Curated News: Grant Funded News

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NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a method for imaging brain tumors using sugar. D-glucose was used to enhance MRI images of brain tumors in three patients. The method takes advantage of the fact that growing tumors consume more sugar than normal tissues. Glucose is a safer MRI alternative to commonly used metal complexes, such as gadolinium that can have side effects in kidney patients and may build-up in the tissues of individuals needing multiple MRIs.

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New research identifies a human (host) protein that weakens the immune response to HIV and other viruses. The findings, published in Cell Host & Microbe, have implications for improving HIV antiviral therapies and vaccines.

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A review of blood samples for nearly 5,000 patients seen at The Johns Hopkins Hospital Emergency Department suggests that federal guidelines for hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening may be missing up to a quarter of all cases and argues for updated universal screening

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Coral reefs are early casualties of climate change, but not every coral reacts the same way to the stress of ocean warming. Northwestern University researchers have developed the first-ever quantitative “global index” detailing which of the world’s coral species are most susceptible to coral bleaching and most likely to die. Based on historical data, the index can be used to compare the bleaching responses of the world’s corals and to predict which corals may be most affected by future bleaching events.

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A team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis have helped discover a new chemical method to immobilize uranium in contaminated groundwater, which could lead to more precise and successful water remediation efforts at former nuclear sites.Researchers in the lab of Daniel Giammar, the Walter E. Browne Professor of Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, ran a series of experiments in a laboratory setting using water containing uranium — present in contaminated groundwater at various sites in the United States as a legacy of Cold War-era processing and waste disposal activities associated with nuclear materials production.

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New research in monkeys exposed to SIV, the animal equivalent of HIV, reveals what happens in the very earliest stages of infection, before virus is even detectable in the blood, which is a critical but difficult period to study in humans. The findings, published online today in the journal Cell, have important implications for vaccine development and other strategies to prevent infection.

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New research in laboratory animals suggests that the drug palovarotene may prevent multiple skeletal problems caused by a rare but extremely disabling genetic bone disease, and may even be a candidate for use in newborn babies with the condition. A genetic mutation gives rise to the disorder, fibrodsysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP).

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New research suggests that it might be possible to create a growth chart of brain networks that could identify early signs of attention difficulties and, potentially, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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Receptors for leptin, a protein hormone, may be associated with tumor recurrence in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), providing further understanding about molecular links between obesity and RCC tumor formation and prognosis, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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New preclinical research provides support to a drug that has been repurposed to possibly treat a rare and extremely disabling genetic bone disease, particularly in children. In that disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a mutation triggers bone growth in muscles, alters skeletal bone formation, and limits motion, breathing, and swallowing, among a host of progressive symptoms.

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The western United States relies on mountain snow for its water supply. Water stored as snow in the mountains during winter replenishes groundwater and drives river runoff in spring, filling reservoirs for use later in summer. But how could a warming globe and a changing climate interrupt this process?

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Fire, a tool broadly used for cooking, constructing, hunting and even communicating, was arguably one of the earliest discoveries in human history. But when, how and why it came to be used is hotly debated among scientists. A new scenario crafted by University of Utah anthropologists proposes that human ancestors became dependent on fire as a result of Africa’s increasingly fire-prone environment 2-3 million years ago.

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A $14.5 million NIA grant is supporting a new study led by researchers at Rush that aims to determine if an intervention known as the MIND diet can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

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In an emerging field of research, a study in Nature Communications reveals a mechanism in the regulation of lymphangiogenesis. Scientists identified a new target for drug treatment to prevent conditions caused by lymphangiogenesis, which include some blinding eye diseases, organ transplant rejection, and cancer metastasis.

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A study published in the Journal of Neuropsychology, reveals the adverse effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) on the quality parent-child relationships. The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury and one of the first visible signs of social difficulties in young children is a decline in their relationship with their parents.

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David E. Cobrinik, MD, PhD, of The Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has been awarded a four-year grant totaling $1.665 million from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support his study seeking to improve understanding of how cone photoreceptors develop.

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A research team from Wayne State University recently published a paper in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that provides a paradigm shift in the understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and wound healing in the treatment of corneal and skin diabetic ulcers.

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Using PET imaging to guide chemotherapy treatment significantly increases the number of people who go into remission and also decreases toxic side effects for people with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, according to research led by Dr. Oliver Press, a SWOG member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and two other National Cancer Institute research groups.

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For the first time in the UK a clinical trial is being run to examine whether a holistic approach will help people living with and recovering from cancer.

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Researchers at Basel University Hospital in Switzerland investigate the biochemical and physiological characteristics of orbicularis oculi, a group of facial muscles that control the eyelids and are selectively spared or involved in different neuromuscular disorders. What they found also helps to explain why another set of muscles—the extraocular muscles that control the movement of the eye—are not affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, congenital muscular dystrophy, and aging.

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Previous studies have shown that married patients with cancer fare better than unmarried cancer patients, surviving more often and longer. In a new study, published April 11 in the journal Cancer, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that the benefits of being married vary by race and ethnicity, with male non-Hispanic white bachelors experiencing the worst outcome.

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Longer monsoon seasons with increased daily rainfall, aspects of climate change, are contributing to reduced tea yield in regions of China, with implications for crop management and harvesting strategies, according to findings by a global interdisciplinary team led by Tufts University researchers and published online today in Climate.

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How the human brain processes the words we hear and constructs complex concepts is still somewhat of a mystery to the neuroscience community. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can alter our language processing, allowing for faster comprehension of meaningful word combinations, according to new research from the department of Neurology the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The work is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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Post-menopausal women who use metformin long-term for the treatment of diabetes may be at lower risk for developing certain cancers and dying from these diseases, reports a large prospective study from researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and the University at Buffalo (UB). Their analysis was based on data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a series of large studies undertaken to address common health issues in women. The researchers also found that women with diabetes, compared to women without the disease, were more likely to develop cancer. The team’s findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.

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In 2009, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk were included in the food voucher package provided by USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). As a result, the diet quality improved for the roughly 4 million children who are served by WIC, according to a study by researchers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, UC San Francisco and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Nutrition Policy Institute.

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A metabolic pathway that is up-regulated in some breast cancers promotes the disease’s progression by activating a signaling protein called Arf6, according to a paper published in The Journal of Cell Biology. The study, “P53- and mevalonate pathway–driven malignancies require Arf6 for metastasis and drug resistance” by Ari Hashimoto and colleagues, suggests that statin-like drugs may be effective treatments for breast cancer patients whose tumors express high levels of Arf6 signaling proteins.

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A new study of more than 50 samples of Vibrio cholerae isolated from both patients and the environment demonstrates the diversity and resourcefulness of the organism.

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The infant daughters of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) show a higher level of an enzyme that activates testosterone and may be an early sign of developing the complex genetic disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

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UCLA researchers have found that a state-of-the-art molecular genetic test greatly improves the speed and accuracy with which they can diagnose neurogenetic disorders in children and adults.

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Altered shedding of epithelial cells from the intestinal lining is associated with multiple disorders, ranging from IBD to colorectal cancer. Researchers at CHLA looked at ways shedding and cell regeneration are controlled in healthy intestine, and found that shedding is negatively regulated by EGF.

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New research from the Texas A&M Health Science Center and Texas A&M AgriLife parses out why saturated fats are “bad”—and suggests that it may all be in the timing.

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have determined that certain gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are more deadly than previously reported in medical literature. Findings are published online in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and collaborating institutions have described the first-ever immature or “teenage” antibody found in a powerful class of immune molecules effective against HIV.

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In a paper published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine conducted a prospective study of 100 patients (56 percent women) with biopsy-proven NAFLD to assess the efficacy of two-dimensional magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and a novel 3D version. They found that both MRE technologies were highly accurate for diagnosing advanced fibrosis, with 3D perhaps providing additional capabilities in some patients.

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People with diabetes who rely on insulin have seen the cost of that drug triple in just a decade, a new study finds -- even as doctors have prescribed higher doses to drive down their blood sugar levels. Meanwhile, the cost of other diabetes drugs has stayed about the same or even gone down.

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A Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey researcher has been awarded a $1.8-million grant from the National Cancer Institute to build upon research examining a drug compound that restores tumor suppressor function in the most commonly mutated gene in human cancer – the p53 gene.

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A team of international paleontologists demonstrate that ancient mammal relatives known as therapsids were suited to the drastic climate change by having shorter life expectancies and would have had a better chance of success by breeding at younger ages than their predecessors.

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Giving early-stage prostate cancer patients a slightly higher daily dose of radiation can cut more than two weeks from the current treatment regimen without compromising cancer control, according to a national study led by a Duke Cancer Institute researcher.

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Tests used to diagnose and assess the severity of coronary artery disease appear to function differently for women and men who have stable symptoms, according to researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute.

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In the maelstrom of information, opinion and conjecture that is Twitter, the voice of truth and reason does occasionally prevail, according to a new study from University of Washington researchers. Tweets from "official accounts" can slow the spread of rumors on Twitter and correct misinformation that's taken on a life of its own.

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Using high-speed DNA sequencing tools, pediatric researchers have identified a new syndrome that causes intellectual disability (ID). Drawing on knowledge of the causative gene mutation, the scientists’ cell studies suggest that an amino acid supplement may offer a targeted treatment for children with this condition.

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A new study by researchers from UC Irvine and Stanford University found subjects in one of the first real-time, fully automated, Twitter-based smoking intervention programs – Tweet2Quit -- were twice as successful at kicking the habit as those using traditional methods. The new findings were recently published online in Tobacco Control, an international peer reviewed journal. The print version of the research is forthcoming.

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In a new study published in Scientific Reports, scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have successfully characterized the mutational landscapes of glycosylation-associated genes in colon cancer, identifying three glycosyltransferases as significant mutational targets in CRC.

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Findings from the early phase of a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins investigators indicates that a new, minimally invasive weight loss treatment known as bariatric arterial embolization is safe and effective in sustaining weight loss in severely obese people.

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More walkable neighborhoods, parks and public transit could all reduce your chance of becoming one of the 600 million adults who battle obesity worldwide, according to researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The study, recently published online in The Lancet, found a neighborhood’s design plays a critical role in physical activity and could help reduce non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Schepens Eye Research Institute have shown an association between a defective myogenic response — the regulatory increase or decrease in blood pressure to keep blood flow within the vessels of the retina constant — and early, accelerated development of retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes. These findings, published online today in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, identify one mechanism to explain why some patients develop diabetic retinopathy sooner than others. Furthermore, the findings provide a target for future study, which may lead to therapies to delay or prevent the development of accelerated onset diabetic retinopathy.

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Like an endlessly repeating video loop, horrible memories plague people with post-traumatic stress disorder. But a new study in veterans shows the promise of mindfulness training for enhancing the ability to manage those thoughts if they come up. It also shows the veterans’ brains changed in ways that could help switch off that endless loop.

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A team from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of North Carolina (UNC) has been awarded $3.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of addiction and mood disorders.

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A protein once thought to be of little consequence has been found to be a central player in processes ranging from male fertility to early embryonic development, according to a study published in the March 31 online issue of Cell by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

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Cancer cells are notorious for their genomes gone haywire, often yielding fusion proteins — mash-ups of two disparate genes that, once united, assume new and harmful capabilities. Exactly how such genome scrambling impacts RNA, particularly the vast and mysterious world of non-coding RNA, has been largely unexplored. Now, a team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) offers some early answers by studying an intriguing class of non-coding RNAs known as circular RNAs.