EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 2-Jul-2012

Cancer Research
Single protein promotes resistance to widely used anti-estrogen drugs
Researchers at Georgetown have uncovered a single molecule they say is a major determinant of resistance to anti-estrogen therapy used to treat or prevent breast cancer in high-risk women. The scientists say glucose-regulated protein 78, activated as breast cells undergo stress induced by the agents tamoxifen and fulvestrant, turns off apoptosis, a cell death response, and turns on autophagy.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature
Potential treatment target identified in an animal model of pancreatic cancer
Detailed analysis of genes expressed in circulating tumor cells -- cells that break off from solid tumors and travel through the bloodstream -- has identified a potential treatment target in metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Stand Up to Cancer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Warshaw Institute for Pancreatic Cancer Research

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature Materials
Penn researchers improve living tissues with 3-D printed vascular networks made from sugar
New advances in tissue engineering could one day make a replacement liver from a patient's cells, or animal muscle tissue that could be cut into steaks. One problem with making 3-D tissue structures, however, is keeping the interior cells from suffocating. Now, University of Pennsylvania researchers have developed an innovative solution: they've shown that 3-D printed templates of filament networks can be used to rapidly create vasculature and improve the function of engineered living tissues.

National Institutes of Health, Penn Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration, American Heart Association, Jon Holden DeHaan Foundation

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature Methods
Scripps Research Institute Scientists Develop Alternative to Gene Therapy
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have discovered a surprisingly simple and safe method to disrupt specific genes within cells. The scientists highlighted the medical potential of the new technique by demonstrating its use as a safer alternative to an experimental gene therapy against HIV infection.

National Institutes of Health, Skaggs Institute of Chemical Biology at Scripps Research

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature Neuroscience
Why chronic pain is all in your head
Why do some people with similar injuries end up with chronic pain while others recover and are pain free? The first longitudinal brain imaging study to track participants with a new back injury shows that the more two sections of the brain related to emotional and motivational behavior communicate, the greater likelihood a patient will develop chronic pain. Researchers were able to predict, at the beginning of the study, which participants would go on to develop chronic pain based on the level of brain interaction.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature Biotechnology
An error-eliminating fix overcomes big problem in '3rd-gen' genome sequencing
A team has developed a software package that fixes a serious problem inherent in "3rd-gen" single-molecule genome sequencing: the fact that every fifth or sixth DNA "letter" it generates is incorrect. The high error rate is the flip side of the new method's chief virtue: it generates much longer genome "reads," providing a much more complete picture of genomes.

US Department of Homeland Security, US Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Public Release: 1-Jul-2012

Nature
Beyond base pairs: Mapping the functional genome
In a paper published in the July 1, 2012, issue of the journal Nature, researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine open the book further, mapping for the first time a significant portion of the functional sequences of the mouse genome, the most widely used mammalian model organism in biomedical research.

NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012

Molecular Cancer Research
New marker, new target in Ewing's sarcoma
Study published this week in Molecular Cancer Research implicates the protein EYA3 in Ewing's sarcoma chemoresistance. Checking level could help offer accurate prognosis and aid in treatment decisions, and could eventually provide a therapeutic target.

NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
New study finds low rates of biopsy contribute to celiac disease underdiagnosis in US
Under-performance of small bowel biopsy during endoscopy may be a major reason that celiac disease remains underdiagnosed in the United States, according to a new study published online recently in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Investigators at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) found that the rate of small bowel biopsy is low in this country.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012

Neuroscience
Easter Island drug raises cognition throughout life span
Rapamycin, a compound first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in a study of young, middle-aged and older mice. The findings are from the School of Medicine and Barshop Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer's Association, Ellison Medical Foundation

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012

Psychological Science
University of Pittsburgh study reveals moderate doses of alcohol increase social bonding in groups
A new study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers reveals that moderate amounts of alcohol--consumed in a social setting--can enhance positive emotions and social bonding and relieve negative emotions among those drinking.

NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012
AFAR's MSTAR program addresses shortage of geriatric medicine physicians
One hundred forty-seven students from some of the nation's top medical schools are entering a unique program addressing the shortage of physicians specially trained to care for America's older adults -- a shortage that is expected to get far worse in coming years. The American Federation for Aging Research's Medical Student Training in Aging Research Program, funded through a private-public partnership, addresses this issue by exposing future physicians to geriatric medicine experiences early in their careers.

MetLife Foundation, John A. Hartford Foundation, NIH/National Institute on Aging

Public Release: 29-Jun-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Acoustic tweezers capture tiny creatures with ultrasound
A device about the size of a dime can manipulate living materials such as blood cells and entire small organisms, using sound waves, according to a team of bioengineers and biochemists from Penn State.

National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health