UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have found a way of stimulating the immune systems of mice to fight against amyloid proteins that cause the devastating plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
For years scientists have examined the possibility of using a protein-based vaccine to slow the progression of the disease in its early stages. UT Southwestern researchers have created a gene-based vaccine aimed at stimulating the immune systems o
An improved stem cell transplant regimen that is well-tolerated and has a high success rate has been developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The procedure holds promise for treatment of blood and bone marrow disorders, immune dysfunction and certain metabolic disorders.
Designed for transplants that replace a patient’s bone marrow with stem cells from donor marrow, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood, the procedure allows early reco
UCR researchers’ findings advance techniques toward development of nanoscale electronics
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside showed that L. P. Hammett’s 1937 prediction of the strength of different acids is directly transferable to the activation of individual molecules on metal surfaces using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) as a nanoscale actuator.
Hammett’s original prediction is a cornerstone of physical organic che
One of the Institut Curie’s great originalities, the interface between physics and cell biology, is a fertile terrain for discoveries. Dialogue between researchers of different backgrounds drives creativity, as witnessed by the rise in the number of Institut Curie publications on research work that melds physics and biology.
In collaboration with Canadian physicists, biologists of the (CNRS) group headed by Hélène Feracci have developed a model that cast light on intercellular adhe
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have successfully tested the first gene therapy for skin cancer, using a mouse model for the disease xeroderma pigmentosum, or XP.
Their results, available online and to be published in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show promise for similar gene therapy to be pursued in children suffering from this rare disorder.
XP is a debilitating disease in which patients must avoi
Cell replacement therapy offers a novel and powerful medical technology. A type of embryonic stem cell, called a neural crest stem cell, that persists into adulthood in hair follicles was recently discovered by Maya Sieber-Blum, Ph.D., of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milos Grim, MD Ph.D., of Charles University Prague, and their collaborators.
The discovery – reported recently in Developmental Dynamics, a journal of the American Association of Anatomists published by John W
A new drug candidate previously shown to reduce harmful side effects of the autoimmune disease lupus also may be useful in treating psoriasis.
In a study published online Dec. 3 in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, scientists from the University of Michigan report that a compound called benzodiazepine-423 (Bz-423)—a chemical cousin of the anti-anxiety drugs Valiumâ and Xanaxâ—suppresses cell growth in a model of psoriasis. In psoriasis, cells multiply
Scientists use fluorescence to track ultrafine particles taken up by white blood cells
In some of the first work documenting the uptake of carbon nanotubes by living cells, a team of chemists and life scientists from Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Texas Heart Institute have selectively detected low concentrations of nanotubes in laboratory cell cultures.
The research appears in the Dec. 8 issue of the Journal of the Ame
Some researchers have doubts that mammoths lived in the cold climate zones. Recently, Russian scientists have received strong evidence of woolly mammoths’ frost-resistance – they possessed sebaceous glands. The trip to visit mammoths was paid by the International Scientific and Technical Center, and the researchers’ search for sebaceous glands was supported by the Federal Target Scientific and Technical Program entitled “Investigations and Developments for Science and Engineering Priority Guid
In a project that will likely be watched by football players, runners and other athletes, researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School say they are developing an injectable gel that could speed repair of torn cartilage, a common sports injury, and may help injured athletes return to competition sooner. The technique uses the patient’s own cartilage-producing cells and has the potential to be more effective and less invasive than conventional cartilage repair techniques, which may include extens
Despite the common belief in the oncology community that cancer research and treatment have focused on breast tumors that are estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center maintains that clinicians have made “enormous strides” in treating patients with tumors that are ER-negative.
In a presentation at the annual meeting of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Donald Berry, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the Depart
Because up to 75 percent of breast cancer patients have an abnormality in a specific cell signaling pathway, drugs that target different molecules along that pathway may be especially effective for treating the disease, says a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
A clearer picture is now emerging about the importance of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway to breast cancer development, says Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., a professor and c
New find may be future target for medications to relieve common skin condition
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center simultaneously have resolved a controversy over the cause of psoriasis and developed the first mouse model that fully mimics the human disorder. What’s more, the scientists have demonstrated they can block the signals that lead to psoriasis in their mouse model with a topical skin treatment that can prevent new outbreaks as well as tr
Every year, millions of people try to look younger by taking injections of Botox, a prescription drug that gets rid of facial wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing muscles in the forehead. Although best known as a cosmetic procedure, Botox injections also have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat uncontrolled blinking (blepharospasm), lazy eye (strabismus), involuntary muscle contractions in the neck (cervical dystonia) and acute underarm sweating (severe primary axillar
Persistence pays off – for bacteria as well as people. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Rockefeller University in New York have demonstrated the constant presence of antibiotic-tolerant “persistent cells” within bacteria colonies and have shown, through mathematical modeling, how these cells develop into “normal” cells following their survival of even heavy dosages of antibiotics.
The findings have consequences for development of new tactics for overcoming t
Aircraft the size of bees that get the energy they need by feeding themselves a diet of dead flies could be buzzing around the battlefields and motorways of the future, thanks to research in southwest England.
The aircraft, up to 15cm long and equipped with sensors and cameras, could have a number of uses in civilian life and modern warfare, including reconnaissance missions, traffic monitoring or fire and rescue operations. By “digesting” its own fuel, the aircraft could become au
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