General

Scientists from ETH Zurich and the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have shown that chaperone proteins dynamically bind to the Parkinson protein α-​synuclein. If this interaction is disturbed, it leads to cell damage and the formation of aggregates typical for the disease. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the progressive death of […]

Research on immune cells “exhausted” by chronic viral infection provides clues on how to refine cancer immunotherapy. The results were published in Immunity. Scientists at Emory Vaccine Center, led by Rafi Ahmed, PhD, have learned about exhausted CD8 T cells, based on studying mice with chronic viral infections. In the […]

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health found that women who use permanent hair dye and chemical hair straighteners have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who don’t use these products. The study published online in the International Journal of Cancer and suggests that breast cancer risk […]

Colorectal cancer is the second most common type of cancer worldwide, with about 90% of cases occurring in people 50 or older. Arising from the inner surface, or muscosal layer, of the colon, cancerous cells can penetrate through the deeper layers of the colon and spread to other organs. Left […]

Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow or even reverse the cognitive decline that comes with age. In a publication appearing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, University of California, Berkeley, and Ben-Gurion University scientists report that senile mice given one such drug had fewer signs of […]

A research team led by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has found that a drug approved by the FDA to treat rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis can repair permeability defects in the gut’s epithelium. Affecting roughly 1 million Americans, ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of […]

A new University of Toronto study sheds light on how protein strains vary in the brains of those affected by progressive neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, suggesting the need for patient-specific medicines. Their research findings, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, have important implications for people who are affected by progressive neurodegenerative diseases, and […]

A single dose of radiotherapy is as “effective” as five doses for end-of-life cancer patients suffering with painful spinal canal compression, finds a large study conducted by UCL, including The University of Manchester. Spinal canal compression is a common complication in cancer patients when the cancer has spread to their […]

Long-term treatment with gabapentin, a commonly prescribed drug for nerve pain, could help restore upper limb function after a spinal cord injury, new research in mice suggests. In the study, mice treated with gabapentin regained roughly 60 percent of forelimb function in a skilled walking test, compared to restoration of […]

Obesity and gum (periodontal) disease are among the most common non-communicable diseases in the United States—and studies show these chronic conditions may be related. This new study explores the effect of obesity on non-surgical periodontal care and evaluates potential pathways that may illustrate the connection between the two conditions. The […]

Learned fear responses enable animals — including humans — to flee or freeze in the face of a perceived threat. But if these behaviors persist after the danger lifts, they can become paralyzing and disabling. That’s a key element of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To explore how fear becomes entrenched, […]

Aging is associated with increased inflammation and metabolic disease, including the accumulation of visceral fat — fat stored in the abdominal cavity — which is thought to contribute to inflammation. New research from University of Minnesota faculty member Christina Camell has helped uncover why visceral fat increases with age and points to […]

Women in rural communities experience higher rates of life-threatening complications during or after childbirth than mothers in urban cities, a new study finds. Maternal deaths and deliveries requiring emergency, life-saving treatment are increasing among both rural and urban residents, up from 109 to 152 per 10,000 childbirth hospitalizations, the new […]

Study on babies in Botswana provides strong evidence that early initiation of ART may benefit those who contract HIV at birth. HIV infection among infants remains an enormous global health challenge. Each day, 300 to 500 infants in sub-Saharan Africa become infected with the virus. HIV progresses much faster in […]

A new partnership between the University of Alberta and Atlas Biotechnologies will explore the use of medical cannabis for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases. “People are touting (cannabis) for all kinds of things, but without solid scientific evidence,” said Ross Tsuyuki, chair of the U of A’s Department […]

New research sets the stage for exploring a potential cause of Alzheimer’s and a different approach to treating it. New research has found that the most common version of a protein called CD33 plays a crucial role in regulating white blood cells in the human brain, which could have important […]

Type 2 diabetics inject themselves with insulin, a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into liver, muscle and fat cells, up to four times a day. But insulin injections are linked to weight gain and the loss of control of blood sugar levels. This triggers a vicious cycle of […]

All neurodegenerative diseases have a common thread: the appearance of protein clumps in the brain such as amyloid-beta plaques in Alzheimer’s disease and alpha-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson’s. The root cause of this buildup has been hard to pinpoint, but Rockefeller scientists have identified a likely culprit that opens up a […]

Scientists are developing a new way to identify the unique chemical ‘fingerprints’ for different types of breast cancers. These new chemical footprints will be used to train AI software – creating a new tool for rapid and accurate diagnosis of breast cancers. The team of researchers from Lancaster University and […]

Researchers from the University of Georgia, Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh have received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test a novel method of producing viable sperm cells from skin cells. The project could mark a pivotal advancement in therapies […]

Scientists are talking about personalized cancer treatment for decades. Each body is different and each cancer case is at least a little bit different, which is why personalized, custom-tailored treatment strategies are desired. And now this goal is coming closer to reality as scientists from the University of Waterloo found […]

In a paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago researchers and colleagues report a new mechanism for detecting foreign material during early immune responses. Viruses, bacteria and cancer have many ways to replicate and survive in our bodies. For viruses and bacteria, they invade […]

Pancreatic cancer is resistant to all current treatments. Patients have extremely poor chances of surviving for five years after being diagnosed. A new Tel Aviv University study finds that a small molecule has the ability to induce the self-destruction of pancreatic cancer cells. The research was conducted with xenografts — transplantations of […]

All babies born to mothers infected with HIV are exposed to the virus in utero, but not all of them become infected with it. Yet, all pregnant women in the U.S. with HIV receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), so both infected and uninfected babies exposed to HIV in utero are exposed […]

Soft tissue sarcoma cells stop a key metabolic process which allows them to multiply and spread, and so restarting that process could leave these cancers vulnerable to a variety of treatments. The enzyme that controls the process is called FBP2, and researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of […]

Imagine if a computer could learn from molecules found in nature and use an algorithm to generate new ones. Then imagine those molecules could get printed and tested in a lab against some of the nastiest, most dangerous bacteria out there—bacteria quickly becoming resistant to our current antibiotic options. Or […]

Binge drinking and alcoholism affect tens of millions of people throughout the country. While it’s certainly a social issue, research has shown that the behaviors and dependencies can have neurological roots. For her work investigating how alcohol and other commonly misused drugs hijack the brain’s adaptability — which leads to […]

Materials scientists at the University of California, Riverside and The University of Texas at Austin have demonstrated that it is possible to achieve photon up-conversion, the emission of light with energy higher than the one that excites the material, when using carefully designed structures containing silicon nanocrystals and specialized organic […]

Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine identified a new gene mutation that may cause a type of familial thyroid cancer. Dr. Darrin Bann, an otolaryngology resident at the College of Medicine and lead author of the study, said that this mutation is the first and only mutation associated with familial thyroid […]

Cancer is  not a rare disease. Depending on your lifestyle, age, sex, genetics and many other factors, you can be likely to get cancer in your lifetime. But aren’t we overestimating the risk of this disease? Scientists from University of Sydney and Bond University say that estimates provided by Australian […]