Ebola shares a closer relationship with several bird viruses than was previously thought, bolstering the case for a common ancestor and hinting that birds might carry the deadly virus, a Purdue University research team reports.

David Sanders and his research group have discovered that the outer protein shell of Ebola has a biochemical structure similar to several retroviruses carried by birds. As scientists had known previously of genetic similarity among the viruses, this discovery makes a

Scientists from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern University have found a new target to squeeze off a tumor’s blood supply. Research published in the December 17 issue of Cancer Cell shows how a common cancer-causing gene controls the switch for tumor blood vessel growth known as angiogenesis.

Recent evidence has shown that this gene, called Id1, is important for angiogenesis, a factor in cancer progression because it provides a needed blood source to tumor cel

Study in Transplantation provides strong support for the development of therapeutics utilizing company’s proprietary peptide technology

Zengen, Inc. announced today that its scientists have discovered a novel approach to reduce organ rejection based on the Company’s proprietary research with alpha-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (a-MSH). The research shows that treatment with the a-MSH peptide caused a significant increase in allograft (transplanted tissue) survival and a mar

A major clinical trial of blood pressure medications has concluded that an inexpensive diuretic (water pill) is more effective in treating high blood pressure and preventing cardiovascular disease than newer more expensive medications.

The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), conducted from February 1994 though March 2002, compared the drugs for use in starting treatment for high blood pressure.

“The preferred drug is the diuretic fo

Dr. Mario Capecchi and colleagues at the University of Utah and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Salt Lake City, UT) have discovered that a gene called xanthine oxidoreductase, or XOR for short, is required for lactation in female mice. This previously unidentified role for XOR in lactation reveals a possible genetic basis for the lactation difficulties experienced by nearly 5% of women.

XOR was originally identified as encoding an enzyme involved in purine catabolism (the

A key role in synchronizing daily rhythms to the day/night cycle has been traced to a light-sensitive protein in the eye, by knocking out the gene that codes for it. Mice lacking a gene for the photopigment melanopsin show a dramatic deficiency in their ability to regulate their circadian rhythms by light. The discovery, by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grantees, helps unravel the heretofore elusive mechanisms by which day/night cycles regulate such rhythms in mammals. NIMH grantees Igna

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have found a new wrinkle in the developmental biology dogma that cell differentiation occurs irreversibly as stem cells give rise to increasingly specialized types of offspring cells. The researchers have shown that certain mouse cells retain an ability to oscillate between very distinct blood cell types — B-cells and macrophages — long after what has been commonly regarded as the point of no return.

These latest fi

It is commonplace for patients with Acute Lung Injury (ALI) to be injected with a dye, known as contrast material, before undergoing a CT (computerized tomography) scan of their lungs. Contrast material helps enhance the image so that doctors can evaluate the state of a patient’s lungs. New research published in Critical Care shows that using contrast material could worsen the condition of patients suffering from ALI because it causes the lungs to fill up with fluid, making it more difficult for

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are reporting success with a novel gene therapy approach. Working with cells grown in the laboratory, the group is the first to repair a defective gene and demonstrate that the resulting protein product is functional, said Dr. Alfred L. George Jr., senior author of a study published Dec. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Although use of the approach in patients is still years in the future, the findings are an important step in sh

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a new contributor to atherosclerosis, the most common form of hardening of the arteries. Marked by cholesterol-calcium-lipid deposits, atherosclerosis is the main cause of heart attacks, the number one killer in the U.S. Doctors at U.Va. say research on mice has determined for the first time that activated platelets circulating in the blood, long understood as markers for atherosclerosis, really serve as participants in the p

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute in Los Angeles have combined a special protein that targets cancer cells with neural stem cells (NSC) to track and attack malignant brain tumor cells. Results of their study appear in the Dec. 15 issue of Cancer Research.

Glioblastoma multiforme, or gliomas, are a particularly deadly type of brain tumor. They are highly invasive with poorly defined borders that intermingle with healthy brain tissue, maki

A collaboration of scientists from Harvard Medical School and Dartmouth Medical School has developed a new mouse model of lipoatrophic diabetes, and highlighted leptin therapy as a successful tool to combat this rare form of type II diabetes.

Lipoatrophic diabetes mellitus is characterized by a lack of subcutaneous fat (lipoatrophy), high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), and high blood insulin (hyperinsulinemia). Because patients with lipoatrophic diabetes are insulin-resistant, although high l

In the battle against cancer, Virginia Tech researchers have developed a potential warhead to better kill cancer cells, a new missile to deliver the warhead more efficiently to the diseased areas, and a new detonation device once the warhead is in place.

In a cross-disciplinary effort, the researchers, using photodynamic therapy (PDT), have obtained results in three different areas that, used together, have the possibility of providing more efficient, less invasive, and more specific treatm

’Quantum dots’ may allow researchers to track proteins and cells in their natural environments

Imagine if molecular and cell biologists could watch proteins and cells at work in their natural habitat in the same way that wildlife biologists observe animals in the wild. They’d sit back and witness first hand their microscopic subjects’ daily routines, interactions and movements, and the places they prefer to be.

This fantasy is rapidly becoming a reality t

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have identified a new and surprising mechanism by which a class of enzymes responsible for the breakdown of proteins operates.

The process of degrading proteins no longer needed by cells is essential in the normal growth, development and regulation of cells, and the study’s findings have implications for understanding diseases like Parkinson’s and several forms of cancer.

“Many diseases involve the inappropriate accumu

Researchers have discovered the first genetic component of a biochemical pathway in the brain that governs the indelible imprinting of fear-related experiences in memory.

The gene identified by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Columbia University encodes a protein that inhibits the action of the fear-learning circuitry in the brain. Understanding how this protein quells fear may lead to the design of new drugs to treat depression, panic and generalized anxiety di