Health News

Breakthrough Enables Mapping Of Elusive 3-D Structure Of Telomerase Enzyme, Key Factor In Cancer, Aging

Date: Apr-16-2013
Like finally seeing all the gears of a watch and how they work together, researchers from UCLA and UC Berkeley have, for the first time ever, solved the puzzle of how the various components of an entire telomerase enzyme complex fit together and function in a three-dimensional structure. The creation of the first complete visual map of the telomerase enzyme, which is known to play a significant role in aging and most cancers, represents a breakthrough that could open up a host of new approaches to fighting disease, the researchers said...

Memory Rehearsal During Sleep Can Make A Big Difference In Remembering Later

Date: Apr-16-2013
Why do some memories last a lifetime while others disappear quickly? A new study suggests that memories rehearsed, during either sleep or waking, can have an impact on memory consolidation and on what is remembered later. The new Northwestern University study shows that when the information that makes up a memory has a high value (associated with, for example, making more money), the memory is more likely to be rehearsed and consolidated during sleep and, thus, be remembered later...

Targets, Treatments For Colon, Ovarian And Prostate Cancer

Date: Apr-16-2013
Research on a soy-based treatment for colorectal cancer, a promising agent in ovarian cancer, and a new drug target for advanced prostate cancer was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2013 Annual Meeting. The meeting took place in Washington, DC. Natural Product From Soy May Be Effective in Combination with Chemotherapy The development of colorectal cancer (CRC) is largely driven by cellular signaling in the Wnt pathway, a network of proteins critical to cellular growth...

Critical Role Played By Mast Cells In Initializing Pulmonary Fibrosis

Date: Apr-16-2013
Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic, deadly disease that affects five million people worldwide. It is irreversible, its cause is poorly understood, and it has a median survival of only about 3 years. A new study that implicates mast cells - an immune cell involved in allergic asthma - in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis could lead to new, more effective therapies. The study is published in DNA and Cell Biology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the DNA and Cell Biology website...

Rather Than Aiming For Abstinence, Nalmefene Reduces Consumption In Alcohol Dependence

Date: Apr-16-2013
A potential new treatment for alcoholism called nalmefene is effective and safe for reducing alcohol consumption in alcohol dependent individuals, says a new study published this week in Biological Psychiatry. Traditionally, abstinence has been regarded as the primary treatment goal for alcohol dependence, and current pharmacological treatments for alcoholism are approved only for relapse prevention. However, relapse rates remain high and a goal of abstinence is unacceptable to many patients...

What's Behind The Split Identity Of Cell-Destroyer That Both Fights And Promotes TB?

Date: Apr-16-2013
Tumor necrosis factor - normally an infection-fighting substance produced by the body - can actually heighten susceptibility to tuberculosis if its levels are too high. University of Washington TB researchers unravel this conundrum in a report in Cell. Their study shows how excess production of this disease-cell destroyer at first acts as a TB germ killer. But later the opposite occurs: too much tumor necrosis factor encourages TB pathogens to multiply in the body...

Protein Discovery In Mice May Help To Restore Function In Damaged Insulin Cells

Date: Apr-16-2013
A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center has found that a protein long believed to have a minor role in type 2 diabetes is, in fact, a central player in the development of the condition that affects nearly 26 million people in the United States alone and counts as one of the leading causes of heart disease, stroke and kidney, eye and nerve damage...

Cancers' Achilles' Heel Exposed By Genetic Master Controls

Date: Apr-16-2013
In a surprising finding that helps explain fundamental behaviors of normal and diseased cells, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered a set of powerful gene regulators dubbed "super-enhancers" that control cell state and identity. Healthy cells employ these super-enhancers to control genes responsible for cellular functions and developmental transitions - such as that from embryonic stem cell to nerve cell - but cancer cells are able to assemble their own insidious super-enhancers to overproduce harmful oncogenes that lead to aggressive tumors...

Aimed At Resource Poor Countries, Cell Phone Offers Diagnostic, Testing Microanalysis Capabilities

Date: Apr-16-2013
JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) will publish a new video article by Dr. Aydogan Ozcan demonstrating how a cell phone camera can capture images from a fluorescent microscope and flow cytometer, which will make it possible for areas with limited resources to easily run tests such as checking for contaminated water and monitoring HIV positive patients. In the new video article electrical and bio engineers from the University of California Los Angeles show the construction of the device and how it can be modified to fit any cellphone with a camera...

Interferon Induces Persistent Viral Infection, Suggests A New Approach To Clearing Infections From AIDS To Hepatitis

Date: Apr-16-2013
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a counterintuitive finding that may lead to new ways to clear persistent infection that is the hallmark of such diseases as AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The study, reported in the journal Science, focused on the activity of the body's type 1 interferon (IFN-I) proteins. Since its discovery over 50 years ago, IFN-I has been believed to be an especially powerful antiviral agent that marshals the immune system's response against the body's foreign invaders...