Rush is Only Chicago Medical Center Among 20 U.S. Sites in Clinical Study

Individuals with moderate to severe chest pains (angina) who have not found relief from medication may benefit from a new gene therapy approach being used by cardiologists at Rush University Medical Center to grow new blood vessels in the heart.

The phase II clinical research study uses vascular endothelial growth factor-2 (VEGF-2) in the form of a solution containing a DNA plasmid that is delivered

A University of Michigan research team has found that introducing a growth factor protein into a mouth wound using gene therapy helped generate bone around dental implants, according to a new paper in the February issue of the journal Molecular Therapy.

In a patient with a sizeable mouth wound, replacing a tooth takes more than simply implanting a new one—the patient also needs the bone structure to anchor the new tooth in place. Such reconstructive surgery today involves

Researchers have discovered an important chemical in the brain’s neuronal machinery that triggers some of the withdrawal symptoms of opioid drugs like morphine and heroin.

They believe that drugs to inhibit the chemical–called a transporter–could relieve some of the early physical symptoms of withdrawal, such as teeth-chattering, uncontrolled shaking, and jumpiness. Such drugs could become part of the arsenal of medicines and behavioral techniques aimed at helping add

Among the principal obstacles to regenerating spinal cord and brain cells after injury is the “braking” machinery in neurons that prevents regeneration. While peripheral nerves have no such machinery and can readily regenerate, central nervous system (CNS) neurons have their brakes firmly in place and locked.

Now, two groups of scientists have independently found a new component of that braking machinery, adding to understanding of the regulation of neuronal regeneration and of

The star-nosed mole gives a whole new meaning to the term “fast food.”

A study published this week in the journal Nature reveals that this mysterious mole has moves that can put the best magician to shame: The energetic burrower can detect small prey animals and gulp them down with a speed that is literally too fast for the human eye to follow.

It takes a car driver about 650 milliseconds to hit the brake after seeing the traffic light ahead turn red. The star-nosed mol

Errant neuro-developmental gene responsive to a potent vitamin A derivative

A gene that’s normally silenced after contributing to brain development was found to be expressed in cells from medulloblastoma, the most common form of pediatric brain malignancy in children, scientists report in an article published in the February 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

In their study, the scientists discovered that multiple extra copies of the gene, called OTX2, had be

Like the gaudy peacock or majestic buck, the bachelor fruit fly is in a race against time to mate and pass along its genes. And just as flashy plumage or imposing antlers work to an animal’s reproductive advantage, so, too, do the colored spots that decorate the wings of a particular male fruit fly.

To the ladies, the spots – waved frenetically by suitors in the fruit fly courtship ritual – connote sex appeal.

To a team of Wisconsin scientists, however, the origin of

Attracting a mate can be a costly endeavor, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientist, but new experiments he helped lead show that some male animals economize on courting when the chance of success seems low.
Dr. Keith W. Sockman, assistant professor of biology in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, studies mating behavior in songbirds and the songs that play such a central role in their reproduction. “From people to praying mantises, individuals invest ev

A Yale researcher and expert in the practice of acupuncture is conducting a three-year study on the effectiveness of this ancient Chinese practice in reducing low back pain during pregnancy.

The study is funded with a $400,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and will include 150 women who are at least 24 weeks pregnant. The lead researcher, Shu-Ming Wang, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine, was approached by a colleague three years

American Stroke Association meeting report

Stroke survivors who stopped taking their prescribed daily aspirin tripled their risk of having another stroke within the month, according to research presented today at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2005. “This is the first controlled retrospective study to investigate the potential risk of suffering ischemic stroke shortly after discontinuing aspirin,” said Patrik Michel, M.D., co-author of the st

95 percent of patients respond to radioactive antibody treatment

A new form of treatment for lymphoma that takes a fraction of the time of traditional chemotherapy with fewer side effects caused tumors to shrink in 95 percent of patients, a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found.

Patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma – a cancer generally considered incurable – who had not been previously treated with any other

MRI is both safe and accurate for diagnosing pregnant women with acute pain in the abdomen and pelvis, surpassing the limits of both CT and ultrasound for this purpose, according to a new study by researchers from University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the MR images of 29 pregnant patients who had been experiencing acute abdominal pain. In 28 of those cases, the correct diagnosis was made, the one exception being a case

A team of chemists at the University of Reading, led by Professor Howard Colquhoun, have designed a system in which a tweezer-like molecule is able to recognise specific monomer sequences in a linear copolymer. As a result, and for the first time ever, sequence-information in a synthetic polymer has been ‘read’ by a mechanism which mirrors one of the processes on which life itself is based.

The discovery is described in two papers: Recognition of polyimide sequence information by

The proteins actin and myosin have a firm place in the muscles where they are responsible for contraction. While recent investigations have shown that they are also found in the nucleus, it has been unclear to date just what they are doing there. Now an international team of investigators headed by Professor Dr. Ingrid Grummt, head of the Division of Molecular Biology of the Cell II of the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ), has shown that the muscle proteins

May offer new approach to smallpox treatment

In a finding that represents an entirely new approach to treating viral diseases such as smallpox, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborating institutions have shown that infections can be stymied by interfering with signals used by viruses to reproduce in human cells.

The results, reported in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, point to a possible strategy for broadly treating acut

They started with a bare room and an idea. Now, after five years of painstaking, sophisticated tests, scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered that a compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells in laboratory cultures.

U. Va. Health System scientists Deborah Lannigan and Jeffrey Smith hope that, after further testing, their discovery could translate into a successful drug for the treatment of breast