How molecules of the oldest branch of the human immune system have interconnected has remained a mystery. Now, two new structures, both involving a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response, reveal how this system fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself.
Shelley L. Berger has been named the 10th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Karen Glanz, a globally influential public-health scholar, has been named the ninth Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Older women suffering from clinical frailty stand to benefit from the first potential medical treatment for the condition. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, was administered to older women diagnosed with frailty, characterized by unintentional weight loss, weakness, exhaustion and low levels of anabolic hormones which increases risk of falls, hospitalizations, disability, and death.
Jumping genes do most of their jumping, not during the development of sperm and egg cells, but during the development of the embryo itself. The research challenges standard assumptions on the timing of when mobile DNA, so-called jumping genes, insert into the human genome.
In a study comparing two strains of mice, one susceptible to developing cancer and the other not, researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer, and that by switching to a low-fat diet early in the experiment, the same high-risk mice avoided the malignancy. The switched mice were lean rather than obese and had healthy livers at the end of the study.
After a vaccination or an infection, the human immune system remembers to keep protecting against invaders it has already encountered, with the aid of specialized B-cells and T-cells. Immunological memory has long been the subject of intense study, but the underlying cellular mechanisms regulating the generation and persistence of long-lived memory T cells remain largely undefined. Now, researchers have found that a common anti-diabetic drug might enhance the effectiveness of vaccines.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have uncovered variation around two genes that are associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and its incidence among non-Hispanic Caucasian men has doubled in the last 40 years -- it now affects seven out of 100,000 white men in the United States each year.
Though the growing shift toward oral chemotherapy agents offers cancer patients greater freedom and independence during their treatment, physicians say use of the new medications also poses more chances for patients to skip doses, miss prescription refills, and take their drugs in a dangerous way. An increasing number of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy now do so at home, with the click of a pill bottle each day rather than the drip of an IV medicine that must be delivered in a doctor's office or hospital.
Since 2000, nearly 1,000 "retail clinics" -- offering routine care like sports physicals and immunizations and treatment for minor illnesses like strep throat -- have opened their doors inside pharmacies and grocery stores across the United States. Retail chain operators proposed that the new clinics would improve access to medical care among uninsured or underserved populations. However, these clinics have been opened more often in higher-income areas that are less likely to be classified as medically underserved, according to a new study.
Women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who exhibit an overexpression of the protein HER2/neu have a six-fold increase in risk of invasive breast cancer, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The results, published in the May issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, may help clinicians distinguish between DCIS that requires minimal treatment and DCIS that should be treated more aggressively.
Women with chest pain are less likely than male patients to receive recommended, proven therapies while en route to the hospital, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Despite evidence showing that the drugs aspirin and nitroglycerin are important early interventions for people who may be having a heart attack, women don't get them as often as male patients with the same types of symptoms, says a new study.
The first long-term study following a large number of chest pain patients who are screened with coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA) confirms that the test is a safe, effective way to rule out serious cardiovascular disease in patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which will be presented Friday, May 15, 2009 at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine's annual conference.
Jill M. Baren, MD, MBE, an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will today become president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, the nation's largest organization devoted to research and education in the specialty. An expert in emergency care, the subspecialty of pediatric emergency medicine and medical ethics,
Researchers have made an important step forward in understanding the complex genetic structure of autism spectrum disorders. A researcher collaboration, including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have detected variations along a genetic pathway that is responsible for neurological development, learning and memory, which appears to play a significant role in the genetic risk of autism.
In trying to understand the role of prostaglandins "“ a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovascular system "“ in blood pressure maintenance, researchers discovered that mice that lack the receptor for one type of prostaglandin have lower blood pressure and less atherosclerosis than their non-mutant brethren.
Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the circadian clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle. Now, researchers have found that some genes are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours, indicating that shorter cycles of the circadian rhythm are also biologically encoded.
Researchers genetically engineered mice to lack the protein Cdx2 in the cells that normally go on to form the stomach and intestine. The mutant animals have an esophagus where these missing organs should be. The findings point to a potential genetic cause of a rare human congenital defect called colonic atresia, in which the colon is absent, giving pediatricians a candidate gene to study.
Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first, has a long and distinguished history of caring for women. Obstetrics was the hospital's first recognized physician specialty upon the establishment of its Lying-In department in 1803. The hospital remains devoted to the care and treatment of women today, with particular expertise in areas such as high-risk maternal and fetal services and neonatology.
An online tool that provides cancer survivors and their family members with an easy-to-follow roadmap for managing their health as they finish treatment and transition to life as a survivor got high marks from users, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research which will be presented this weekend at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 100th Annual Meeting 2009 in Denver.
Often ignored or confused for allergies, chronic sinus issues affect 35 million Americans and cost economy $6 billion annually. Leading nose experts in Philadelphia April 16 "“ 19 to debate the causes and cures for nagging nasal conditions.
For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity. Now, working on the idea that the signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger RNAs, which contain the chemical blueprint for how to make a protein, researchers have found another way to change one cell type into another.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that parasites hijack host-cell proteins to ensure their survival and proliferation, suggesting new ways to control the diseases they cause.
A new federally funded University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study aims to learn whether women at high risk of breast cancer can use exercise to meaningfully reduce their risk of getting the disease. Building on evidence that reducing estrogen in the body reduces cancer risk, and that elite female athletes experience a drop in estrogen levels that often cause them to stop ovulating and menstruating, the WISER Sister trial will investigate two different levels of regular treadmill exercise as a possible intervention for breast cancer risk reduction.
This special media seminar, being held at the nation's first hospital (founded in 1751) and hosted by the Penn Medicine Department of Communications, invites you to discover the latest research and treatment strategies to help women better negotiate some of the most serious health challenges facing them today: diabetes and kidney disease; cardiovascular disease; thyroid disorders and bone loss; and gynecologic oncology. This informational luncheon and seminar features expert researchers and clinicians from Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn OB/GYN Care, and Penn Health for Women at Pennsylvania Hospital.
Using design and engineering principles learned from nature, a team of biochemists have built "“ from scratch "“ a completely new type of protein, which can transport oxygen.
Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell by more than 90 percent during the past three years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to a multi-pronged approach combining leadership initiatives, electronic infection surveillance, checklists to guide line insertion and maintenance, and implementation of the Toyota Production System to encourage best practices in line care.
Researchers have engineered transplantable living nerve tissue that encourages and guides regeneration in an animal model. They have successfully grown, transplanted, and integrated axon bundles that act as "˜jumper cables' to the host tissue in order to bridge a damaged section of nerve.
A new study has identified genes associated with the BRCA1 protein and their involvement in the DNA repair pathway, helping to clear the way for researchers to better understand what goes wrong when the BRCA1 gene is mutated and the repair pathway goes haywire. Identifying patients with mutations in these BRCA1-associated genes may help better fight breast cancer.
Although most Americans live close to some type of emergency room, as many as one in four Americans are more than an hour away from the type of hospital that's most prepared to save their life during a time-sensitive medical emergency, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Researchers identified a switch that might prevent cancer cells from metastasizing from a primary tumor to other organs. The switch is a protein that, when in the "on" position, maintains the normal character of cells that line the surface of organs and body cavities. These epithelial cells are the type of cell from which most solid tumors arise. When the switch is turned "off" or absent, the cells can move away from the primary tumor.
A test capable of confirming or ruling out Alzheimer's disease has been validated and standardized by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. By measuring cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of two of the disease's biochemical hallmarks "“ amyloid beta42 peptide and tau protein "“ the test also predicted whether a person's mild cognitive impairment would convert to Alzheimer's disease over time.
The human brain's sensitivity to unexpected outcomes plays a fundamental role in the ability to adapt and learn new behaviors, according to a new study by a team of psychologists and neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sick or injured African-American patients wait about an hour longer than patients of other races before being transferred to an inpatient hospital bed following emergency room visits, according to a new national study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.
Researchers have pinpointed the source of immature cells that spur misplaced bone growth. Unexpectedly, the major repository of bone-forming cells originates in blood vessels deep within skeletal muscle and other connective tissues. Understanding this process has important implications for understanding a range of bone disorders.
Researchers report that a human vascular condition called Cerebral Cavernous Malformation is caused by mutations that lead to leaky junctions between cells in the lining of blood vessels.
Two-thirds of patients referred for psychiatric services following an emergency room visit are likely to reach only an answering machine when they call for help, compared to about 20 percent of patients calling medical clinics with physical symptoms. Only 10 percent of all calls to mental health clinics in nine U.S. cities resulted in an appointment scheduled within two weeks, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
In research published this week in Neuron researchers describe for the first time how cellular changes in the sleeping brain promote the formation of memories.
A microbicide gel intended to prevent HIV infection in women, called PRO 2000 (0.5% dose), was 30% effective, according to results from a clinical trial conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and six trial sites in Africa.
Researchers have discovered a way to get another bonus from the implementation of electronic medical records: testing the efficacy of treatments for disease.
A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease has been discovered by a Penn research team and colleagues. They found a genetic interaction between two Parkinson's disease genes (alpha-synuclein and PARK9) and determined that the PARK9 protein can protect cells from manganese poisoning, an environmental risk factor for a Parkinson's disease-like syndrome.
Researchers have likely found one reason why the Ebola virus is such a powerful, deadly, and effective virus. Using a cell culture model for Ebola virus infection, they have discovered that the virus disables a cellular protein called tetherin that normally can block the spread of virus from cell to cell.
Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine on brain electrical signaling offer a fresh perspective on vertebrate evolution, provide additional evidence supporting Darwinian views of evolution, and may also lead to more effective treatment of epileptic seizures in infants.
Many breast cancer patients give low marks to the post-cancer "survivorship" care they receive from their primary care physicians, who generally serve as a patient's main health care provider after they're released from active treatment with their oncologists, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A research team has identified the location and developmental timeline in which a majority of bone marrow stem cells form in the mouse embryo. The findings highlight critical steps in the origin of hematopoietic (or blood) stem cells.
Cardiac arrest patients in large, urban, and teaching hospitals are more likely to survive compared to those in small, often rural, non-academic hospitals, according to a Penn Medicine study published recently in the journal Intensive Care Medicine. A second study, published in Resuscitation, suggests that patients who are cared for in the highest volume intensive care units after cardiac arrest are also most apt to survive.
A research team has discovered that a B-cell editing process may go awry in people with certain types of autoimmune diseases.
Armed with research concluding that psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues released an editorial consensus in the American Journal of Cardiology today¸ calling for psoriasis patients to be educated about and screened for cardiovascular risk factors.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that were able to grow into tissue-like structures and when placed into immune-deficient mice were able to form parts of an esophagus lining.
A new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and Department of Psychiatry in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that smokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may suffer from concentration problems and other cognitive deficits when abstaining from nicotine "“ a problem that puts them at risk for relapse during attempts to quit smoking. The findings pave the way to identify novel medications to treat nicotine addiction.
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