Therapeutic use for umbilical cord blood may broaden
A team of bioengineers led by the University of Toronto has discovered a way to increase the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, to an extent which could broaden therapeutic use of these cells.
In a paper published in the October issue of Experimental Hematology, researchers working in the University of Toronto’s Stem Cell Bioengineering Laboratory have identified an important component blocking the growth
Huda Zoghbi, of Baylor College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Juan Young, also of Baylor and colleagues report in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, posted the week of October 17, 2005, that the Rett Syndrome gene, MECP2, regulates RNA splicing. This work was funded in part by the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF).
Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in girls.
Research from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute
The humble yeast has revealed the molecular workings of an anti-cancer drug that stops the growth and spread of tumours in humans by starving their blood supply.
Until now, University of New South Wales scientists who developed the drug (GSAO) knew that it was lethal against endothelial cells but not why it had no direct impact on tumours themselves.
The new study reveals that endothelial cells lack th
One of the isomers of conjugated linoleic acid, a group of fatty acids found in milk, is a natural regulator of the COX-2 protein, which plays a significant role in inflammatory disease such as arthritis and cancer, according to a study published by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
“It’s clear from previous research that conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, prevents inflammatory damage resulting from immune response,” says Mark Cook, a professor of animal science in U
An international team of researchers has partially untangled the genetic details of a mysterious disorder that formerly caused seizures and death in infant boys within a month of birth.
The researchers discovered a rare change in the DNA of two eastern Missouri families with a history of a condition called X-linked recessive idiopathic hypoparathyroidism (XLHPT): a portion of the X chromosome, a human sex chromosome, has been removed and replaced by a copy of a much larger sectio
Researchers scrambling to combat a virulent form of bird flu that could mutate into a form easily spread among humans should consider developing vaccines based on DNA, according to British biochemical engineers. DNA vaccines, they say, can be produced more rapidly than conventional vaccines and could possibly save thousands of lives if a global influenza outbreak occurs.
A DNA-based vaccine could be a potent weapon against this emerging threat, particularly if enough conventio
Researchers at the MUHC have discovered a new gene for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) – a group of inherited diseases that result in degeneration of the eye’s retina. Patients suffer gradual vision loss – often described as like seeing the world through a rolled up newspaper – which results in complete blindness in as little as 6 months. The new discovery published in the journal Human Genetics this month was achieved thanks to the involvement of a family in Quebec, where genetic diseases are often
A sensitive new genetic test can now detect a crippling disease called QPX occurring in clam beds from Cape Cod south to Virginia and north to Canada. Although it does not affect humans and it is not as well known as red tide, the disease can have a significant impact on a local economy by killing clams and devastating shellfish harvests and commercial aquaculture operations.
QPX – for quahog parasite unknown – is a single-celled organism related to slime mold. It was first de
If the cancer-inhibiting properties of red wine don’t tempt you, why not try a cosmopolitan, the cranberry-based cocktail made famous by the Sex and the City girls.
Scientists have discovered a new compound in cranberries that works in a completely new way to prevent metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.
Catherine Neto from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth discovered the compound, which prevents cancer cells from breaking away fro
E-cadherin is a molecule involved in adhesion between epithelial cells that also seems to have a protective role in cancer, since its loss is associated with tumour progression and metastases formation in a series of different cancers. How this happens, however, is not clear but new research, about to be published on the “Journal of Experimental Cell Research”, shows that cells that lose E-cadherin are more resistant to programmed cell death. Programmed cell death, also called apoptosis, is the
A gel made from a patient’s own blood reduces pain and may improve wound healing following endoscopic sinus surgery according to researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study, published in the September issue of the Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, found that patients who received platelet gel reported an easier recovery than patients who received traditional packing to stop bleeding.
The platelet gel is derived from the patient’s own plasma and is m
Chemists at UC Davis have made the first stable compound with a five-fold bond between two metal atoms. The work with chromium could give researchers new insights into the nature of chemical bonding.
Much of chemistry is about understanding how bonds are made and broken. For most of the history of chemistry, only single, double or triple bonds were known. Multiple bonds are particularly important in carbon chemistry, but only certain metals are theoretically capable of more than t
University of Delaware researchers are opening a new front in the war on cancer, bringing to bear new nanotechnologies for cancer detection and treatment and introducing a unique nanobomb that can literally blow up breast cancer tumors.
Balaji Panchapakesan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UD, has recently reported on the discoveries in the journals NanoBiotechnology and Oncology Issues.
He is the lead investigator for a team that includes Eri
Study appears in Science
Just as hurricanes in the Gulf states and Guatemala have raised the risks of cholera outbreaks, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a new type of antibiotic against the cholera bacteria. While traditional antibiotics kill bacteria outright by interfering with processes essential for their survival, the new agent blocks production of bacterial proteins that cause the severe diarrhea associated with Vibrio cholerae infection.
“Wh
An avian influenza virus isolated from an infected Vietnamese girl has been determined to be resistant to the drug oseltamivir, the compound better known by its trade name Tamiflu, and the drug officials hope will serve as the front line of defense for a feared influenza pandemic.
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with colleagues in Vietnam and Japan, report in a brief communication in next week’s edition (Oct. 20, 2005) of the journal Nature that a young
Early study shows spice stunts deadly spread to lungs
Curcumin, the main ingredient of turmeric and the compound that gives curry its mustard-yellow color, inhibits metastasis to the lungs of mice with breast cancer, report researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The study, to be published in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research, reports that the spice appears to shut down a protein active in the spread of breast cancer
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