Transplantation of insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells shows great promise as a treatment for type 1 diabetes, but development of this therapy has been hampered by a severe shortage of donor beta-cells, which are obtained from decreased human donors. In research published in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology, Ji-Won Yoon, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Director of the Rosalind Franklin Comprehensive Diabetes Center at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Naoya Koba

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a drug currently being tested against cancers might help children with a rare, fatal condition called Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, which causes rapid, premature aging.

Children with progeria appear normal until they’re 6 months to a year old, but then begin developing symptoms normally associated with old age — wrinkled skin, hair loss, brittle bones and atherosclerosis, which usually causes their deaths by about age 1

The biological clock controls the circadian rhythms of a wide range of physiological and behavioral processes, from fluctuating hormone levels to sleep–wake cycles and feeding patterns. While it’s well known that circadian clock elements sense and respond to light cycles, much less is known about how daily temperature cycles affect the clock’s timing mechanism in vertebrates. In the open-access journal PLoS Biology, Kajori Lahiri, Nicholas Foulkes, and their colleagues study temperatur

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified three new genetic mutations in brain tumors, a discovery that could pave the way for more effective cancer treatments.

The Hopkins team, in conjunction with researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., discovered DNA abnormalities in two tyrosine kinase proteins already known to disrupt normal cell activity and contribute to tumor formation.

The discovery of these mutations is especially significant, t

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers report that a protein that regulates key signaling pathways in cells also plays a role in controlling the active movement or migration of cells. The finding may suggest new pharmaceutical therapies for treating a variety of diseases, including cancer.

The protein, known as Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein, or RKIP, controls activity of kinases, a type of enzyme that acts as a key component in the biochemical signaling pathways responsible f

American Heart Association rapid access journal report

A simple blood test may identify people who have an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The test measures gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) – an enzyme produced primarily by the liver and catalyzes glutathione, the main antioxidant in the body. The enzyme is elevated in some forms of liver disease, so physicians use GGT level

Studies of mutation may lead to better understanding of septin proteins, fillaments that play a role in cell structure and division

In a significant advance toward understanding a perplexing and painful neurological disorder, an international team of researchers has discovered gene mutations associated with an inherited chronic pain and weakness syndrome known as hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (also called HNA). No treatment is known for this disabling condition, which short-cir

DNA from museum samples of extinct animals is providing unexpected information on the extent and effect of the Ice Age as well as the path of species evolution, according to a report by scientists from Yale University, the Smithsonian Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

The quagga, Equus quagga, a South African relative of horses and zebras, having a front half with zebra-like stripes and a back section like a horse with no marking, became extin

Veterinary scientists at the University of Liverpool want to recruit 20 Labrador dogs to a new study into osteoarthritis of the elbow.

The study will help vets understand how osteoarthritis progresses in dogs and how treatment may slow the disease down. To take part in the study Labradors must be less than two years old and show early signs of elbow osteoarthritis.

A mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner will make regular visits to the University’s Small Anim

Junk food could be made healthier by adding an extract of an exotic type of seaweed, say British scientists.

The highly-fibrous seaweed extract, alginate, could be used to increase the fibre content of cakes, burgers and other types of food which usually contain large amounts of fat and a low degree of healthy nutrients, say the team.

Scientists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne publish their findings in the academic journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and N

French explorers Olivier Pezeron and Arnaud Fauvet enjoyed gourmet space food on their 20-day Greenland expedition this summer. The menu, prepared by a French chef for ESA astronauts, included delicacies such as sword fish, duck with capers and Thai chicken.

When they set out on their 600 km skiing expedition on 2 June from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, space food was among the 100 kg of luggage stacked on the sledges they pulled behind them. The meals were prepared by the French go

Neuralgic Amyotrophy is a painful disorder of the peripheral nervous system. This heritable disease causes prolonged acute attacks of pain in the shoulder or arm, followed by temporary paralysis. Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to the University of Antwerp, have uncovered a small piece of the molecular puzzle of this disease by identifying the defects in the gene responsible for this disorder.

Neuralgic Amyotrophy, a painful

Infections associated with inserting a medical device can be devastating, painful, and cause prolonged disability, costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Now, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have found a way to create a permanent chemical bond between antibiotics and titanium, a material used in orthopedic implants. The proof-of-principle study showed that an antibiotic can be connected to the titanium surface in an active form, and can kill bacteria and prevent infection

Hughes investigator John Scott long studied signal transduction system

A pulsing heart cell is giving Oregon Health & Science University researchers insight into how it sends and receives signals, and that’s providing clues into how heart disease and other disorders develop.

In a study appearing in today’s edition of Nature, John Scott, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and senior scientist at OHSU’s Vollum Institute, found that heart muscle cells

Hopkins researchers have discovered a single molecule that is a cause of an autoimmune disease in the central nervous system, called transverse myelitis (TM), that is related to multiple sclerosis.

In a study published in the October issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, psychiatrist Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and neurologist Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., also an assistant professor at Hopkins, sh

Use of minuscule devices to spot cancer markers could lead to ultra-powerful new diagnostics

Harvard University researchers have found that molecular markers indicating the presence of cancer in the body are readily detected in blood scanned by special arrays of silicon nanowires — even when these cancer markers constitute only one hundred-billionth of the protein present in a drop of blood. In addition to this exceptional accuracy and sensitivity, the minuscule devices also prom