher risk of death from cancer, heart disease and diabetes--illnesses that account for 60 percent to 70 percent of deaths in high-income nations, according to background information in the article. "If the associations made between vitamin ...
Melanin, which is responsible for skin and hair color in humans and other mammals, is produced in specialized cells called melanocytes and then distributed to other cells. The question of how the pigment is delivered to appropriate locations may now have been answered. ...
The study involved 21 people who had MRI scans of their brains taken before taking natalizumab and again an average of 15 months after receiving the last infusion of the drug. The drug is given by IV infusion once a month. The participants were divided into two groups: one group ...
"Everything that itches isn’t a yeast infection," said Susan Hoffstetter, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and a SLUCare women’s health nurse practitioner. "People keep treating themselves. They buy over-the-counter medicines for yeast infections or they call the doctor to ...
Vascular disease is a major contributor to life-threatening conditions such as aneurysms or blockages of the aorta. Inserting synthetic grafts to repair damaged aortas, the largest artery in the body, is typically the first line of treatment. Some patients, however, are prone to infections in these grafts, which typically requires removal ...
The drug, Digibind, has been prescribed for over 20 years to patients who overdose on a certain heart medication, but is not yet approved for preeclampsia, the most common and dangerous pregnancy complication affecting as many as eight in every 100 pregnant women. The disorder is characterized by high blood ...
Dr. Leszek Ignatowicz (left) and Dr. Rafal Pacholczyk, MCG immunologists, found that Tregs, similarly to other T cells, respond stronger and more frequently to foreign substances than to the body’s own antigens. (Credit: Medical College of Georgia) The finding may cause a stir in ...
"Adding a kick to research -- this specially designed kicking robot is used to test the computer models’ accuracy." (Credit: Image courtesy of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) The models, more sophisticated and more specialised than others previously used in sports equipment design, ...
In a study appearing in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, University of Queensland psychologist, Bill von Hippel, reports that decreased inhibitory ability in late adulthood can lead to unintended prejudice, social inappropriateness, depression, and gambling problems. Regarding prejudice, von Hippel and colleagues found that older white ...
Perhaps consistent with its modest effects in COMBINE, naltrexone is not widely prescribed in the treatment of alcoholism. Yet, clinicians report that naltrexone may have significant benefits for individual patients. To make naltrexone a more useful medication, it would be important to begin to identify groups of patients ...
Now, for the first time, a group of scientists have shown that they can also detect CTCs before and after chemotherapy treatment and hence may be able to identify those patients likely to have a recurrence of their cancer after such treatment in future. Dr. Julia Jückstock, from the University of ...
University of Leicester scientists have discovered a natural fruit-based extract that dramatically improves the growth and probiotic qualities of ’friendly’ bacteria such as the lactic acid bacteria, which are found in most widely-advertised health supplement drinks. The fruit extract is the invention of Dr Primrose Freestone, of the University’s Department of ...
In the study, it was shown that a common pattern of fetal mRNAs, the molecules that hold the "blueprints" for proteins, was detectable in the blood of pregnant women. After birth, these mRNAs were no longer detected or were detected at substantially lower levels. These data have two important implications: ...
Of particular concern is the growing, and potentially dangerous, use of energy drinks in conjunction with alcohol. New research indicates that this practice exists to an alarming degree among some university students in Italy. "The main components of energy drinks are caffeine, taurine, carbohydrates, glucuronolactone, inositol, niacin, pantenol, and beta ...
The study, presented by Australian researchers today (Thursday) at the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) in Barcelona, found some evidence suggesting exercise might increase the risk. It found no link with body measurements. The study included 24,479 Australian women aged between 27 and 75, followed for an average of 13 years. ...
Mediated by a hormone receptor protein known as the corticotropin-releasing factor type 2 (CRF2) receptor, the system has attracted recent interest for its role in regulating food intake, say Vaishali Bakshi and Ned Kalin, professors in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public ...