Analysis of synovial tissue indicates changes in inflammatory and immune cells correlating with patient response to anti-TNFá therapy
Clinical trials are essential to the development of effective treatments for chronic autoimmune arthritis. For ethical, practical, and financial reasons, researchers increasingly face the challenge of achieving proof-of-concept in early-phase clinical trials of limited size, limited duration, and minimal patient risk. Analysis of tissue from the
A recent Finnish study identifies a low-penetrance gene defect which predisposes carriers to intracranial tumors called pituitary adenomas. In particular individuals carrying the gene defect are susceptible to such tumors which secrete growth hormone. Excess of growth hormone results in conditions called acromegaly and gigantism. Identification of this gene defect using DNA-chip technologies is an example how genetic research can tackle more and more demanding tasks, such as identification of predis
Research Highlights Possibility of Halting Dental Caries Epidemic
Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have made significant advances in research to develop a vaccine against cavities. The research team of Martin Taubman, DDS, PhD and Daniel J. Smith PhD, has discovered key molecules that can stimulate a human immune response and has successfully conducted immunization trials in animal models. The global epidemic of dental caries (cavities) highlights the growing imperative to
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an improved method for measuring basic properties of complex fuel mixtures like gasoline or jet fuel. The new apparatus for measuring distillation properties produces significantly more detailed and accurate data needed to better understand each fuel and its sample-to-sample variation. The data are valuable in tailoring fuels for high-performance and low emissions, and in designing new fuels, engines and emi
Ability to feed on waste DNA can mean difference between life and death
The ubiquitous bacteria E. coli rank among nature’s most successful species for lots of reasons, to which biologists at the University of Southern California have added another: in a pinch, E. coli can feast on the DNA of their dead competitors.
A research team led by Steven Finkel, assistant professor of molecular and computational biology in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, had a
A recent Finnish study identifies a low-penetrance gene defect which predisposes carriers to intracranial tumors called pituitary adenomas. In particular individuals carrying the gene defect are susceptible to such tumors which secrete growth hormone. Excess of growth hormone results in conditions called acromegaly and gigantism.
Identification of this gene defect using DNA-chip technologies is an example how genetic research can tackle more and more demanding tasks, such as identificati
Researchers at the University of Dundee have made a major breakthrough in observing how our genes function, a development which could offer powerful new methods for understanding how genes misbehave in human diseases such as cancer and Alzheimers.
Dr Jonathan Chubb, Principal Investigator in the Division of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, in collaboration with researchers in New York, has made a major advance in our unders
When ancient whales finally parted company with the last remnants of their legs about 35 million years ago, a relatively sudden genetic event may have crowned an eons-long shrinking process.
An international group of scientists led by Hans Thewissen, Ph.D., a professor of anatomy at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, has used developmental data from contemporary spotted dolphins and fossils of ancient whales to try to pinpoint the genetic changes that coul
Research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University suggests that contrary to popular belief, the body has more than one “body clock.” The previously known master body clock resides in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
Researchers at OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have now revealed the existence of a secondary clock-like mechanism associated with the adrenal gland. The research also suggests a high likelihood that additional c
Scientists explore newly discovered reefs for pharmaceutical potential, ecological impacts
Last December, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science researchers using advanced sonar techniques discovered new deepwater reef sites in the Straits of Florida between Miami and Bimini. Today through May 30, the Rosenstiel School scientists will work with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution colleagues to explore these areas for the first time. The expediti
Findings help solve mystery of whales’ missing legs
Researchers from the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine have revealed the genetic basis behind one of the best-documented examples of evolutionary change in the fossil record: how whales lost their hind limbs.
Writing in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Hans Thewissen and his colleagues report that ancient whales–four-footed land animals not unlike large modern
Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center are leading a nationwide clinical trial to determine whether a new genetic test can be used to personalize treatment for early-stage breast cancer.
“By using a molecular diagnostic test to assess whether a breast tumor will respond to chemotherapy, we’re hoping to more precisely identify which patients can be adequately treated with hormonal therapy alone and which patients will truly benefit if chemotherapy is added to the treat
Research could lead to new treatments, diagnostic tests for IPF
Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have identified biochemical signals that attract pathogenic cells to damaged lung tissue – one of the first steps in a chain of events leading to a lethal disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or IPF.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease that kills 40,000 Americans each year. Exposure to toxic environmental agents like ber
A new study reveals how the production of a potent immune regulator called interferon gamma (IFNg) is controlled in natural killer (NK) cells, immune cells that typically defend the body against cancer and infections.
IFNg, produced by NK cells and other cell types, plays a critical role in killing pathogen-infected cells and in defending against tumor cells. However, overproduction of IFNg is also dangerous to the body and can cause autoimmune diseases. But exactly how the bo
In the first clinical study of its kind in North America, women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) were treated using muscle-derived stem cell injections to strengthen deficient sphincter muscles responsible for the condition. Results of the study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, suggest that the approach is safe, improves patients’ quality of life and may be an effective treatment for SUI. The findin
Findings to be published in the journal Nature
Researchers from the University of Colorado-Denver and Health Sciences Center and Stanford University have discovered a molecular mechanism that explains how cells respond to DNA damage and other acute stresses, and if disrupted can cause cancer. Their findings, which could lead to new diagnostic markers and cancer treatments with fewer side effects, will appear in two reports in the May 21 advanced online version of the journal Natu
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