Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine scientists demonstrate in lab animals the regenerative dynamics of a specific signaling protein, C-C class chemokine 2 (CCL2). CCL2 sends inflammatory immune cells (macrophages) to peripheral nerve cell clusters to promote repair and to trigger gene expression that leads to new growth in nerve cells.
Year-old changes to the system that distributes deceased donor kidneys nationwide have significantly boosted transplantation rates for black and Hispanic patients on waiting lists, reducing racial disparities inherent in the previous allocation formula used for decades, according to results of research led by a Johns Hopkins transplant surgeon.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have produced self-consistent computer simulations that capture the evolution of an electric current inside fusion plasma without using a central electromagnet, or solenoid.
Accelerator physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have successfully implemented an innovative scheme for increasing proton collision rates at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). More proton collisions at this DOE Office of Science User Facility produce more data for scientists to sift through to answer important nuclear physics questions, including the search for the source of proton spin.
A gene that is known to suppress the growth and spread of many types of cancer has the opposite effect in some forms of colorectal cancer, University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers have found. It is a finding that may lay the foundation for new colorectal cancer treatments.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, passed under the Affordable Care Act, requires all pharmaceutical and medical device companies to report payments to physicians, including consulting fees, gifts, speaking fees, meals, travel and research grants. A recent study by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed this database and compared payments among different specialties and identified which ones topped the list.
A Penn-led team found that ant caste behavior can be reprogrammed, indicating that an individual’s epigenetic, not genetic, makeup determines roles in ant colonies.
An NSAID changed the composition and diversity of gut microbes, which in turn shaped how the drug is broken down and ultimately, cut its effectiveness, according to animal study
A device developed by University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers to automatically monitor and regulate blood-sugar levels in people with type 1 diabetes will undergo final testing in two clinical trials beginning in early 2016.
Palbociclib, a new oral drug whose efficacy in combating breast cancer has been demonstrated alone and in combination with endocrine therapy, also has potential to combat other types of cancer, according to a literature review and additional original research conducted by experts at the Abramson Cancer Center in the University of Pennsylvania published this month in JAMA Oncology.
The University of Washington-led Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering has won a $16M NSF grant to develop the first implantable device to reanimate paralyzed limbs and restore motor function in stroke or spinal cord injury patients.
The specialized human ability to perceive the sound quality known as “pitch” can no longer be listed as unique to humans.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a new nondestructive technique for investigating phase transitions in materials by examining the acoustic response at the nanoscale.
The large, fast-moving mudslide that buried much of Oso, Washington in March 2014 was the deadliest landslide in U.S. history. University of Washington geologists analyzed woody debris buried in earlier slides and used radiocarbon dating to map the history of activity at the site.
Two genetic variants previously linked to Alzheimer's disease have been more specifically tied to brain atrophy that is characteristic of the disease, and could be the basis for future blood biomarker tests.
Johns Hopkins has demonstrated in animals that applying a pacemaker’s mild electrical shocks to push the heart in and out of normal synchronized contraction for part of each day may be an effective way to slow down the progression of heart failure, a disorder that afflicts millions of Americans.
A five-center national study led by Neal Meropol, MD, and a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center demonstrated that a little information goes a long way in encouraging cancer patients to enroll in clinical trials, a decision that could be potentially lifesaving.
Ebola virus and bats have been waging a molecular battle for survival that may have started at least 25 million years ago, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder) and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) that published online today in the journal eLife. The findings shed light on the biological factors that determine which bat species may harbor the virus between outbreaks in humans and how bats may transmit the virus to people.
A new study at Massachusetts Eye and Ear showed that in some cases of vestibular schwannoma, a sometimes-lethal tumor often associated with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2), secretions from the tumor contain toxic molecules that damage the inner ear. The findings, published online in Scientific Reports, explain why some vestibular schwannomas cause hearing loss even though they are not large enough to compress nearby structures that control hearing.
After observing that some gastrointestinal disease in premature human and mouse infants progresses only when certain immune system white blood cells go into inflammatory overdrive, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that giving large doses of vitamin A to mice converts those blood cells into inflammation suppressors and reduces the severity of the disease, compared to untreated mice.
Building upon previous research, scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer report that a protein called Wnt5a acts on a pair of tumor-surface proteins, called ROR1 and ROR2, to accelerate the proliferation and spread of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells, the most common form of blood cancer in adults.
A brain region controlling whether we feel happy or sad, as well as addiction, is remodeled by chronic pain, reports a new study. And in a significant breakthrough, scientists have developed a new treatment that restores this region and dramatically lessens pain symptoms in an animal model. The new treatment combines two FDA-approved drugs: a Parkinson’s drug, L-dopa, and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. These drugs target affected brain circuits and completely eliminate chronic pain behavior.
A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital shows how a protein involved in cancer twists and morphs into different structures.
Immune suppressor cells called MDSCs (myeloid-derived suppressor cells) may be important in developing treatments for advanced prostate cancer, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
An international study of about 43,000 people has significantly expanded the number of genetic factors known to play a role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older. Supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, the findings may help improve our understanding of the biological processes that lead to AMD and identify new therapeutic targets for potential drug development.
A drug that boosts activity in the brain’s “garbage disposal” system can decrease levels of toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders and improve cognition in mice, a new study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has found.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists discover a novel strategy that aggressive sarcomas use to promote drug resistance and cancer’s spread plus evidence of how to reverse the process.
A new study led by researchers at the New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) examines the validity, sensitivity, and specificity of symptoms for detecting breast cancer-related related lymphedema. The study also determines the best clinical cutoff point for the count of symptoms that maximized the sum of sensitivity and specificity.
Genetic influence on intelligence varies according to people’s social class in the United States, but not in Western Europe or Australia, according to a psychology study at The University of Texas at Austin.
As interdisciplinary sleuths, a Michigan Tech team recently put together clues to solve the case of the sticky protein. The new tool opens more possibilities for studying neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Mathematical simulations at the University of Utah show parasitic flies may spell extinction for Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands, but that pest-control efforts might save the birds that helped inspire the theory of evolution.
Researchers have demonstrated a new process for rapidly fabricating complex three-dimensional nanostructures from a variety of materials, including metals. The new technique uses nanoelectrospray to provide a continuous supply of liquid precursor, which can include metal ions that are converted to high-purity metal by a focused electron beam.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed a synthetic biomaterial that fills wounds and aids in regeneration of skin cells, which ultimately improves wound healing.
A University of Utah-led study identified a long-sought “hybrid inviability gene” responsible for dead or infertile offspring when two species of fruit flies mate with each other. The discovery sheds light on the genetic and molecular process leading to formation of new species, and may provide clues to how cancer develops.
Evolutionary biologists at Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, University of Washington and the University of Utah may have solved a century-old evolutionary riddle: How did two related fruit fly species arise from one?
In two new studies, researchers in the laboratory of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research explore the intricate processes at work when stem cells differentiate into planarian skin cells.
When a cancer of unknown origin strikes, patients' family members are at a higher risk for those and other types of cancer.
Pancreatic cancer tumors spill their molecular secrets into the blood stream, shedding their complete DNA and RNA wrapped inside protective lipid particles that make them ripe for analysis with a liquid biopsy, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online at the Annals of Oncology.
Lymphedema is a major health problem negatively affecting many breast cancer survivors survivors’ quality of life. NYU researchers have shown this condition can be managed with early and appropriate treatment.
Northwestern University is testing a new supplemental coaching program to provide in-depth guidance on succeeding in science careers and reduce the commonly reported feelings of pressure and isolation of Ph.D. students from underrepresented backgrounds. In the study’s paper, one African-American female student from the new coaching group said, “I’m so happy to see other people of color in one place doing the same thing that I’m doing.”
Active surveillance could be a viable alternative to surgery and radiation for select patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, according to a mathematical model developed by researchers at Duke University.
A scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded approximately $2 million from the National Institutes of Health to study the impact of aging and age-related disease on the inner workings of a single type of nerve cell.
Even as the global malarial pandemic appears to be on a decline, drug resistant malarial parasites are on the rise, says an infectious disease researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center, who is taking the lead on a multi-institutional effort to investigate the causes of this growing concern.
In a report published in the journal Neuron, an international team of researchers defined the makeup of the cellular structures through which nerve cells communicate with each other, revealing new and elegant features of the sites that wire the brain.
The brains of children who suffer clinical depression as preschoolers develop abnormally, compared with the brains of preschoolers unaffected by the disorder, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Their gray matter is lower in volume and thinner in the cortex, a part of the brain important in the processing of emotions.
Weight loss due to dietary changes can improve sleepiness at any weight, says a study published by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania this month in the journal Sleep. The findings offer new insights into how weight fluctuations impact numerous aspects of sleep independent of body weight.
Researchers have discovered how immune cells triggered by recurrent Strep A infections enter the brain, causing inflammation that may lead to autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders in children. The study, performed in mice, found that immune cells reach the brain by traveling along odor-sensing neurons that emerge from the nasal cavity, not by breaching the blood-brain barrier directly. The findings could lead to improved methods for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating these disorders.
Bridget Wilson, PhD, and Cedric Cleyrat, PhD, will use a new two-year $453,000 grant from the DOD to help people whose blood disorders cannot be traced to a mutation in a gene called JAK2 and do not respond well to existing drugs.
Prior to the rise of modern-day mammalian carnivores, North America was dominated by a now-extinct group of mammalian carnivores — the hyaenodontids. While fossils of hyaenodontids are relatively common from the early Eocene Epoch — between 50 million and 55 million years ago — most of these are specimens of teeth. A new find of a nearly complete skeleton has allowed for a more detailed study of the ecology and evolutionary relationships of these early carnivores.
The presence or absence of the CAP2 gene causes sudden cardiac death in mice. In particular, the absence of the gene interrupts the animal’s ability to send electrical signals to the heart to tell it to contract, a condition called cardiac conduction disease. Since humans have the same CAP2 gene, what we learn from the mice could advance our understanding of heart disease.
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