OHSU scientists say low FOXP3 means fewer disease-fighting cells, but new drug may help
Oregon Health & Science University researchers have measured genetic changes reflecting a drop in the body’s ability to suppress inflammatory cells that attack nerve fibers and promote progression of multiple sclerosis.
In a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Neuroscience Research, OHSU scientists, in collaboration with The Immune Response Corp. of Carlsbad, Cal
What if all the vehicles now on the road in the United States were suddenly powered by hydrogen fuel cells? Stanford researchers say in a June 24 article in the journal Science that such a conversion would improve air quality, health and climate–especially if wind were used to generate the electricity needed to split water and make hydrogen in a pollutionless process.
Similarly to how gas is pumped into tanks, hydrogen would be pumped into fuel cells, which rely on chemistry, not
Imagine not being able to hold a glass, tie your shoelaces or write a check. For people with the common movement disorder known as essential tremor, simple tasks requiring fine motor coordination become increasingly difficult, sometimes even impossible. Three times more prevalent than Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor involves uncontrollable shaking of the hands, arms, head or voice. The largely hereditary neurological condition can begin in early adulthood and worsen with age.
Scientists have found a new role for a previously identified enzyme that may make it a target for anti-inflammatory treatments.
The finding by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that an enzyme known as cathepsin G regulates the ability of immune cells known as neutrophils to secrete chemicals that attract other immune cells and start the local inflammatory process. Over time, the excessive accumulation of immune cells can lead to tissue a
Proteins are the puzzle-pieces of life, involved in how organisms grow and flourish, but studying their complex biological processes in living systems has been extremely difficult. Now, a team of chemists and neurobiologists led by Timothy Dore at the University of Georgia and Erin M. Schuman at the California Institute of Technology has found a way to use light to regulate protein synthesis in specific locations.
The new method, which uses so-called “caged compounds” that can be
Experimenting with Arabidopsis, a fast-growing cousin of the humble mustard plant, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill got a big surprise while investigating how plants respond to attacks from disease organisms such as bacteria and viruses.
“Contrary to what we thought we’d find, our experiments showed that at least three different proteins work in concert with one another in tug-of war or teeter totter-fashion to keep plant defenses in a state of
A blood test for thyroid cancer can detect persistent or recurrent disease even before doctors can find any trace of a tumor, according to a new study. The findings suggest that people treated for the disease should be examined regularly for early signs of recurrence.
The study, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSU CCC – James), examined how well a test for thyro
Increasing stiffness of the aging eye may make older adults more susceptible to eye damage following trauma, according to research at Wake Forest-Virginia Tech School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.
“The gradual change in lens stiffness during a person’s lifetime leads to a lens that is four times stiffer than at birth, and this has implications for the likelihood of eye injury,” said Joel D. Stitzel, Ph.D., of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest Center for Injury Biomechani
A Better Understanding of Clot Physiology Can Lead to More Effective Therapies
For the first time ever, using “laser tweezers,” the mechanical properties of an individual fiber in a blood clot have been determined by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Their work, led by John W. Weisel, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn, and published in this week’s early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pr
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have discovered the breast cancer growth regulator sEGFR, which may be a useful tool in monitoring a patient’s responsiveness to treatment with the drug letrozole.
Published in a recent issue of the American Association of Cancer Researcher’s journal Cancer Research, the study focused on how decreased concentrations of sEGFR can indicate the effectiveness of letrozole.
In women with postmenopausal breast cancer, the ho
A new website, biogeowarehouse.cse.psu.edu , offers a prototype for online access to an analytical toolbox that enables biomedical researchers to integrate dissimilar data from a variety of sources and extract the most useful information from it by posing queries.
Dr. Raj Acharya, professor of computer science who headed the site development project, says, “Right now, the prototype focuses on prostate cancer data but our online
Cutting edge matrix assembly can be used to analyze large numbers of tumors
Scientists at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center have devised a new low-cost technology that allows thousands of tumor slices to be screened side-by-side, an improvement over current and more expensive methods that can analyze only several hundred tumors at once. The researchers anticipate that this technology could someday lead to more reliable prediction of patient prognosi
UCI study shows how newly identified signaling protein helps control retinal development
In discovering a protein that helps organize the development of the retina, UC Irvine researchers have found a new molecular mechanism that may allow for stem cell-based therapies to treat eye disorders such as retinal degeneration.
The finding also reveals how the retina’s own stem cells can be directed to aid the growth of new cells to replace diseased or dying ones in th
UCI study shows how new neurons created from adult stem cells are directed to specific brain regions
UC Irvine School of Medicine researchers have discovered how new neurons born from endogenous neural stem cells are sent to regions of the brain where they can replace old and dying cells, a finding that suggests how stem cell therapies can be specifically targeted to brain regions affected by neurodegenerative diseases or by stroke.
Associate Professor Qun-Yong Zhou an
A research team from the Public University of Navarra has started a study of the design and development of absorbent materials that enable the storage of hydrogen, a clean fuel that can be used as an alternative to those derived from fossil fuels, such as petrol and diesel. The storage of this element is, in fact, a key process in the change over from internal combustion engines – contaminating and not very efficient, to cars with hydrogen fuel cells.
The project, entitled, De
Older people who took part in a structured programme of Tai Chi found that their balance and physical strength improved, reducing the risk of falls, according to a paper in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Researchers studied a group of fall-prone adults, with an average age of 78, living in residential care. 29 undertook a 12-week Tai Chi course three times a week and 30 formed the non-exercise control group.
They found that the physical fitness of the exercise gro
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