Curated News: Grant Funded News

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Using a powerful gene-hunting technique for the first time in mammalian brain cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins report they have identified a gene involved in building the circuitry that relays signals through the brain. The gene is a likely player in the aging process in the brain, the researchers say. Additionally, in demonstrating the usefulness of the new method, the discovery paves the way for faster progress toward identifying genes involved in complex mental illnesses such as autism and schizophrenia — as well as potential drugs for such conditions.

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USDTL researchers will investigate the relationship between in utero alcohol exposure and epigenetics using Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The goal of USDTL’s new research program is to identify epigenetic patterns that are associated with prenatal alcohol exposure in newborns.

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A low level of daily exposure to a common component of sunlight can cause skin damage at the molecular level after just a few days, new research shows. The findings highlight the need for better sunscreens to protect against these damaging rays.

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Scientists develop new method for counting cancer-fighting cells in ovarian cancer patients

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University of Utah and German biologists discovered how nerve cells recycle tiny bubbles or “vesicles” that send chemical nerve signals from one cell to the next. The process is much faster and different than two previously proposed mechanisms for recycling the bubbles.

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An international, multidisciplinary research team has developed an ultrathin membrane that can stick to skin and carry arrays of diagnostic sensors and stimulatory components. The “electronic skin” allows remote patient monitoring and may someday be used to deliver treatments.

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Fred Hutch researchers discover that cancer develops a few years after cells undergo drastic mutations, contrary to common belief.

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For what is believed to be the first time, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have illuminated the inner workings of an important class of enzymes located inside the outer envelopes of cells. Much to their surprise, they report, these protein cutters, called rhomboid proteases, are entirely different than nearly every other type of enzyme studied, showing no attraction to the proteins they cut and being extremely slow in making their cuts.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified an enzyme that can halt or possibly even reverse the build-up of toxic protein fragments known as plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease. The research appeared in a recent edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

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A new class of drugs reduced the risk of patients contracting a serious and often deadly side effect of lifesaving bone marrow transplant treatments, according to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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RNA molecules are generally thought to be “silent” when stowed in cytoplasmic granules. But a protein mutated in some ALS patients forms granules that permit translation of stored RNAs. The finding identifies a new mechanism that could contribute to the pathology of the disease.

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Researchers have identified a protein that causes loss of function in immune cells combatting HIV. The scientists report in a paper appearing online Dec. 2 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that the protein, Sprouty-2, is a promising target for future HIV drug development, since disabling it could help restore the cells’ ability to combat the virus that causes AIDS.

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An international team of scientists, including researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, has identified a key metabolic enzyme that common malaria parasites require for survival at each stage of infection in humans. The findings raise the possibility of a new approach to combating malaria, one of the world’s deadliest diseases. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature.

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Study uses patient-derived stem cells to show that a mutation in the α-synuclein gene causes increased vulnerability to pesticides, leading to Parkinson’s disease.

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NIBIB-funded researchers at Texas A&M are using the unique contraction and expansion properties of shape memory polymer foam to design a much improved treatment for brain aneurysms, which cause severe neurological damage or death for 30,000 Americans each year.

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A research team at Georgia Tech is attempting to engineer an injectable therapy for the shoulder’s supraspinatus tendon, a rotator cuff tendon that is commonly torn in sports. When the tendon is damaged, the body makes things worse by activating enzymes that further break down the tendon. The scientists hope to develop an injectable compound that would deliver an inhibitor capable of blocking these enzymes, thereby reducing the severity of the injury or even healing the tissue.

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More than eight years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, a team of Tulane University ecologists, sociologists and geographers is joining forces with other national experts to better understand how rebuilding after a disaster can effect human and ecological well-being. The work will include one of the largest ecological studies of urban rats ever undertaken.

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Rats whose mothers were fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing were able to stave off some of the detrimental health effects of obesity by exercising during their adolescence, new Johns Hopkins research shows.

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As we age, our body rhythms lose time before they finally stop. Breaking the body clock by genetically disrupting a core clock gene, Bmal1, in mice has long been known to accelerate aging , causing arthritis, hair loss, cataracts, and premature death. New research now reveals that the nerve cells of these mice with broken clocks show signs of deterioration before the externally visible signs of aging are apparent, raising the possibility of novel approaches to staving off or delaying neurodegeneration.

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Researchers found, in a genome-wide survey, significant differences in the pattern of chemical modifications on DNA that affect gene expression in kidney cells from patients with chronic kidney disease versus healthy controls. This is the first study to show that changes in these modifications – the cornerstone of the field of epigenetics – might explain chronic kidney disease.

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One protein called Notch, which has well-known roles in the development of multiple tissues, plays an essential role in triggering T-cell development. Notch signaling induces expression of genes that promote the maturation of T cells and discourage alternative cell fates. Deficiency of the Notch target gene Hes1 in blood stem cells results in extremely low T-cell numbers, and could shed light on how normal cells are transformed in the context of cancer.

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A team of scientists looking into the interplay of the immune system and cancer have found a link between a history of airborne allergies – in particular to plants, grass and trees – with risk of blood cancers in women.

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Researchers have created magnetic replicas of sunflower pollen grains using a wet chemical, layer-by-layer process that applies highly conformal iron oxide coatings. The replicas possess natural adhesion properties from the pollen while gaining magnetic behavior.

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Using a new method to catch elusive “jumping genes” in the act, researchers have found two human proteins that are used by one type of DNA to replicate itself and move from place to place. The discovery breaks new ground in understanding the arms race between a jumping gene driven to colonize new areas of the human genome and cells working to limit the risk posed by such volatile bits of DNA.

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Drugs that inhibit the activity of enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDACs) are being widely developed for treating cancer and other diseases, with two already on the market. Researchers show that a major HDAC still functions in mice even when its enzyme activity is abolished, suggesting that the beneficial effects of HDAC inhibitors may not actually be through inhibiting HDAC activity, and thus warranting the reassessment of the molecular targets of this class of drugs.

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A single overactive enzyme worsens the two core defects of diabetes—impaired insulin sensitivity and overproduction of glucose—suggesting that a drug targeting the enzyme could help correct both at once, according to mouse studies done by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center. The findings were published today in the online edition of Cell Metabolism.

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Surgery to repair torn rotator cuffs improves patients’ quality of life and can allow them to get back to work quickly, resulting in societal savings for patients 61 years and younger, according to a new analysis led by Duke Medicine.

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A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Cancer shows that using crizotinib to treat ALK positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) appears to reduce kidney function when assessed by one of the most commonly used clinical methods.

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Results of a Johns Hopkins-led study have identified a possible link between a history of sudden drops in blood pressure and the most common form of irregular heartbeat.

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The University of Kentucky is the first to conduct a trial of regenerative treatment strategy for Parkinson’s disease. The trial combines the deep brain stimulation procedure with grafting of a patient’s peripheral nerve tissue into the brain, anticipating that the nerve graft will allow the brain to heal itself. If successful, this procedure could change the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and possibly halt or reverse brain degeneration caused by the disease.

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Cognitively impaired older adults released from the hospital are less likely to be rehospitalized within 30 days if they go to a nursing home than if they return to their own home.

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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded the University of Chicago $4.4 million over five years to study genes of unknown function in bacteria that cause plague and brucellosis.

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University of Utah biologists found that when mother mice compete socially for mates in a promiscuous environment, their sons play hard and die young: They attract more females by making more urinary pheromones, but smelling sexier shortens their lives.

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Patients who seek treatment from physicians who more frequently perform ERCP, a high-risk endoscopic procedure, are less likely to be admitted to the hospital or require a repeat procedure.

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Researchers now have stronger evidence of granite on Mars and a new theory for how the granite – an igneous rock common on Earth -- could have formed there, according to a new study. The findings suggest a much more geologically complex Mars than previously believed.

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Ten years after a transplant, a cornea from a 71-year-old donor is likely to remain as healthy as a cornea from a donor half that age, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Corneas from donors over age 71 perform slightly less well, but still remain healthy for the majority of transplant recipients after 10 years, the study found.

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UT Dallas professor Dr. Alain Bensoussan's study will delve into how our decisions are influenced by others -- and how our decisions affect others.

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Child restraint laws across many states have gaps that leave unprotected passengers highly vulnerable to vehicle-crash injuries, a study by New York University has found. The findings show that many child restraint laws lag behind existing research on vehicular safety and fail to follow guidelines adopted by medical experts.

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The deletion of any single gene in yeast cells puts pressure on the organism’s genome to compensate, leading to a mutation in another gene. The discovery is likely applicable to human genetics and cancer, and could have significant consequences for the way genetic research is done.

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Results of a Johns Hopkins study may explain why a chemotherapy drug called cyclophosphamide prevents graft-versus-host (GVHD) disease in people who receive bone marrow transplants. The experiments point to an immune system cell that evades the toxic effects of cyclophosphamide and protects patients from a lethal form of GVHD.

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Researchers at Wayne State University recently received a $684,000 research grant from the Department of Defense to explore the genetic and epigenetic factors – factors that interact with genes – that might contribute to this racial/ethnic disparity in prostate cancer risk and progression.

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A study led by Nancy Bergstrom, Ph.D., associate dean at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Nursing, found that nursing homes that utilize high-density foam mattresses may not need to turn residents every two hours to prevent pressure ulcers, a practice that has been used for over 50 years.

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Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle have received a $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to take a new and more expanded approach to identifying drug targets to treat and possibly prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

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A $3.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute awarded to Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey research member Shawna V. Hudson, PhD, will support the development of new technology and a comprehensive education program to address the healthcare management needs of cancer survivors. The initiative involves the development of a web and ‘smart phone’ application and a health coaching component with survivors via phone conversation.

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Using scores obtained from cognitive tests, Johns Hopkins researchers think they have developed a model that could help determine whether memory loss in older adults is benign or a stop on the way to Alzheimer’s disease.

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A specialized type of brain cell that tamps down stem cell activity ironically, perhaps, encourages the survival of the stem cells’ progeny, Johns Hopkins researchers report. Understanding how these new brain cells “decide” whether to live or die and how to behave is of special interest because changes in their activity are linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, mental illness and aging.

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A new study identifies difficulties for uninsured people who are trying to register for health-care coverage.

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A pair of microbes on the ocean floor “eats” methane in a unique way, and a new study provides insights into their surprising nutritional requirements. Learning how these methane-munching organisms make a living in these extreme environments could provide clues about how the deep-sea environment might change in a warming world.

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Scientists have identified a pathway that regulates fibrosis, suggesting a possible pharmacologic approach to treat patients with a broad range of fibrotic diseases.

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An Indiana University cancer researcher has demonstrated that a particular molecule is present in the blood of most pancreatic cancer patients, suggesting it could someday be a diagnostic marker for the disease.