EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 21-Nov-2012

Science Translational Medicine
An antidote for hypersomnia
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered that dozens of adults with an elevated need for sleep have a substance in their cerebrospinal fluid that acts like a sleeping pill. Some members of this patient population appear to have a distinct, disabling sleep disorder called "primary hypersomnia," which is separate from better-known conditions such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Arthur Williams Foundation

Public Release: 21-Nov-2012

Radiology
MRI shows brain disruption in patients with post-concussion syndrome
MRI shows changes in the brains of people with post-concussion syndrome, according to a new study. Researchers hope the results point the way to improved detection and treatment for the disorder.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 21-Nov-2012

Cell
Surprise origin for coronary arteries could speed advances in regenerative medicine
During embryonic development, the all-important coronary arteries arise from cells previously considered incapable of producing them, according to scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The research, carried out in mice and published today in the online edition of the journal Cell, may speed development of regenerative therapies for heart disease.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 21-Nov-2012

PLOS ONE
MicroRNA makes triple-negative breast cancer homesick
Carcinoma cells are epithelial cells gone bad and have learned to act like neurons, inappropriately activating TrkB signaling to escape the programmed cell death known as anoikis. They do it by a mutation that nixes production of a microRNA called miR-200c. When researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center reintroduced miR-200c to aggressive, triple-negative breast cancer cells, these cells regained sensitivity to anoikis and self-destructed.

National Institutes of Health, US Department of Defense

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
More than a machine
Rather than target RNA viruses directly, aiming at the host cells they invade could hold promise, but any such strategy would have to be harmless to the host. Now, a surprising discovery made in ribosomes may point the way to fighting fatal viral infections such as rabies.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

Addiction
Impulsivity in first grade predicts problem gambling in late teen years for urban boys
Results of a Columbia University study indicate that a developmental pattern of impulsiveness in young males is linked with gambling problems in late adolescence. Respondents considered to be in the high impulsivity track as early as first grade doubled the odds of meeting criteria for at-risk/problem gambling, and tripled the odds of meeting criteria for problem gambling. The study is the first to link a developmental pattern of impulsivity and late-adolescent gambling.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

American Journal of Pathology
Researchers implicate well-known protein in fibrosis
Scientists have uncovered a new role for the protein toll-like receptor four in the development of tissue fibrosis, or scarring. This finding has implications for the treatment of scleroderma.

NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

Science
Researchers build synthetic membrane channels out of DNA
Physicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen and the University of Michigan have shown that synthetic membrane channels can be constructed through "DNA nanotechnology." This technique employs DNA molecules as programmable building materials for custom-designed, self-assembling, nanometer-scale structures. The researchers present evidence that their nature-inspired nanostructures may also behave like biological ion channels. Their results could mark a step toward applications of synthetic membrane channels as molecular sensors, antimicrobial agents, and drivers of novel nanodevices.

German Research Foundation, BMBF, ERC, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

American Journal of Pathology
Sweat glands play major role in healing human wounds, U-M research shows
U-M researchers have discovered one of the body's most powerful secret weapons in healing: sweat glands.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 20-Nov-2012

Journal of Neuroscience
Research shows diabetes drug improves memory
An FDA-approved drug initially used to treat insulin resistance in diabetics has shown promise as a way to improve cognitive performance in some people with Alzheimer's disease.

National Institutes of Health, American Health Assistance Foundation, Sealy Foundation, McCoy Foundation, Cullen Trust

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Molecular and Cellular Biology
Some cells don't know when to stop
Certain mutated cells keep trying to replicate their DNA -- with disastrous results -- even after medications rob them of the raw materials to do so, according to new research from USC.

NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Journal of Pediatrics
Smoking in pregnancy tied to lower reading scores
Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that children born to mothers who smoked more than one pack per day during pregnancy struggled on tests designed to measure how accurately a child reads aloud and comprehends what they read.

UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health, University of Bristol

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Journal of Immunology
Scripps Research Institute team identifies a potential cause of Parkinson's disease
A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has pinpointed a key factor controlling damage to brain cells in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. The discovery could lead to new targets for Parkinson's that may be useful in preventing the actual condition.

Ellison Medical Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology, Japan

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Medical Physics
New tumor tracking technique may improve outcomes for lung cancer patients
Thomas Jefferson University researchers have shown that a real-time tracking technique can better predict and track tumor motion and deliver higher levels of radiation to lung cancer patients and others with moving tumor targets, and also successfully be implemented into existing clinical equipment.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Nature Medicine
Faulty development of immature brain cells causes hydrocephalus
University of Iowa scientists have discovered a new cause of neonatal hydrocephalus. The team discovered that cell-signaling defects disrupt immature brain cells involved in normal brain development. Treatment with lithium bypasses the defect in mice and reduces the hydrocephalus.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Cell
Yeast protein breaks up amyloid fibrils and disease protein clumps differently
Hsp104, an enzyme from yeast, breaks up both amyloid fibrils and disordered clumps. Researchers show that Hsp104 switches mechanism to break up amyloid versus disordered clumps. For stable amyloid-type structures, Hsp104 needs all six of its subunits, which together make a hexamer, to pull the clumps apart. By contrast, for the more amorphous, non-amyloid clumps, Hsp104 required only one of its six subunits.

Ellison Medical Foundation, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Neurology
Kessler Foundation researchers predict hidden epidemic of neurological disability for India
This article in the Nov. 20 issue of Neurology� details a hidden epidemic of neurologic disability for India. The authors detail emerging trends contributing to this public heath problem and outline measures to stem its growth. Abhijit Das, MD, DM, Amanda Botticello, PhD, MPH, and Glenn Wylie, DPhil, are with Kessler Foundation in New Jersey. Kurupath Radhakrishnan, MD, DM, is director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Trivandrum, India.

NIH/National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research, Kessler Foundation

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Clinical Interventions in Aging
Network's 'it takes a village' approach improves dementia care and informs research, study shows
The approach of the Indianapolis Discovery Network for Dementia -- with contributions from family members, community advocates, health care systems and researchers -- improves dementia care and informs dementia research, according to a new study by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research.

NIH/National Institute on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Psychological Science
Embattled childhoods may be the real trauma for soldiers with PTSD
New research on posttraumatic stress disorder in soldiers challenges popular assumptions about the origins and trajectory of PTSD, providing evidence that traumatic experiences in childhood - not combat - may predict which soldiers develop the disorder.

Danish National Research Foundation, Danish Council for Independent Research, Royal Danish Defense College, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012
NIH awards Georgia malaria research consortium up to $19.4 million contract
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a five-year contract of up to $19.4 million, depending on contract options exercised, to establish the Malaria Host-Pathogen Interaction Center (MaHPIC). The consortium includes researchers at Emory University, with partners at the University of Georgia (UGA), the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University will administer the contract.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012
Texas Biomed files patent for a novel HIV vaccine strategy
The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has applied for a patent for a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first sites of contact with the virus.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Genes and Development
Fruit fly studies guide investigators to misregulated mechanism in human cancers
Changes in how DNA interacts with histones -- the proteins that package DNA -- regulate many fundamental cell activities from stem cells maturing into a specific body cell type or blood cells becoming leukemic. These interactions are governed by a biochemical tug of war between repressors and activators, which chemically modify histones signaling them to clamp down tighter on DNA or move aside and allow a gene to be expressed.

Stowers Institute, National Institutes of Health, Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012
Cincinnati and Boston Children's Hospitals receive an NIH Autism Center of Excellence Grant
A network of five leading medical centers, led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital, has received a five-year, $12.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to learn more about how autism develops.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

International Journal of Eating Disorders
First study of eating disorders in teen ER patients suggests an opportunity to spot hidden problems
Could the emergency room be a good place to spot undiagnosed eating disorders among teens, and help steer them to treatment? A new study suggests that could be the case.

NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Public Release: 19-Nov-2012

Archives of Internal Medicine
Electronic visits offer accurate diagnoses, may lead to overprescribing of antibiotics
One of the first studies to compare patients who see their doctors in person to those who receive care through the Internet, known as an e-visit, underscores both the promise and the pitfalls of this technology. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC found that patients who used e-visits for sinusitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs) were no more likely to need follow-up care than those who saw doctors in person.

National Institutes of Health, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center