Body

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – New research by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has illuminated in fine detail one of the genetic paths that leads to a particularly aggressive form of leukemia.

Although clubfoot is one of the most common congenital birth defects, few genetic causes have been found. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found what they believe to be the most common cause of inherited clubfoot yet discovered.

FINDINGS: Cells from frozen human blood samples can be reprogrammed to an embryonic stem-cell-like state, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. These cells can be multiplied and used to study the genetic and molecular mechanisms of blood disorders and other diseases.

A new academic study led by UCLA scientists has found that even brief exposure to ultrafine pollution particles near a Los Angeles freeway is potent enough to boost the allergic inflammation that exacerbates asthma.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. — A protein that helps pack DNA into the cell nucleus has an important role in regulating gene activity, scientists report. The researchers found that the protein, histone H1, also takes part in the formation of ribosomes, the cellular workbenches on which all proteins are made.

CINCINNATI—New research led by UC Health cardiologists shows that while short-term worsening kidney function is frequent among patients with heart failure, these patients also have better outcomes than those who have persistent kidney failure.

These findings, published in the July 2010 edition of the Journal of Cardiac Failure, could lead to more effective interventions and treatments for patients with heart failure that develop kidney problems or failure as well.

Reston, Va.—A study published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) reports on investigative research of a novel optical imaging technique called "Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI)." According to the authors, the technique could lead to the faster and more cost-effective development of radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other conditions.

A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine found that UVA radiation damages the DNA in human melanocyte cells, causing mutations that can lead to melanoma. Melanocytes, which contain a substance called melanin that darkens the skin to protect it from the ultraviolet rays of the sun, are more vulnerable to UVA radiation than normal skin cells because they are unable to repair themselves as efficiently.

St. Louis, MO, July 1, 2010 – Investigators from the University of Minnesota have found a direct association between parenting style and the frequency of meals eaten together as a family and that an authoritative parenting style was associated with more frequent family meals. Their data further indicated that family meals have a positive influence on adolescents to eat a healthy diet. The results of the study are published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Fewer males than females are surviving the negative effects of inbreeding in a reintroduced population of a rare New Zealand bird, reports new research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Studying a population of the endangered New Zealand Hihi, researchers from the Zoological Society of London found that male survival rate was 24 per cent lower than their female siblings during early development, and as chicks.

PASADENA, Calif.—The concept of pregnancy makes no sense—at least not from an immunological point of view. After all, a fetus, carrying half of its father's genome, is biologically distinct from its mother. The fetus is thus made of cells and tissues that are very much not "self"—and not-self is precisely what the immune system is meant to search out and destroy.

NEW YORK – A team of investigators led by Columbia University Medical Center has uncovered eight genes that underpin alopecia areata, one of the most common causes of hair loss, as reported in a paper in the July 1, 2010 issue of Nature. Since many of the genes are also implicated in other autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes – and treatments have already been developed that target these genes – this discovery may soon lead to new treatments for the 5.3 million Americans suffering from hair loss caused by alopecia areata.

Progress toward understanding the role of sex hormones in the growth of prostate cancer—the most common cancer in U.S. men—has been hindered by the lack of a suitable laboratory research model. Now researchers say they have developed the first model of hormone-induced human prostate cancer initiation and progression.

Their results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.