Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a new member of the important B7 family of immune system “co-stimulators.” Co-stimulators are molecules that are capable of turning the immune system on or off — and in the process, profoundly affecting human health.
Mayo Clinic researchers named this newest molecule B7-H4. It inhibits the action of T cells, the immune system warriors whose basic job is to attack invaders. Turning off T cells helps transplant patients accept foreign organs. But turni
Acrylamide, a possible human carcinogen that has been found in a variety of fried and starch-based foods, appears to exert its mutagenicity (the capacity to induce mutations) by forming DNA adducts and introducing genetic mutations, according to a study in the June 18 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. DNA adducts can interfere with the DNA replication process and lead to mutations and, in theory, to tumor formation.
Exposure to acrylamide has been shown to increase the
Transplant research takes a hopeful step
Researchers at Kansas State University have successfully transplanted cells from one species to another without triggering an immune system rejection response or requiring drugs to suppress the immune system.
This hopeful news for transplant medicine is reported in the online edition of the journal Experimental Neurology, published by Elsevier.
Researchers transplanted umbilical cord matrix stem cells from a pig into the bra
Little is known about the effect of an individual’s immune history on their response to a donated tissue transplant. An important study by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, reveals that individuals harboring virally-induced memory T cells that are cross reactive with donor antigens are resistant to conventional strategies designed to induce transplant tolerance.
Enormous progress has been achieved in the field of transplantation during the past 3 decades, due in larg
Curacyte AG, a Munich-based drug development company focused on novel treatments of inflammatory diseases, thrombotic disorders and cancer has announced today that its scientists have discovered a series of novel small molecule inhibitors of matriptase, a trypsin-like serine protease. Matriptase is an important mediator in the degradation of the extracellular matrix, a process which plays a key role during metastasis. Inhibiting this key enzyme produced by tumor cells might provide a route to prevent
Studies indicate that congenitally blind (blind from birth) people have superior verbal memory abilities than the sighted. Why and what is the significance of this?
A new study by a team of researchers headed by Dr. Ehud Zohary of the Department of Neurobiology at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem provides a better understanding of this phenomenon through closer examination of how and where information is processed in the brains of blin
A human mission to Mars may still be some time away, but scientists are already aware of the many hazards that must be overcome if the dream is to become a reality. One particular cause for concern is the potential for physiological and psychological problems that could arise from the conditions of weightlessness, isolation and confinement experienced during a journey that could last six months or more.
To address these concerns ESA, in cooperation with the French space agency CNES, NASA and
Pathway identified to target for drug development
In one of the most significant breakthroughs in allergic diseases research in recent years, an international group of scientists led by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered 291 genes associated with asthma. The Cincinnati Children’s scientists used gene chip analysis to identify these genes they refer to as “asthma signature genes,” and they discovered a new and promising pathway involv
Research led by Professor Paul Sharp at The University of Nottingham’s Institute of Genetics has shed further light on the origins of HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS.
For more than 10 years, Professor Sharp has been collaborating with Professor Beatrice Hann, at the University of Alabama, on research aimed at clarifying the origins and evolution of AIDS viruses. In 1999, this team identified the origin of HIV-1 as being transmission of a virus (SIVcpz) from chimpanzees to humans, but a mys
For just pennies per person per year, the new Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) plans to bring the benefits of foods fortified with vitamins and minerals and end micronutrient deficiency for the poor in developing countries, which can save millions of lives and prevent crippling conditions such as blindness and mental retardation.
“Micronutrient deficiency also has many invisible economic effects that are widely underestimated, because they sap the energy of working-age p
Using a so-called “data-mining” method, it is possible to automatically find previously unknown side-effects of drugs in the huge WHO database of side-effect reports. This is demonstrated in a doctoral dissertation by Andrew Bate at Umeå University in Sweden.
The use of pharmaceuticals sometimes causes side-effects. By gathering reports about suspected cases of side-effects, it is possible to detect previously unknown ties between a certain drug and a side-effect at an early stage, so-calle
Researchers uncover new tumor suppression mechanism
Cancerous and precancerous cells can detect that they are abnormal and kill themselves, or remain alive indefinitely but cease proliferating, through two intrinsic processes called programmed cell death and cellular senescence. One goal of cancer chemotherapy is to help stimulate these potent antitumor processes.
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island have recently shown that by locking cancer cells int
C.J. Zhong hopes that within the next three to five years diabetics the world could see their quality of life enhanced by his tiny invention-a chip-sized pump with no moving parts. The device is also expected to find its way into myriad industrial and environmental applications, where it could mean huge savings in manufacturing and monitoring processes.
Zhong’s patent on the low-power, electrically driven pumping device is one of the reasons the State University of New York has broken i
American Heart Association meeting report
For centuries, the herb Chinese gastrodine has been used in China to treat disorders such as dizziness, headache and even ischemic stroke. Research presented today at the American Heart Association’s Second Asia Pacific Scientific Forum shows treatment with a gastrodine compound granule is effective in improving impaired memory, orientation, language and other effects of stroke in patients who were diagnosed with mild to moderate vascular
Advanced Control Research Ltd (ACR) is developing a new microchip system that will give prosthetic arm users more movement and control of their artificial limbs thanks to an Invention & Innovation award of £65,000 from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts), the organisation that invests in UK creativity and innovation.
The ACR system uses myoelectric technology to transfer the user’s thought processes into a range of movements. It does this by interpreting electr
Researchers have identified a mechanism by which the eight amino acid peptide NAP, an active fragment of a neuroprotective brain protein, protects against alcohol-induced embryo toxicity and growth retardation in mice. Their findings bring alcohol researchers a critical step closer to developing pharmacologic agents to prevent alcohol-induced fetal damage. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute o
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