Proteins that work in immune system also play fundamental role in heart size and function
Researchers have identified two proteins that play fundamental roles in heart size and function and have genetically uncoupled them, a discovery the scientists hope will lead to better treatments for those with cardiovascular disease.
“We initially had a hint that the protein called PTEN controls cell size,” says Josef Penninger, professor of medical biophysics and immunology at U of T,
A new approach to cancer treatment that replaces a patient’s immune system with cancer-fighting cells can lead to tumor shrinkage, researchers report today in the journal Science*. The study demonstrates that immune cells, activated in the laboratory against patients’ tumors and then administered to those patients, can attack cancer cells in the body.
The experimental technique, known as adoptive transfer, has shown promising results in patients with metastatic melanoma who have not respond
Researchers from the University of Nottingham set out to determine whether people whose marital partners suffered with a certain condition such as depression, high blood pressure or asthma were at increased risk of suffering from the same disease.
Over 8,000 married couples aged between 30 and 74 years of age took part in the study. After adjustments were made for age, obesity and smoking status in both partners it was found that the partners of people with asthma, depression and peptic ulc
The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority has engaged two internationally well-known epidemiologists to review published epidemiological studies on the relationship between the use of cellular telephones and cancer risk. They are Dr. John D. Boice, Jr. and Dr. Joseph K. McLaughlin from the International Epidemiology Institute, USA.
In their review, no consistent evidence was observed for increased risk of brain cancer, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma, ocular melanoma, or salivary gland canc
Scientists are developing a method that could prevent lung infections in people who smoke, according to a paper presented today (Wednesday 18 September) at the Society for General Microbiology autumn meeting at Loughborough University.
“We’ve used a human tissue model to show how we can prevent Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) bacteria from invading cells in the lungs. These bacteria attach themselves to mucus and damaged tissue lining the lungs, and often cause infections in people with ex
A drug used to help control psychotic behavior in people with schizophrenia holds promise for controlling similar symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.
What sets this drug – called quetiapine – apart from its contemporary counterparts is its apparent lack of serious side effects, such as confusion, muscle stiffness and imbalance in the joints, said Douglas Scharre, a study co-author and an associate professor of clinical neurology at Ohio State Universit
The average person’s heart pumps about a gallon of blood per minute, a rate that can easily triple or quadruple during exercise.
The rapid flow of blood through the body is a major roadblock to the use of gene therapy to cure diseases. When injected into the blood, vector viruses – which carry corrective genes – tend to shoot past the target organ or tissue rather than sticking to it, like grains of sand moving past stones in a fast-flowing river.
Now, University of Florida g
A new class of all organic composites that change shape under an electric voltage may open the door for the manufacture of artificial muscles, smart skins, capacitors, and tiny drug pumps, according to Penn State researchers.
“Electroactive polymers have been around for a long time, but the energy input required for them to do enough work to be of value was very high,” says Dr. Qiming Zhang, professor of electrical engineering. “With this new composite we have reduced the voltage to one tent
Scientists for the first time have engineered a harmless virus to correct, rather than replace, the genetic defect causing the most common single gene disorder.
The new research presents a novel approach to gene therapy in treating the most common inherited anemias: the thalassemias. Thalassemias are genetic blood diseases that result in failure to produce sufficient hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein component of blood cells. This failure is caused by defects in the genetic code respo
How to build greater coherence in European cancer research? This is the key question to be debated at a conference today, which brings together around 250 representatives from science, the medical profession, government, patient organisations, foundations, industry and European institutions.
The aim of the conference, jointly organised by the European Commission and the European Parliament, is to kick-off the conception of a joint European strategy for cancer research, rallying all actors c
A computer simulation that shows how branches and bends in blood vessels disturb smooth-flowing blood and contribute to heart disease has been built by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Eventually, it could be possible to use such models to predict the risk of some types of heart disease.
Every minute at rest the heart pumps out about five liters, or more than a gallon, of blood. The swirls and eddies of that blood could help determine where fatty plaques build up, damagin
There is a sound neurological basis for the cliché that men are more aggressive than women, according to new findings by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, the Penn scientists illustrated for the first time that the relative size of the sections of the brain known to constrain aggression and monitor behavior is larger in women than in men.
The research, by Ruben C. Gur, PhD, and Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD, and
Folic acid is not only a safeguard against spina bifida and other birth defects in babies – it can also prevent heart disease and strokes, two of Northern Ireland’s biggest killers, according to research from the University of Ulster.
Research at the University has shown and folic acid and three other related B-vitamins can prevent the accumulation of a high blood level of homocysteine, a risk factor in heart disease and strokes.
The risk of high homocysteine is similar to the risk
Changes in the brain’s white matter may play a major role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, whose baffling origin has traditionally been blamed on the gray matter. The new findings could provide a fresh direction for Alzheimer’s research in this neglected part of the brain, offering the potential for early diagnosis and enhanced therapies.
The results are reported in the Sept. 17 print edition of Biochemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the w
A team of Dartmouth engineers and doctors are trying to find more comfortable and comprehensive ways to examine breast tissue to better detect and diagnose breast cancer. The Dartmouth group is simultaneously developing and testing four different breast imaging techniques.
The multidisciplinary Dartmouth team includes researchers from the Thayer School of Engineering and Dartmouth Medical School, and they are working under the auspices of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the department o
“We need to get (chronic kidney disease) on the radar screen, especially when there’s a medical history of high blood pressure or diabetes, so both patients and physicians are more aware of the consequences and opportunities to intervene.” – Neil R. Powe, M.D., M.P.H.
Kidney disease patients are at a much increased risk of death when they have delays getting to a specialist, a Johns Hopkins-led study shows. Delays occur more often among black males, the uninsured and those who have mul
Feedback
