A new study in the Journal of General Physiology (www.jgp.org) uses state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy to provide a striking 3-D picture of how class V myosins (myoV) "walk" along their actin track.
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Glioblastomas grow extremely aggressively into healthy brain tissue and, moreover, are highly resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, they are regarded as the most malignant type of brain tumor. Currently available treatment methods are frequently not very effective against this type of cancer. Glioblastoma can affect people of all ages, but is less common in children than in adults.
Researchers in Lille and Paris demonstrated that mutations in the melatonin receptor gene (melatonin or the "hormone of darkness" induces sleep) lead to an almost sevenfold increase in the risk of developing diabetes. This research, which was published in Nature Genetics on 29 January 2012, could contributed to the development of new drugs for the treatment or prevention of this metabolic disease.
A new family of proteins which regulate the human body's 'hypoxic response' to low levels of oxygen has been discovered by scientists at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary, University of London and The University of Nottingham.
The discovery has been published in the international journal Nature Cell Biology. It marks a significant step towards understanding the complex processes involved in the hypoxic response which, when it malfunctions, can cause and affect the progress of many types of serious disease, including cancer.
The week before and two weeks after surgery are a critical period for the long-term survival rate of cancer patients. Physiological and psychological stresses caused by the surgery itself can inhibit the body's immune responses, heightening vulnerability to tumor progression and spreading.
A study based on more than 87,000 women and 47,000 men in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, looks at whether there is a link between colon cancer and alcohol, and if so at what level of consumption, and the importance of a family history of the disease. A total of 1,801 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed during follow-up from 1980 onwards.
Smoking doubles the risk of developing oesophageal cancer in people with Barrett's Oesophagus, according to scientists at Queen's University Belfast and the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry.
Affecting one in every 100 people in the UK, Barrett's Oesophagus is a disorder in which the lining of the oesophagus is damaged by stomach acid and is changed to a lining similar to that of the stomach.
London -- New guidelines from the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) aimed at minimising surgical infection in day centres and primary care are now published in the Journal of Hospital Infection.
The Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, has experimentally confirmed a theory by Rice University Professor Boris Yakobson that foretold a pair of interesting properties about nanotube growth: That the chirality of a nanotube controls the speed of its growth, and that armchair nanotubes should grow the fastest.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Divorce at a younger age hurts people's health more than divorce later in life, according to a new study by a Michigan State University sociologist.
Hui Liu said the findings, which appear in the research journal Social Science & Medicine, suggest older people have more coping skills to deal with the stress of divorce.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- First there is the tumor and then there's the horrible question of whether the cancerous cells will spread. Scientists increasingly believe that the structural properties of the tumor itself, such as how tightly the tumor cells are packed together, play a decisive role in the progression of the disease. In a new study, researchers show that the protein Pannexin1, known to have tumor-suppressive properties, plays an important role in keeping the cells within a tissue closely packed together, an effect that may be lost with cancer.
For immediate release -- A meta-analysis done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease.
Barrett's esophagus (BE) patients who smoke tobacco are at a two-fold increased risk of developing esophageal cancer, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. BE patients who smoke also double their risk for developing advanced precancerous cells.
Stem cells derived from fat have a surprising trick up their sleeves: Encouraged to develop on a stiff surface, they undergo a remarkable transformation toward becoming mature muscle cells. The new research appears in the journal Biomaterials. The new cells remain intact and fused together even when transferred to an extremely stiff, bone-like surface, which has University of California, San Diego bioengineering professor Adam Engler and colleagues intrigued. These cells, they suggest, could hint at new therapeutic possibilities for muscular dystrophy.
A new study shows the production of sperm is more biologically taxing than previously thought, and expending energy on it has significant health implications.
In research published in PLoS ONE, Dr Damian Dowling of Monash University's School of Biological Sciences and Professor Leigh Simmons of the University of Western Australia have investigated the trade-off between sperm quality and immunity.