Health News

BRAF mutation associated with other cancers appears to drive papillary craniopharyngiomas

Date: Jan-15-2014
A team led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the Broad Institute has found that a gene mutation associated with several types of cancer also may be responsible for a rare but debilitating brain tumor called papillary craniopharyngioma. Their discovery, reported online in Nature Genetics, could lead to new therapies for this currently hard-to-treat tumor.

How tissue microenvironment affects gene expression in healthy and diseased cells

Date: Jan-15-2014
A multi-disciplinary team from the University of Pennsylvania have published in Nature Methods a first-of-its-kind way to isolate RNA from live cells in their natural tissue microenvironment without damaging nearby cells. This allows the researchers to analyze how cell-to-cell chemical connections influence individual cell function and overall protein production.Tissues, of course, are complex structures composed of various cell types.

Researchers aim to use ultrasound to boost sensory performance

Date: Jan-15-2014
Whales, bats, and even praying mantises use ultrasound as a sensory guidance system - and now a new study has found that ultrasound can modulate brain activity to heighten sensory perception in humans.Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have demonstrated that ultrasound directed to a specific region of the brain can boost performance in sensory discrimination. The study, published online in Nature Neuroscience, provides the first demonstration that low-intensity, transcranial-focused ultrasound can modulate human brain activity to enhance perception.

Controlling transplanted cells from the inside out

Date: Jan-15-2014
Harvard stem cells scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital and MIT can now engineer cells that are more easily controlled following transplantation, potentially making cell therapies, hundreds of which are currently in clinical trials across the United States, more functional and efficient.Associate Professor Jeffrey Karp, PhD, and James Ankrum, PhD, demonstrate in this month's issue of Nature Protocols how to load cells with microparticles that provide the cells cues for how they should behave over the course of days or weeks as the particles degrade.

Race of parents remains a key predictor of whether children will be placed in the right safety seat

Date: Jan-15-2014
White parents reported higher use of age-appropriate car seats for one- to seven-year-old children than non-white parents, according to a new University of Michigan study published today in Pediatrics.The new study showed that the race of the parents is a significant predictor of whether a child is placed in the right safety seat for his or her age, even after adjusting for parental education, family income and information sources, says lead author Michelle L. Macy, M.D., M.S., an emergency medicine physician at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.

How sodium controls opioid brain signaling has implications for treating pain and mood disorders

Date: Jan-15-2014
Scientists have discovered how the element sodium influences the signaling of a major class of brain cell receptors, known as opioid receptors. The discovery, from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of North Carolina (UNC), suggests new therapeutic approaches to a host of brain-related medical conditions."It opens the door to understanding opioid related drugs for treating pain and mood disorders, among others," said lead author Dr. Gustavo Fenalti, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Raymond C.

Diagnosing heart problems earlier by tweaking MRI to track creatine

Date: Jan-15-2014
A new MRI method to map creatine at higher resolutions in the heart may help clinicians and scientists find abnormalities and disorders earlier than traditional diagnostic methods, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggest in a new study published online in Nature Medicine. The preclinical findings show an advantage over less sensitive tests and point to a safer and more cost-effective approach than those with radioactive or contrasting agents.

Antidepressant use linked to infant pulmonary hypertension

Date: Jan-15-2014
New research suggests that infants of mothers who are in the late stages of pregnancy and who take a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may be at increased rick of developing high blood pressure in the lungs - known as persistent pulmonary hypertension.The research team, led by Sophie Grigoriadis of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, Canada, published their findings in the BMJ.

Evidence of harmful effect of bisphenol A-based plastics

Date: Jan-15-2014
Bisphenol A impairs the function of proteins that are vital for growth processes in cells. This finding has been reported by researchers from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and the University of Wuppertal. The substance, short BPA, is contained in many plastic products and is suspected of being hazardous to health. To date, it had been assumed that bisphenol A produces a harmful effect by binding to hormone receptors. The chemist and biochemist team has discovered that the substance also affects the so-called small GTPases. They published their findings in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Pursuing arthritis protein

Date: Jan-15-2014
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have investigated a special protein that appears in inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. The findings have just been published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.Chronic inflammation poses something of a mystery for researchers. If we become infected, the body immediately takes steps to repair and tidy it up. This process manifests itself as inflammation, which stems from a high level of activity in the immune cells, the body's defence against bacteria and viruses.