Body

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered how abscisic acid, a natural plant hormone with known beneficial properties for the treatment of disease, helps fight inflammation. The results (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/210882970), which are published in the November 2010 Journal of Biological Chemistry, reveal important new drug targets for the development of treatments for inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases.

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered some of the key molecular events in the immune system that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease. The results, which help researchers move one step further in their efforts to develop new drugs to treat inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, are reported in the November 2010 edition (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21068720) of the journal Mucosal Immunology from the Nature Publishing Group.

Scientists have sequenced the genome of a major fungal disease that affects barley and other cereal crops, a breakthrough that could lead to significant advances in our understanding of how plant diseases evolve. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that parasites within the genome of the fungus help the disease to adapt and overcome the plant's defences.

Norwich scientists are on the trail of some of the most economically damaging organisms that infect crops worldwide. Their latest targets are the parasitic water fungus that causes powdery mildew and the water molds that cause late blight in potatoes and tomatoes and downy mildew in cruciferous vegetables and other crops.

Research, led by the University of Warwick, The Sainsbury Laboratory, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), has sequenced the genome of a plant disease causing organism revealing that it acts like a "stealth bomber of plant pathogens". The research has uncovered the tactics used to sneak past the plant's immune defences. That same discovery also provides tools for researchers to identify the components of the plant immune system and devise new ways to prevent disease.

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Massachusetts General Hospital have found that warfarin, a known anticoagulation (blood-thinning) drug, may not be as beneficial to some patients with atrial fibrillation as previously thought.

These findings were published online this week ahead of print in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Warfarin is commonly prescribed to prevent blood clotting, particularly for patients with atrial fibrillation—a type of abnormal heart rhythm.

Alzheimer and heart attacks have been found to share common genetic basis. The research leads the way to the first genetic test on developing the risk of the diseases even at a young age. According to Federico Licastro, an immunologist at the University of Bologna who coordinated the study published in the scientific journal, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, a test is now ready. "They are already selling it in America", he says, citing the case of a private firm in New Mexico (USA) that collaborated on the study.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Remarkable progress in understanding how stem cell biology works has been reported by a team of leading scientists, directed by experts at UC Santa Barbara. Their research has been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Stem cell biology is making waves around the world with great hope for the eventual repair of parts of the body. While many scientists see these breakthroughs as viable, there are hurdles that must be overcome, including the worrisome potential for introducing cancer when making a repair to an organ.

SAN ANTONIO — The long-awaited results of the Adjuvant Treatment with Zoledronic Acid in Stage II/III Breast Cancer, the AZURE trial, will be presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held here Dec. 8-12.

"Adjuvant use of bisphosphonates like zoledronic acid is widespread among women with breast cancer, and the results of this trial will help answer many questions as well invite new ones," said Robert Coleman, M.D., professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A wave of reptile extinctions on the Greek islands over the past 15,000 years may offer a preview of the way plants and animals will respond as the world rapidly warms due to human-caused climate change, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.

Despite their initial focus on national economic competitiveness, the nanotechnology research initiatives now funded by more than 60 countries have become increasingly collaborative, with nearly a quarter of all papers co-authored by researchers across borders.

A novel strategy of blocking the growth of blood vessels with antibodies should result in improved treatment of cancerous tumors.