Body

Deleting the receptor, not the protein ghrelin itself, turns up the body's fat-burning thermostat, giving aging mice an exothermic boost toward a svelte physique, researchers reported at the American Society of Cell Biology's 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The protein's receptor, growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), might make a better target than ghrelin for treating obesity, according to Yuxiang Sun, M.D., Ph.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

Long considered a freewheeling loner, the Trypanosoma brucei parasite responsible for African sleeping sickness has revealed a totally unexpected social side, opening a potential chink in the behavioral armor of this and other supposedly solitary human parasites, according to research presented at the American Society for Cell Biology's 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

Small details between "in vivo" and "in vitro" studies make for big differences in understanding diabetes and other secretory dysfunctions

Exocytosis, the fundamental process by which cells secrete hormones such as insulin and other useful biological substances, is regulated far differently in life than in laboratory tissue cultures and explanted organs, according to research presented today at the American Society of Cell Biology's 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

A study from New Delhi India has revealed high rates of vitamin D deficiency among hip fracture patients, confirming the conclusions of similar international studies which point to vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for hip fracture.

A study carried out over 50 years by an international team, with the participation of the Balearic Oceanography Centre of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has confirmed an increase in the size and intensity of proliferations of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca. There are several complex reasons for this - over-fishing and the current increase in sea water temperatures.

Although rare, the true incidence of neonaticides - the unlawful killing of a baby within the first 24 hours of its life - is more than five times as common as official estimates suggest, suggests research published online in the Fetal and Neonatal edition of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Low maternal self esteem and emotional immaturity, rather than obvious mental illness or social disadvantage, are key drivers, the research indicates.

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii and the pathogenic bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis exemplify convergent evolution, the development of a similar biological trait in unrelated lineages, according to research presented today at the American Society of Cell Biology's 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The best currently available screening tests can only slightly reduce ovarian cancer deaths. That is the conclusion of new research published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results suggest that strategies other than screening, such as prevention and better treatments, will be needed to significantly lower the number of women who die from ovarian cancer.

DURHAM, NC – Cancer prevention experts have long been frustrated by the lack of a meaningful way to screen women for ovarian cancer. It is a relatively rare disease that often progresses with few symptoms until it is too late for potentially curative treatments, and elevated values of the most commonly used biomarker used in screening, CA125, are also related to other disorders.

The Egyptian vulture population of the Canary Islands was established following the arrival of the first human settlers who brought livestock to the islands. A genetic comparison of Iberian and Canarian birds, published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, found that the Egyptian vulture population in the Canary Islands was likely established around 2500 years ago – around the same time as humans began to colonise the islands.

Research published today identifies two genetic variants that increase the risk of developing endometriosis, a common gynaecological disease. The study provides clues to the origin of this often very painful condition, which has a significant impact on the quality of life of sufferers.

CINCINNATI –For the first time, scientists have created functioning human intestinal tissue in the laboratory from pluripotent stem cells.

In a study posted online Dec. 12 by Nature, scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center say their findings will open the door to unprecedented studies of human intestinal development, function and disease. The process is also a significant step toward generating intestinal tissue for transplantation, researchers say.