Star-shaped brain cells that are often overlooked by doctors and scientists as mere support cells appear to play a key role in the development of epilepsy, researchers say in a study published on-line August 14 in Nature Medicine. It’s one of the first times scientists have produced firm evidence implicating the cells, known as astrocytes, in a common human disease.
Scientists found that astrocytes can serve as ground zero in the brain, setting off a harmful cascade of ele
Georgetown University research may help target treatment
Researchers from Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University found that testing for an activated Stat5 protein in prostate tumor tissue effectively predicts which men have a form of prostate cancer that may become more aggressive and life threatening.
In the August 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers report that “Stat5” protein in the nucleus of prostate cancer cells was a signifi
Despite aggressive treatment, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) – the most common and deadly of brain cancers – usually claims the lives of its victims within six to 12 months of diagnosis. Because GBM is so aggressive, the disease has been the target of a number of laboratory and clinical studies investigating the effectiveness of gene therapy to deliver novel therapies to the brain. In laboratory studies, this type of gene therapy has proved almost completely effective. But in clinical trials, it ha
Scientists mining vast, largely unexplored regions of the human genome have identified a small handful of mini-molecules that play a major role in the development of cancer and perhaps many other diseases.
This newly identified set of molecules is called microRNA (miRNA), a collection of hundreds of snippets of non-coding RNA – typically no more than 22 nucleotides in length – that may comprise a master network controlling genes and protein production throughout the body, accord
Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a protein in fruit flies whose counterpart product in humans may help cause cancer.
The researchers report in the Aug. 12 issue of Cell that a protein dubbed Yorkie directly controls the fruit fly’s organ size and, when overabundant, causes increased cell growth and decreased cell death, hallmarks of cancer. Yorkie’s relative in mammals, called YAP, appears to do the same thing, the researchers report, which suggests that in human
Findings may provide new target for treating the disease
Using the newest DNA chip technology, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered a new gene implicated in the cause of type 2 diabetes. In a new study appearing in the August 12 issue of the journal Cell, the investigators first identified genes that were altered in their level of expression in islets isolated from people with type 2 diabetes. The researchers then went on to show that when they created a defect in o
Findings could lead to gene therapy cure
In findings that could lead to curing some forms of congenital blindness through gene therapy, researchers at UCLA have discovered that RPE65, a gene missing in infants born with the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis, is also a key enzyme in the visual cycle. The identity of this enzyme has long been a mystery to scientists.
The study, “Rpe65 is the Retinoid Isomerase in Bovine Retinal Pigment Epithelium,” is published in th
Researchers have uncovered how members of one family of antibiotics kill bacteria that make people sick.
This new knowledge may help drug developers make slight changes to these antibiotics to make them more effective against drug-resistant strains of bacteria, said Irina Artsimovitch, a study co-author and an assistant professor of microbiology at Ohio State University.
The antibiotics studied belong to the rifamycin family. Until now, researchers believed that these antibi
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have harnessed a mobile gene from the cabbage looper moth and modified it for routine use to determine the function of genes in mice and other vertebrates. If the new tool works as they expect, it will speed understanding of genes involved in human biology and disease and accelerate the search for effective new therapies.
The researchers report their study in the August 12, 2005, issue of the journal Cell.
Certain genes or
RIT showcases landmark medical imaging project
Using revolutionary medical imaging technology, researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are providing a better understanding of the human body and its many secrets.
Led by Richard Doolittle, RIT’s director of the department of medical sciences, and Paul Craig, professor of chemistry, a team of students has created never-before-seen virtual images of the pancreas, detailed pictures of the human skull and DNA-level image
This is all underground, and naked mole-rats prefer it that way: Momma naked mole-rat is the only one having babies, and she’s got several naked mole-rat boyfriends.
Were it human, the family would argue it out on a national talk show. As it is, the social behavior of these tiny rodents has scientists intrigued, right down to their naked mole-rat molecules.
“African mole-rats are very good models for studying social structure. I’m interested in the genetic markers as
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have defined a key step in the production of beta-amyloid, a short protein that is thought to be responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding this step may aid in the discovery of drugs that could help block the disease from developing.
In Alzheimer’s disease, too much beta-amyloid is produced by an enzyme that has many other essential roles. As a result, simply blocking the whole enzyme knocks out many
Because atherosclerotic plaque typically builds up without symptoms and leads to more than 1 million deaths in America each year, the search is on to develop early detection devices that will enable physicians to offer treatment before the disease progresses to advanced stages.
Now, in a study involving laboratory rabbits, a device that stimulates, collects and measures light emissions from body tissues has been able to detect the presence of inflammatory cells that are associa
A collaborative project between American and Chinese researchers developed a way to study the function of genes in mice and man by using a moveable genetic element from moths, according to a report in the journal Cell.
“We know how many genes are in the mammalian genome, but that does not tell us how they carry out their jobs,” said senior author Tian Xu, Professor and Vice Chair of Genetics at Yale University School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Invest
The figure is famous: a deceptively simple line drawing that at first glance resembles a vase and, at the next, a pair of human faces in profile. When you look at this figure, your brain must rapidly decide what the various lines denote. Are they the outlines of the vase or the borders of two faces? How does your brain decide?
It does so in a fraction of a second via special nerve circuits in the brain’s visual center that automatically organize information into a “whole” even
Seven member countries of the OECD’s Global Science Forum have launched a project to promote international collaboration among scientists and create new ways of sharing and analysing data to improve our understanding of how the human brain works.
Advances in information technology are enabling scientists to develop increasingly sophisticated methods of measuring a brain’s functions. To spur developments in this new research field, called neuroinformatics, the seven founding countries (th
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