EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 11-Jun-2013

PLOS Biology
Researchers discover 2-step mechanism of inner ear tip link regrowth
A team of NIH-supported researchers is the first to show, in mice, an unexpected two-step process that happens during the growth and regeneration of inner ear tip links. Tip links are extracellular tethers that link stereocilia, the tiny sensory projections on inner ear hair cells that convert sound into electrical signals, and play a key role in hearing. The discovery offers a possible mechanism for potential interventions that could preserve hearing in people.

NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders

Public Release: 6-Jun-2013

Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association
Minor changes in cardiovascular health reduce chances of stroke
A report published in Stroke showed that small improvements in cardiovascular risk factors reduce the chances a person will suffer a stroke.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Nature
NIH scientists discover how HIV kills immune cells
Untreated HIV infection destroys a person's immune system by killing infection-fighting cells, but precisely when and how HIV wreaks this destruction has been a mystery until now. New research by scientists at NIAID reveals how HIV triggers a signal telling an infected immune cell to die. This finding has implications for preserving the immune systems of HIV-infected individuals.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Health Datapalooza
NIH, ONC, and EPA award $100,000 to winner of health and technology challenge
New technology that creates a personal, portable, and wearable air pollution sensor, developed under the My Air, My Health Challenge, was announced today at the Health Datapalooza in Washington, D.C. The grand prize of $100,000 was awarded to Conscious Clothing.

NIH/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 3-Jun-2013
NIH to fund clinical research network on antibacterial resistance
Duke University, Durham, NC, has been awarded $2 million to initiate a new clinical research network focused on antibacterial resistance. Total funding for the leadership group cooperative agreement award could reach up to $62 million through 2019. Funding is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 30-May-2013

Neuropsychopharmacology
Ketamine cousin rapidly lifts depression without side effects
GLYX-13, a molecular cousin to ketamine, induces similar antidepressant results without the street drug side effects, reported a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health that was published last month in Neuropsychopharmacology.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 23-May-2013

Science
Ferrets, pigs susceptible to H7N9 avian influenza virus
Chinese and US scientists have used a virus isolated from a person who died from H7N9 avian influenza infection to determine whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are often used as a mammalian model in influenza research, and efficient transmission of influenza virus between ferrets can provide clues as to how well the same process might occur in people.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 23-May-2013

Science
NIH scientists discover molecule triggers sensation of itch
Scientists report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.

NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Public Release: 22-May-2013

Nature
Novel approach for influenza vaccination shows promise in early animal testing
A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets. The vaccine concept, which was developed by scientists at NIAID, represents an important step forward in the quest to develop a universal influenza vaccine -- one that would protect against most or all influenza strains without the need for an annual vaccination.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 22-May-2013

Nature
NIH researchers conduct first genomic survey of human skin fungal diversity
In the first study of human fungal skin diversity, National Institutes of Health researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi at skin sites of healthy adults to define the normal populations across the skin and to provide a framework for investigating fungal skin conditions. The study appears in the May 22, 2013, early online issue of Nature.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 22-May-2013

Neuron
Taming suspect gene reverses schizophrenia-like abnormalities in mice
Scientists have reversed behavioral and brain abnormalities in adult mice that resemble some features of schizophrenia, by restoring normal expression to a suspect gene that is over-expressed in humans with the illness. Targeting expression of the gene Neuregulin1, which makes a protein important for brain development, may hold promise for treating at least some patients with the brain disorder.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 21-May-2013

American Thoracic Society 2013 International Conference

New England Journal of Medicine
Tonsil surgery improves some behaviors in children with sleep apnea syndrome
Children with sleep apnea syndrome who have their tonsils and adenoids removed sleep better, are less restless and impulsive, and report a generally better quality of life, finds a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, the study found cognitive abilities did not improve compared with children who did not have surgery, and researchers say the findings don't mean surgery is an automatic first choice.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-May-2013
Study of 'screen time' on mood, memory, and cognition wins top NIH Addiction Science Award
An exploration of electronic "screen time" and sleep on mood, memory and learning was given the top Addiction Science Award at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair -- the world's largest science competition for high school students. The awards are coordinated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, and Friends of NIDA, a coalition that supports NIDA's mission.

NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

Public Release: 13-May-2013

JAMA Psychiatry
Flu in pregnancy may quadruple child's risk for bipolar disorder
Flu in pregnant mothers has been linked to a nearly fourfold increased risk that their child might develop bipolar disorder in adulthood. The findings add to mounting evidence of possible shared underlying causes and illness processes with schizophrenia, which some studies have also linked to prenatal exposure to influenza.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-May-2013

Nature
Researchers take important step in unlocking what causes congenital heart disease
Findings from the first large-scale sequencing analysis of congenital heart disease bring us closer to understanding this most common type of birth defect.

NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Science
NIH scientists create new tool for identifying powerful HIV antibodies
A team of NIH scientists has developed a new tool to identify broadly neutralizing antibodies capable of preventing infection by the majority of HIV strains found around the globe, an advance that could help speed HIV vaccine research.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Science
Bacterial infection in mosquitoes renders them immune to malaria parasites
Scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, have established an inheritable bacterial infection in malaria-transmitting Anopheles mosquitoes that renders them immune to malaria parasites. Specifically, the scientists infected the mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium common among insects that previously has been shown to prevent malaria-inducing Plasmodium parasites from developing in Anopheles mosquitoes.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 5-May-2013

ARVO 2013 Annual Meeting

JAMA
NIH study provides clarity on supplements for protection against blinding eye disease
Adding omega-3 fatty acids did not improve a combination of nutritional supplements commonly recommended for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of vision loss among older Americans, according to a study from NIH. The plant-derived antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin also had no overall effect on AMD when added to the combination; however, they were safer than the related antioxidant beta-carotene.

NIH/National Eye Institute

Public Release: 5-May-2013

Nature Neuroscience
Media advisory: Brain cell injections may quiet epileptic seizures
NIH-funded researchers at the University of California at San Francisco used a mouse model of epilepsy to show that transplanting new born inhibitory nerve cells can quiet seizures.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Public Release: 3-May-2013

Prescription Drug Abuse Panel
NIDA's Dr. Volkow joins President Clinton on Clinton Foundation's prescription drug abuse panel
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, will join President Bill Clinton, New York dignitaries, and college students from New York University for a panel discussion on prescription drug abuse. The panel will address prescription drug abuse, particularly among 18- to 26-year-olds, and how the Clinton Foundation's Clinton Health Matters Initiative can work with others to contribute to solutions in New York and nationwide.

Public Release: 2-May-2013

Cell Reports
NIH study uses Botox to find new wrinkle in brain communication
National Institutes of Health researchers used the popular anti-wrinkle agent Botox to discover a new and important role for a group of molecules that nerve cells use to quickly send messages. This novel role for the molecules, called SNARES, may be a missing piece that scientists have been searching for to fully understand how brain cells communicate under normal and disease conditions.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Nature
Endometrial and acute myeloid leukemia cancer genomes characterized
Two studies from the Cancer Genome Atlas program reveal details about the genomic landscapes of acute myeloid leukemia and endometrial cancer. Both provide new insights into the molecular underpinnings of these cancers with the potential to improve treatment. These studies represent the sixth and seventh in a series of genomes of at least 20 major cancers.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 1-May-2013
NIH awards $40 million in grants to reduce stroke disparities in the US
Four research centers will develop high-impact culturally tailored interventions aimed at lowering stroke risk among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Together the centers are expected to receive $40 million in funding over five years, contingent on the availability of funds from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

mBio
Cell response to new coronavirus unveils possible paths to treatments
IH-supported scientists used lab-grown human lung cells to study the cells' response to infection by a novel human coronavirus (called nCoV) and compiled information about which genes are significantly disrupted in early and late stages of infection. The information about host response to nCoV allowed the researchers to predict drugs that might be used to inhibit either the virus itself or the deleterious responses that host cells make in reaction to infection.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Science
Membrane remodeling: Where yoga meets cell biology
Endocytosis lets cells absorb nutrients, import growth factors, prevent infections and accomplish many other vital tasks. This study suggests that, in contrast to earlier theories, dynamin proteins and membrane lipids work together synergistically. Also, GTP completes the final act of separation (membrane fission) not through brute force, but by encouraging the highly stressed membrane to relax.

National Institutes of Health