EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Jul-2013

Journal of American Geriatrics Society
Regenstrief, IU study: Caregivers open to stopping cancer screening as dementia progresses
Research from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research has found that many family caregivers of older adults with dementia are willing to consider stopping cancer screening of the elderly individual; they are also relieved when the older adult's physician brings it up.

NIH/National Institute on Aging

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Deadliest cancers may respond to new drug treatment strategy
UC San Francisco researchers have found a way to knock down cancers caused by a tumor-driving protein called "myc," paving the way for patients with myc-driven cancers to enroll in clinical trials for experimental treatments.�

National Institutes of Health, Waxman Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Truitt

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Nature
RI Hospital: Absence of specific enzyme in cartilage can lead to benign tumors in mice
Rhode Island Hospital researchers have found that the absence of the Shp-2 enzyme near specialized cartilage cells can lead to the development of multiple benign cartilage tumors in mice, a model that recapitulates the rare human tumor syndrome metachondromatosis. Shp2 is an enzyme in the cell that regulates the activity of other proteins and signaling pathways. Mice lacking Shp2 formed two types of tumors: enchondromas and osteochondromas, and also developed deformed joints.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institute for General Medicine Sciences

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
RI Hospital: Caregivers of those with dementia may benefit from tailored interventions
Rhode Island Hospital researchers have found that multiple factors contribute to the burden felt by caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. These factors include the direct impact of providing care upon the caregivers' lives, guilt, and frustration or embarrassment. These burdens can have detrimental effects on the caregiver, including poorer physical health, increased rates of emotional distress and depression.

NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013
LSUHSC researcher awarded NCI grant to study link between chronic inflammation and cancer
Yan Cui, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and parasitology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, has been awarded a $1.5 million grant over five years by the National Cancer Institute to study the role of chronic inflammation in the development and progression of cancer.

NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

PLOS Computational Biology
Study analyzes dynamical properties in antibiotic resistance enzyme
Using biophysical modeling and bioinformatics analysis, researchers show significant evolution in the structural characteristics and physiochemical properties of the antibiotic-destroying enzyme beta-lactamase across bacterial families, but also find that these evolutionary characteristics do not appear to be specifically related to different versions of antibiotic resistance. The results are far from reassuring, since they show that new antibiotic resistance is relatively easy for bacteria to evolve.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Weight loss drug helps curb cocaine addictions, Penn study finds
The drug topiramate, typically used to treat epilepsy and more recently weight loss, may also help people addicted to both cocaine and alcohol use less cocaine, particularly heavy users, researchers in the department of psychiatry at Penn Medicine report in a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Neuron
Cellular channels vital for hearing identified
Boston Children's researchers identified two proteins in the inner ear, critical for hearing that cause hearing loss when damaged by genetic mutations. The findings from 30 years' research shows that the proteins encoded by the genes form channels that turn mechanical sound waves into electrical signals that talk to the brain. A tiny point mutation -- a change in one base or "letter" in the genetic sequence -- is enough to cause deafness.

NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Cell Reports
New approach to protecting prion protein from altering shape
A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a mechanism that can prevent the normal prion protein from changing its molecular shape into the abnormal form responsible for neurodegenerative diseases. This finding, published in the July 18 issue of Cell Reports, offers new hope in the battle against a foe that until now has always proved fatal.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute of Aging

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

BMC Genomics
Researchers report a complete description of gene expression in the human retina
Investigators at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School have published the most thorough description of gene expression in the human retina reported to date. In a study published today in the journal BMC Genomics, Drs. Michael Farkas, Eric Pierce and colleagues in the Ocular Genomics Institute at Mass. Eye and Ear reported a complete catalog of the genes expressed in the retina.

NIH/National Institutes of Health, Foundation Fighting Blindness USA, Penn Genome Frontiers Institute

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

PLOS ONE
Biochemical mapping helps explain who will respond to antidepressants
Duke Medicine researchers have identified biochemical changes in people taking antidepressants -- but only in those whose depression improves. These changes occur in a neurotransmitter pathway that is connected to the pineal gland, the part of the endocrine system that controls the sleep cycle, suggesting an added link between sleep, depression and treatment outcomes.

NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Pfizer

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Genes & Development
Newly found CLAMP protein regulates genes
A newly discovered protein, found in many species, turns out to be the missing link that allows a key regulatory complex to find and operate on the lone X chromosome of male fruit flies, bringing them to parity with females. Called CLAMP, the protein provides a model of how such regulatory protein complexes find their chromosome targets.

National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Pew Biomedical Scholars Program, Rhode Island Foundation

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Nature Communications
Irish potato famine-causing pathogen even more virulent now
The plant pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s lives on today with a different genetic blueprint and an even larger arsenal of weaponry to harm and kill plants.

Lundbeck Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Agriculture

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Journal of Investigative Dermatology
Eczema may play a key role in the development of food allergy in infants, study suggests
A breakdown of the skin barrier and inflammation in the skin that occurs in eczema could play a key role in triggering food sensitivity in babies, a new study reveals.

Food Standards Agency, Medical Research Council, NIH/National Institute for Health Research

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Science
Thwarting protein production slows cancer cells' malignant march
Protein production or translation is tightly coupled to a highly conserved stress response -- the heat shock response and its primary regulator, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) -- that cancer cells rely on for survival and proliferation, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. In mouse models of cancer, therapeutic inhibition of translation interrupts HSF1's activity, dramatically slowing tumor growth and potentially rendering drug-resistant tumors responsive to other therapies.

Johnson & Johnson Focused Funding Program, Marble Fund, National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society New England

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Cell
Bearing witness to the phenomenon of symmetric cell division
For more than 125 years, scientists have been peering through microscopes, carefully watching cells divide. Until now, however, none has actually seen how cells manage to divide precisely into two equally-sized daughter cells during mitosis. Such perfect division depends on the position of the mitotic spindle (chromosomes, microtubules, and spindle poles) within the cell, and it's now clear that human cells employ two specific mechanisms during the portion of division known as anaphase to correct mitotic spindle positioning.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Human Frontiers Science Foundation & Program, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, American Chemical Society

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association
Breaking a sweat while exercising regularly may help reduce stroke risk
Breaking a sweat while working out regularly may help lower your stroke risk. Inactive people were more likely to experience a stroke or mini-stroke. Regular activity seems to lower stroke risk by reducing blood pressure, weight and blood sugar.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

American Journal of Public Health
Childhood abuse raises drug users' suicide risk
A new five-year study that tracked more than 1,600 drug users found that severe abuse in their childhood -- emotional, sexual, and to a lesser extent physical -- significantly elevated their risk of attempting suicide. Screening for such abuse and offering treatment may help public officials and care providers reduce suicides.

National Institutes of Health, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Psychosomatic Medicine
Poor sleep in pregnancy can disrupt the immune system and cause birth-related complications
Poor sleep quality and quantity during pregnancy can disrupt normal immune processes and lead to lower birth weights and other complications, finds a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published today in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Women with depression also are more likely than non-depressed women to suffer from disturbed sleep and to experience immune system disruption and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Annals of Neurology
Uncovering a healthier remedy for chronic pain
Physicians and patients who are wary of addiction to pain medication and opioids may soon have a healthier and more natural alternative. A Duke University study revealed that a derivative of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a main ingredient of over-the-counter fish oil supplements, can sooth and prevent neuropathic pain caused by injuries to the sensory system. The results appear online in the Annals of Neurology.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013
VCU receives NIH grant to examine the biology of allergic disease
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Virginia Commonwealth University a grant totaling $1.8 million to study the biology of allergic disease -- work which may one day point researchers to the development of therapies to fight asthma, allergy and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Compound discovered at sea shows potency against anthrax
A team led by William Fenical at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered anthracimycin, a new chemical compound from an ocean microbe that could one day set the stage for new treatments for anthrax and other ailments such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

National Institutes of Health, US Department of Defense

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Molecular Therapy
Nano drug crosses blood-brain tumor barrier, targets brain-tumor cells and blood vessels
The blood-brain barrier protects the brain from poisons but also prevents drugs from reaching brain tumors. A preclinical study shows that an experimental nanotechnology drug called SapC-DOPS crosses the tumor blood-brain barrier, targets brain-tumor cells and retards growth of tumor blood vessels. The findings also show why the agent targets tumor cells and recommend the drug's further development as a novel treatment for glioblastoma.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, New Drug State Key Project

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Endocrine Disruptors
BPA + chlorine = bad news
The ubiquity of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A led researchers to ask what it might be doing in publicly supplied, chlorinated drinking water. The answer: Chlorinated BPA has different, but no less profound effects on cell-signaling networks than unmodified BPA.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Journal of Bacteriology
Researchers target the Achilles' heel of bacteria behind hospital-associated infections
Kansas State University researchers are defeating persistent bacteria known for causing infections in hospitals. They have discovered how a regulatory system helps this bacteria resist a host's innate immune defense -- a finding that may help develop novel drug compounds to fight the bacteria.

National Institutes of Health