EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Oncogene
For brain tumors, origins matter
Since stem cells and progenitor cells are regulated by different growth factors, brain tumors arising from these cells might respond differently to different therapies. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute found that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) induces stem cell growth, but inhibits neuronal progenitor growth. bFGF also blocks the growth of tumors that originate from progenitors. This study suggests bFGF-like molecules might be used to treat medulloblastoma -- but only tumors with the appropriate origins.

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

eLife
New type of bacterial protection found within cells
UC Irvine biologists have discovered that fats within cells store a class of proteins with potent antibacterial activity, revealing a previously unknown type of immune system response that targets and kills bacterial infections.

National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Science & Innovation

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Brain, Behavior and Immunity
Being neurotic, and conscientious, a good combo for health
Under certain circumstances neuroticism can be good for your health, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study showing that some self-described neurotics also tended to have the lowest levels of Interleukin 6 (IL-6), a biomarker for inflammation and chronic disease.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Aging

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Journal of Biological Chemistry
Vitamin D may prevent clogged arteries in diabetics
People with diabetes often develop clogged arteries that cause heart disease. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that when vitamin D levels are adequate in people with diabetes, blood vessels are less likely to clog. But in patients with insufficient vitamin D, immune cells bind to blood vessels near the heart, then trap cholesterol to block those blood vessels.

National Institutes of Health, American Diabetes Association, Endocrine Society, Endocrine Fellows Foundation

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Cancer Cell
Targeting downstream proteins in cancer-causing pathway shows promise in cell, animal model
The cancer-causing form of the gene Myc alters the metabolism of mitochondria, the cell's powerhouse, making it dependent on the amino acid glutamine for survival. Depriving cells of glutamine selectively induces programmed cell death in cells overexpressing mutant Myc. Using Myc-active neuroblastoma cells, a team three priotein executors of the glutamine-starved cell, representing a downstream target at which to aim drugs. Roughly 25 percent of all neuroblastoma cases are associated with Myc-active cells.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Injectable sponge delivers drugs, cells, and structure
Bioengineers at Harvard have developed a gel-based sponge that can be molded to any shape, loaded with drugs or stem cells, compressed to a fraction of its size, and delivered via injection. Once inside the body, it pops back to its original shape and gradually releases its cargo, before safely degrading.

Wyss Institute, National Institutes of Health, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Fast food menu options double; calorie counts remain high
With grilled chicken, salads and oatmeal now on fast food menus, you might think fast food has become healthier. And indeed, there has been greater attention in the media and legislatively, paid to the healthfulness of fast food. But a close look at the industry has found that calorie counts have changed little, while the number of food items has doubled.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Healthy Eating Research Program, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Translational Psychiatry
Glutamate neurotransmission system may be involved with depression risk
Researchers using a new approach to identifying genes associated with depression have found that variants in a group of genes involved in transmission of signals by the neurotransmitter glutamate appear to increase the risk of depression.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Developmental Cell
Watching the developing brain, scientists glean clues on neurological disorder
University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers track a gene's crucial role in orchestrating the placement of neurons in the developing brain. Their findings help unravel some of the mysteries of Joubert syndrome and other neurological disorders.

National Institutes of Health, NARSAD, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Molecular Systems Biology
It pays to cooperate
Yeast cells that share food have a survival edge over their freeloading neighbors -- particularly when there is bacterial competition.

National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Pew Fellowship, Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology, Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Siebel Scholarship

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Nature
Nature study reveals loss of essential blood cell gene leads to anemia
Scientists at the University of Georgia, Harvard Medical School and the University of Utah have discovered a new gene that regulates heme synthesis in red blood cell formation. Heme is the deep-red, iron-containing component of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood. The findings promise to advance the biomedical community's understanding and treatment of human anemias and mitochondrial diseases, both known and unknown.

Cooley's Anemia Foundation, March of Dimes Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH/National Heart, Lung Blood Institute

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012
Smart scaffolding aims to rebuild tissue from the inside
Scientists at Rice and the Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry received a $1.7 million, five-year grantfrom the National Institutes of Health to develop a hydrogel that can be injected into a patient to form an active biological scaffold.

NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Developmental Cell
How do cells tell time? Scientists develop single-cell imaging to watch the cell clock
A new way to visualize single-cell activity in living zebrafish embryos has allowed scientists to clarify how cells line up in the right place at the right time to receive signals about the next phase of their life.

National Institutes of Health, Association Fran�aise contre les Myopathies, Marie-Curie

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Carcinogenesis
Scientists discover how stomach cancer spreads
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that the production of a protein that prevents the growth and spread of cancerous cells is impaired in patients with gastric cancer.

North West Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012
LA BioMed's Dr. Richard Casaburi investigates causes of COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a progressive disease of the lungs that affects approximately 24 million people in the United States and is now the third leading cause of death in this country. For more than two decades, Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D., a senior investigator at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, has focused his research on developing new therapies for COPD.

NIH/National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Journal of Clinical Oncology
Terminally ill cancer patients who discuss end-of-life care early can avoid aggressive treatment
Terminally ill cancer patients who have an early talk with their physician about care at the end-of-life are less likely to receive aggressive therapy � and more likely to enter hospice care � than patients who delay such discussions until the days and weeks before death, a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, US Department of Veterans Affairs, American Cancer Society, and others

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes
Meditation may reduce death, heart attack and stroke in heart patients
Twice-a-day Transcendental Meditation helped African Americans with heart disease reduce risk of death, heart attack and stroke. Meditation helped patients lower their blood pressure, stress and anger compared with patients who attended a health education class. Regular Transcendental Meditation may improve long-term heart health.

NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Pediatrics
Smoking parents often expose children to tobacco smoke in their cars
MassGeneral Hospital for Children study suggests that parents may not recognize the dangers of smoking in their cars with a child present.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Developmental Cell
Cilia guide neuronal migration in developing brain
A new study demonstrates the dynamic role cilia play in guiding the migration of neurons in the embryonic brain. Cilia are tiny hair-like structures on the surfaces of cells, but here they are acting more like radio antennae. In developing mouse embryos, researchers were able to see cilia extending and retracting as neurons migrate. The cilia appear to be receiving signals needed for neurons to find their places.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Cancer Cell
Gene sequencing project identifies abnormal gene that launches rare childhood leukemia
Research led by the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified a fusion gene responsible for almost 30 percent of a rare subtype of childhood leukemia with an extremely poor prognosis.

Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, National Institutes of Health, ALSAC, and others.

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012
$50 million to speed discoveries for patients
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $50 million grant to help speed the translation of scientific discoveries into improvements in human health. The grant, from the National Institutes of Health, supports the School of Medicine's Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, one of 60 such centers in the United States.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Nature Genetics
Genetic link between pancreatitis and alcohol consumption, says Pitt team
A new study published online today in Nature Genetics reveals a genetic link between chronic pancreatitis and alcohol consumption. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and more than 25 other health centers across the United States found a genetic variant on chromosome X near the claudin-2 gene (CLDN2) that predicts which men who are heavy drinkers are at high risk of developing chronic pancreatitis.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Nature Genetics
Duke Medicine news -- Genome sequencing of Burkitt Lymphoma reveals unique mutation
In the first broad genetic landscape mapped of a Burkitt lymphoma tumor, scientists at Duke Medicine and their collaborators identified 70 mutations, including several that had not previously been associated with cancer and a new one that was unique to the disease.

American Cancer Society, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Journal of Clinical Investigation
Study suggests L-DOPA therapy for Angelman syndrome may have both benefits and unanticipated effects
New research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine provides a neurological justification for this therapeutic approach, but researchers caution there could be unanticipated effects.

National Institutes of Health, Simons Foundation, Angelman Syndrom Foundation, Autism Speaks

Public Release: 12-Nov-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Catch and release
A research team at Brigham and Women's Hospital has developed a novel device that may one day have broad therapeutic and diagnostic uses in the detection and capture of rare cell types, such as cancer cells, fetal cells, viruses and bacteria.

National Institutes of Health