Scientists have discovered that chemical signals thought to function primarily as cellular traffic directors play a much more complex role in the activation of the adaptive immune response than was previously expected. The research, published in the April issue of Immunity, demonstrates that the molecules belonging to a class of proteins called chemokines do more than simply guide migration of the immune cells that are activated in the very early stages of infection.

Dendritic

For the first time, researchers appear to be able to use a comprehensive panel of genetic variants to predict how a patient with esophageal cancer will respond to a spectrum of cancer treatments.

At the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report that six different gene variants can predict an improved outcome in patients treated with two different chemotherapy drugs and/or

More than 20 million men in the United States with a particular signature set of inherited characteristics and mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are at significantly increased risk for developing renal and prostate cancers, according to research at Emory University. The findings will be presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research by John A. Petros, MD, associate professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine, its Winship Cancer Instit

A full-term pregnancy at an early age is one of the most effective ways to reduce the lifetime risk of breast cancer, according to research pathologist Irma H. Russo, M.D., of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. A number of studies around the world have established that a full-term pregnancy by age 20 reduces breast cancer risk by half.

Previous studies by Russo and colleagues suggest that breast cells reach full maturity–a process called differentiation–only after a full-

Patients with advanced stomach cancer have the best chance of prolonging their survival with a combination of chemotherapies instead of just one, according to a new review of previous studies.

The review also concludes that the best combination is 5-FU, one of the oldest and most commonly used chemotherapy drugs, along with powerful antibiotics called anthracyclines and a platinum-based drug called cisplatin. The benefit, however, is small and may cause a patient to experienc

Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.

Reporting their work today (April 19) in the journal Human Gene Therapy, the scientists directed certain types of neural stem cells to secrete a neuron-protecting protein before injecting them into the r

Genetic information that determines hair color or whether an individual might develop a particular cancer is passed from one generation to the next through DNA. Genes encoded in the DNA contain information, but a process called methylation is one factor that often controls how that information is expressed.

A group of University of Washington researchers has devised a method that combines DNA sampling and mathematical modeling to find out how accurately methylation patterns are

A University of Central Florida researcher has uncovered an ancient protein that could be critical to stopping the uncontrolled division of tumor cells that cause cancer.

A University of Central Florida researcher has uncovered an ancient protein that could be critical to stopping the uncontrolled division of tumor cells that cause cancer. Molecular Biology and Microbiology professor Mark Muller has found that the protein, called MKRN1, promotes the destruction of an enzyme calle

Novel anti-cancer compounds called Enigmols suppress the growth of human cell lines representing cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, ovary, pancreas, brain and blood, and reduce tumors in three animal studies, new research shows.

In addition, Enigmols did not show side effects at effective doses, according to the research conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University and Wayne State University. The studies were funded by the National Cancer Institute.

A study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, published by IOS Press, entitled “Quantitative proteomics of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with Alzheimer disease,” may lead to a new test for diagnosing the devastating illness. About 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, characterized by memory loss and an inability to use language.

“The study identified 40 times more proteins in human spinal fluid

U of T researchers develop new chemical reaction

University of Toronto researchers have a developed a new chemical reaction that could greatly accelerate pharmaceutical production, while also cutting costs and toxic by-products.

The reaction, designed by chemistry Professor Mark Lautens and graduate student Eric Fang, simplifies the creation of the basic molecular framework found in many natural products and popular pharmaceuticals like some cholesterol-lowering drugs. U

Some low birth weight infants have large particles rich in apolipoprotein C-1, a blood protein that could put them at risk for heart disease later in life, according to a national study led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers.

For the study, Peter O. Kwiterovich, Jr., M.D., professor of pediatrics and director of the Lipid Clinic at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 163 infants born at 28 or more weeks of gestational age at Johns Ho

One of the world’s leading scientists, Nobel Prize winner, Dr Sydney Brenner, has devised a new method for obtaining sequence information from thousands of genomes simultaneously. Current technologies can only analyse one genome at a time.

This method, to be developed by a new company called Population Genetics Technologies, is expected to significantly reduce the cost of studying large populations of genomes. Such studies are important to the discovery of genetic variations that

Although dentists in many developed countries recommend check-ups at six-month intervals, there are no high quality data to support this recommendation.

Dental health is an important part of a person’s overall health, and catching problems early can make treatment much easier to perform. The oral health of the population in many countries has improved dramatically over the last three decades. This fact, coupled with the cost of check-ups and the scarcity of dentists, means that i

Heparansulfate, which is needed for normal fetal development among other things, is also important for the build-up of amyloid, morbid protein deposits that appear in several serious diseases. This is shown by Uppsala scientists in an article published in today’s Net edition of the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Heparansulfate, long chains of sugar molecules, is produced by most cells in the body. It was not previously known that heparansulfate is ne

An investigational drug is producing powerful responses in patients resistant to Gleevec, the targeted therapy that helps most people diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), an international research team headed by investigators at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is reporting.

The drug, AMN107, is showing an increasingly strong benefit as doses are being steadily raised, say the researchers, who presented their latest analysis at the annual meeting