EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

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Public Release: 6-Aug-2009

Science
Researchers identify itch-specific neurons in mice, hope for better treatments
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that itch-specific neurons exist in mice, and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord. The researchers say they can knock out an animal's itch response without affecting its ability to sense pain.

NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Public Release: 5-Aug-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Gene shut-down may offer early warning of chronic leukemia
A new study shows that certain genes are turned off early in the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), before clinical signs of the disease appear. The study examined cancer cells from CLL patients and from a new strain of mice that develops a very similar disease. The findings suggest that epigenetic alterations might serve as markers for detecting CLL early and for monitoring progression, and that their reversal might delay or prevent progression.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, D. Warren Brown Foundation, private donors

Public Release: 5-Aug-2009

Nature
UNC researchers decode structure of an entire HIV genome
The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies that viruses, like the one that causes AIDS, use to infect humans. The study, the cover story in the Aug. 6, 2009, issue of the journal Nature, also opens the door for further research which could accelerate the development of antiviral drugs.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 5-Aug-2009

Obesity
New research links social stress to harmful fat deposits, heart disease
A new study done by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that social stress could be an important precursor to heart disease by causing the body to deposit more fat in the abdominal cavity, speeding the harmful buildup of plaque in blood vessels, a stepping stone to the number one cause of death in the world.

NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Public Release: 4-Aug-2009

Twin Research and Human Genetics
Genetic risk, not anesthesia exposure, impacts cognitive performance
A recent study of more than 2,000 identical twins found that medical problems early in life, rather than the neurotoxic effects of anesthesia, are likely linked to an individual's risk for developing learning disabilities.

Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 4-Aug-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Silenced genes as a warning sign of blood cancer
In the genetic material of cancer cells, important growth inhibitors are often switched off by chemical labels in the DNA. How this happens has been investigated by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center in collaboration with colleagues from the Ohio State University in the United States. They discovered in mice that cancer-typical DNA labeling occurs long before the first symptoms of leukemia appear. A test for the genetic label might therefore help to detect a developing cancer at an early point.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Public Release: 4-Aug-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Pitt researchers find promising candidate protein for cancer prevention vaccines
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have learned that some healthy people naturally developed an immune response against a protein that is made in excess levels in many cancers, including breast, lung, and head and neck cancers. The finding suggests that a vaccine against the protein might prevent malignancies in high-risk individuals.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, Dana Foundation

Public Release: 4-Aug-2009

JAMA
Older adults subjected to abuse or self-neglect at greater risk of mortality
Older adults who are subjected to abuse or self-neglect face a greater risk of premature death than other seniors, according to a study published in the Aug. 5 issue of JAMA.

Paul B. Beeson Research in Aging Program, NIH/National Institute on Aging, American Federation for Aging Research, Starr Foundation, John A. Hartford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies

Public Release: 3-Aug-2009

Journal of Cell Biology
Researchers identify new function for protein missing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and National Institutes of Health have identified a new function for the protein missing in people with the most common and ultimately lethal form of childhood muscular dystrophy.

NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Public Release: 3-Aug-2009

Journal of Family Issues
For struggling single moms, 3-generation households are better than 2
The findings of a new study to appear in the November 2009 Journal of Family Issues and now available online indicate children living in single-mother families that also include a grandparent are substantially less likely to be living below or near the poverty line compared to children living in mother-only homes.

NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH/National Institute on Aging

Public Release: 3-Aug-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers effectively treat tumors with use of nanotubes
By injecting man-made, microscopic tubes into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second zap of a laser, scientists have discovered a way to effectively kill kidney tumors in nearly 80 percent of mice. Researchers say that the finding suggests a potential future cancer treatment for humans.

NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 3-Aug-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Gene signature for cancer stem cells may provide drug targets
A subset of tumor cells that remain after a woman with breast cancer undergoes treatment with either anti-cancer or anti-hormone therapy shows a "gene signature" that could be used to define targets for developing new drugs against the disease.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Helis Foundation, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Breakthrough Research Unit in Edinburgh, Cancer Research UK, National Institutes of Health, Glaxo Smith Kline, US Army

Public Release: 30-Jul-2009

Molecular Therapy
UF scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells
University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people. The success implies that blood stem cells taken from bone marrow can be programmed to restore a variety of cells and tissues, including ones involved in cardiovascular disorders.

NIH/National Eye Institute

Public Release: 30-Jul-2009

Journal of Gerontology -- Medical Sciences
Risk of frailty in older women dependent on multisystem abnormalities
A study in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences reports that the condition of frailty in older adults is associated with a critical mass of abnormal physiological systems, over and above the status of each individual system. This research is the first evidence that frailty is related to the number of abnormal physiological systems.

NIH/National Institute on Aging

Public Release: 30-Jul-2009

PLoS Genetics
Researchers uncover genetic link to age-related cataracts
Bing-Cheng Wang, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of pharmacology and senior staff scientist at MetroHealth Medical Center, and Sudha K. Iyengar, Ph.D. professor of genetic and molecular epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have discovered the first gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts, a leading causes of blindness.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases, NIH/National Eye Institute, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

Public Release: 29-Jul-2009

Cancer
Physician trust, early screening reduces disparities for prostate cancer
Men who have a regular, ongoing relationship with a health-care provider are more likely to receive prostate cancer screening and less likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, regardless of their race, according to a University of North Carolina study published in the current issue of the journal Cancer.

US Department of Defense, NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 29-Jul-2009

Neuron
Why we learn more from our successes than our failures
In the July 30 issue of the journal Neuron, Earl K. Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience, and MIT colleagues Mark Histed and Anitha Pasupathy have created for the first time a unique snapshot of the learning process that shows how single cells change their responses in real time as a result of information about what is the right action and what is the wrong one.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Tourette's Syndrome Association

Public Release: 28-Jul-2009

Journal of Biological Chemistry
Fox Chase researchers uncover one force behind the MYC oncogene in many cancers
DLX5, a gene crucial for embryonic development, promotes cancer by activating the expression of the known oncogene, MYC, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. Since the DLX5 gene is inactive in normal adults, it may be an ideal target for future anti-cancer drugs, they reason.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Public Release: 28-Jul-2009

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
Common household pesticides linked to childhood cancer cases in Washington area
A study by Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between 3 and 7 years of age. The findings, published in the August issue of the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, should not be seen as cause-and-effect, but suggests an association between pesticide exposure and development of childhood ALL.

NIH/National Cancer Institute