EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012
Researchers developing bioadhesive gel to protect women from HIV and HSV infections
A new grant awarded to SRI International from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will support the development of a topical microbicide gel for drug delivery. The innovative gel formulation will be a combination therapy against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections in women.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

PLOS ONE
Researchers find driver of breast cancer stem cell metastasis
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a cancer gene linked to aggressive spread of the disease promotes breast cancer stem cells. The finding implies a new way to target the behavior of these lethal cells.

US Department of Defense/Breast Cancer Research Program, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012
President Obama selects Rutgers cell biologist Nihal Altan-Bonnet to receive prestigious award
Cell Biologist Nihal Altan-Bonnet, a researcher who has made significant advances in understanding viral replication in infected cells, is one of 96 young scientists to have received this year's Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Altan-Bonnet, whose research is funded by the NIH, is working with industry partners to design and test therapeutics targeting viral replication, to address pan viral effectiveness.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

Journal of Clinical Investigation
A new route for tackling treatment-resistant prostate cancer
Scientists have identified a new treatment target for men with advanced prostate cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy � a stage of the disease which usually proves lethal. They found that the protein paxillin regulates growth in advanced, castration-resistant prostate cancer cells � an important first step towards developing a treatment for men whose cancer prevails even after the most aggressive treatment.

NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

Journal of Neuroscience
Wayne State develops better understanding of memory retrieval between children and adults
Neuroscientists from Wayne State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking a deeper look into how the brain mechanisms for memory retrieval differ between adults and children. While the memory systems are the same in many ways, the researchers have learned that crucial functions with relevance to learning and education differ. The team's findings were published on July 17, 2012, in the Journal of Neuroscience.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

Brain, Behavior & Immunity
Mindfulness meditation reduces loneliness in older adults, Carnegie Mellon study shows
For older adults, loneliness is a major risk factor for health problems -- such as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's -- and death. A new study led by Carnegie Mellon University's J. David Creswell offers the first evidence that mindfulness meditation reduces loneliness in older adults. Published in Brain, Behavior & Immunity, the researchers also found that mindfulness meditation lowered inflammation levels, which is thought to promote the development and progression of many diseases.

National Institutes of Health, University of California Los Angeles/Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, and others

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

XIX International AIDS Conference
Phase III trial of dapivirine ring begins in Africa: New HIV prevention approach for women
A large clinical trial testing the long-term safety and effectiveness of a new approach for preventing HIV in women -- a vaginal ring used once a month -- is now underway in Africa, researchers announced today at AIDS 2012. The Phase III trial, known as ASPIRE, is testing a vaginal ring that slowly releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine over the course of a month, potentially giving women discreet, long-acting protection against HIV transmitted through sex.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012
NIH funds development of tissue chips to help predict drug safety
Seventeen National Institutes of Health grants are aimed at creating 3-D chips with living cells and tissues that accurately model the structure and function of human organs such as the lung, liver and heart. Once developed, these tissue chips will be tested with compounds known to be safe or toxic in humans to help identify the most reliable drug safety signals -- ultimately advancing research to help predict the safety of potential drugs in a faster, more cost-effective way.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012
Vanderbilt-led team to develop 'microbrain' to improve drug testing
Creating a device out of human cells that simulates brain chemistry is the goal of a $2.1 million grant which is part of major new federal initiative to develop a series of "organs on a chip" designed to improve the drug development process.

NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

Journal of Neuroscience
New research determines how a single brain trauma may lead to Alzheimer's disease
A study, performed in mice and utilizing post-mortem samples of brains from patients with Alzheimer's disease, found that a single event of a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury can disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with Alzheimer's. The paper, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, identifies the complex mechanisms that result in a rapid and robust post-injury elevation of the enzyme in the brain.

National Institutes of Health, Cure Alzheimer's Fund

Public Release: 24-Jul-2012

Journal of Neuroscience
New drug could treat Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and brain injury
A new class of drug developed at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows early promise of being a one-size-fits-all therapy for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury by reducing inflammation in the brain. A new study reports when one of the new drugs is given to a mouse genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's, it prevents the development of the disease when given during a newly identified therapeutic time window.

National Institutes of Health and others

Public Release: 23-Jul-2012
Breakthrough technology focuses in on disease traits of single cells
Professor Deirdre Meldrum, and her colleagues at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute are pioneering a kind of miniaturized laboratory for the investigation of single cells. Known as the Cellarium, this live cell array technology will enable researchers to investigate the detailed behavior of individual cells -- providing unprecedented insights into their role in disease processes.

National Institutes of Health