Results of maple syrup urine disease study published in American Journal of Transplantation

Liver transplants cured the metabolic symptoms of 11 patients with a rare but devastating genetic condition known as Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), according to a study by researchers from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Clinic for Special Children.
All patients from the study (ranging in age from 1-20) are alive and well with normal liver function, according to

A University of Central Florida researcher has demonstrated that altering AMPA receptors in animals improved their chances of surviving strokes and remaining healthier afterwards.

A University of Central Florida researcher has discovered that altering a receptor that mediates communication between nerve cells in the brain significantly improves animals’ chances of surviving strokes and allows them to remain healthier afterwards.

YouMing Lu, a professor at the UCF Burnett C

Obesity, body fat distribution more in your genes than previously known, Joslin Diabetes Center-led study shows

Do you have big hips or a “beer” belly? Are you “apple-shaped” or “pear-shaped”? It makes a difference, since we know that abdominal obesity is linked to diabetes and many other metabolic conditions, i.e., the metabolic syndrome. What’s new is that, according to a new study led by researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, both obesity and body shape seem t

Plasmodium, the parasite responsible for malaria, impairs the ability of key cells of the immune system to trigger an efficient immune response. This might explain why patients with malaria are susceptible to a wide range of other infections and fail to respond to several vaccines. In a study published today in the open access journal Journal of Biology, researchers show that if dendritic cells, the key cells involved in initiating immunity, are exposed to red blood cells infected with Plasmodium

Genetically engineered mice convinced scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that it was time to overhaul widely held beliefs about how a powerful tumor suppressor called p53 is controlled in cells. Their new model of p53 regulation has important implications for the development of anticancer drugs.

This new model, published in the April issue of the journal Cancer Cell, emphasizes the independent role of two proteins, called Mdm2 and Mdm4. Both proteins are part of t

Findings may point researchers to future targets for treatment of genetic blood disorders

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing that may one day be a potential target for the treatment of genetic blood disorders like sickle-cell anemia and beta-thalassemia on the molecular level.

In the April issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researcher

In a former cowshed on the edge of the University of New Hampshire campus, David Berlinsky, assistant professor of zoology, peers into a big blue plastic tub. Inside, black sea bass circle slowly in the dim light. The converted barn is now an aquaculture research facility for the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, and home to Berlinsky’s latest research.

Black sea bass feature prominently on many menus, but wild populations of the fish are in decline and their availability

Young adults with high levels of antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that most often causes mononucleosis, may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis 15 to 20 years later, according to a study posted online today that will appear in the June 2006 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Researchers have long suspected that external factors may influence the risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease that aff

When it comes to chemotherapy treatment for women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, the estrogen status of their tumors matters, says a team of researchers in the April 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Analyzing data from three clinical trials with a total of 6,644 patients, they determined that chemotherapy works much better in breast cancer that is estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) than many people think, and conversely, doesn&#146

There’s a tangle of information about the pros and cons of using hormones to relieve the symptoms of menopause, but a new analysis of data generated by the Women’s Health Initiative confirms that one cause of concern can be laid to rest: There is no evidence that taking estrogen alone increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

The findings come three years after a related WHI study found that a different type of hormone therapy – which combined estrogen and

It happens to all of us, no matter how hard we try. Whether it’s deleting a computer file and realizing a split-second later that we can’t get it back, or dropping a bag of groceries, or realizing that our gas tank is nearly empty on a lonely stretch of highway, we all make mistakes that aren’t just annoying, but potentially costly.

Now, a team of University of Michigan researchers has looked inside the human brain and captured the instant when someone makes a cost

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is the Clinical Coordinating Center for the first study to assess the effectiveness of combining two FDA approved medications as initial treatment for people with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH-NINDS), the study, known as CombiRx, will determine if the combined use of each treatment reduces relapse rate when compared to either agent alone. Enrollm

Numerical processing similar in children and adults, brain scans reveal

Four-year-olds who are still developing numerical abilities show activity in the same brain region during numerical tasks as do math-adept adults, Duke University researchers Jessica Cantlon, Kevin Pelphrey and colleagues report in the open access journal PLoS Biology. Their comparative brain scan studies explore the earliest glimmerings of numerical processing in pre-school children.

The research

Stem cell scientists at the University of Edinburgh have discovered that Notch, a protein first discovered more than 80 years ago in the fruit fly, directs unspecialized embryonic stem cells to become cells of the nervous system. These unexpected findings pave the way for using lab-grown cells to model disease and test the effects of new drugs, and are published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to make all 200 cell types

Scientists have discovered that a stem cell factor overexpressed both in brain tumor cells and in neurons following brain injury promotes tumor survival by inducing angiogenesis. The research study, published in the April issue of Cancer Cell, examines the interaction between tumor cells and surrounding tissues and may have substantial significance for design of more effective therapeutics for one of the most lethal types of tumor, malignant gliomas.

Stem cell factor (SCF) is an impo

Ultra-small particles loaded with medicine

Ultra-small particles loaded with medicine – and aimed with the precision of a rifle – are offering a promising new way to strike at cancer, according to researchers working at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

In a paper to appear the week of April 10 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team reports a way to custom design nanoparticles so they home in on dangerous cancer ce