Body

Oxidative stress is believed to cause a number of diseases. Up to now, it has been common practice to measure oxidative stress levels by determining the oxidation state of a small molecule called glutathione in cell extracts. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have been the first to discover that cells under stress deposit their oxidized glutathione in a cellular waste repository. This protects cells from oxidative stress – and questions the validity of the conventional measuring method.

Scientists from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Japan and University of California Los Angeles report a new nanoscale Velcro-like device that captures and releases tumor cells that have broken away from primary tumors and are circulating in the bloodstream.This new nanotechnology could be used for cancer diagnosis and give insight into the mechanisms of how cancer spreads throughout the body. The device provides a convenient and non-invasive alternative to biopsy, the current method for diagnosis of metastatic cancer.

WASHINGTON -- A new study by Georgetown University Medical Center researchers reveals how a well-known tumor suppressor gene may be functioning to stop cancer cell growth.

The findings, published online today in Oncogene, focus on the gene BRCA1, which is mutated in a majority of families who have hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancers, according to senior author Ronit I. Yarden, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Human Science at the School of Nursing & Health Studies.

Even when provided with complex combinations of different wet and dry foods, cats are able to select and combine the foods in different amounts to achieve a consistent intake of protein, fat and carbohydrate, i.e. macronutrient intake. Published this month in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B, the research shows that cats regulate their macronutrient intake by altering their food selection despite differences in the macronutrient content, moisture level and texture of foods.

The species in question is the fruit fly Drosophila mauritiana, a close relative of the well known (and previously sequenced) Drosophila melanogaster that swarms around our fruit bowls in summer. Nolte and colleagues now present a complete genomic sequence, annotating it to indicate the various genes it contains. The information will naturally be extremely useful to all those who are working on this organism.

With a single social-media misstep, student-athletes could lose athletic eligibility or a scholarship. But that's not stopping them from using Twitter – sometimes even during games, when they may see harsh criticism of their performances from fans, according to a study by Baylor University and Clemson University researchers.

A new analysis has found that loading up on snack foods may increase cancer risk in individuals with an inborn susceptibility to colorectal and other cancers. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that an eating pattern low in snack foods could help these individuals—who have a condition called Lynch syndrome—lower their risk.

Asthmatic children in New York City neighborhoods with high rates of asthma make many more visits to the emergency room (ER) than those who live in other parts of the city. While socioeconomic factors such as lack of adequate preventive care are part of the equation (high-asthma neighborhoods tend to be lower income), new research points to a possible biological basis for the disparity. Asthmatic children living in asthma hotspots were twice as likely to experience a common symptom known as exercise-induced wheeze than were those in neighborhoods with lower asthma rates.

Older people often worry about dementia and while some risks are known, for example alcoholism or stroke, the effects of illness are less clear. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care looks at illness requiring hospitalization and treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) and finds that infection or severe sepsis, neurological dysfunction, such as delirium, or acute dialysis are all independently associated with an increased risk of a subsequent diagnosis of dementia.

A new model of the how the protein coat (capsid) of viruses assembles, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biophysics, shows that the construction of intermediate structures prior to final capsid production (hierarchical assembly) can be more efficient than constructing the capsid protein by protein (direct assembly). The capsid enveloping a virus is essential for protection and propagation of the viral genome. Many viruses have evolved a self-assembly method which is so successful that the viral capsid can self assemble even when removed from its host cell.

Better targeted treatments for 20 per cent of renal failure patients are on the horizon following a key discovery about the role of white blood cells in kidney inflammation.

In a study published today in Nature Medicine, researchers from Monash University tracked the movements of white blood cells, or leukocytes, leading to a new understanding of their behaviour in both healthy and diseased kidneys.

A team led by Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Cell Engineering at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has shown for the first time the effectiveness of a new technique that could allow the development of more-specific, cell-based immune therapies for cancer. Their findings were reported online today in Nature Biotechnology.

LOS ANGELES (EMBARGOED UNTIL DEC. 16, 2012 AT 1 P.M. EST) – Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have reprogrammed ordinary heart cells to become exact replicas of highly specialized pacemaker cells by injecting a single gene (Tbx18)–a major step forward in the decade-long search for a biological therapy to correct erratic and failing heartbeats.

The advance will be published in the Jan 8 issue of Nature Biotechnology and also will be available today on the journal's website.

December 16, 2012, Shenzhen, China – A research team, led by Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences and BGI, has successfully reconstructed a continuous population history of the giant panda from its origin to the present. The findings suggested whereas global changes in climate were the primary drivers in panda population fluctuation for millions of years, human activities were likely to underlie recent population divergence and serious decline. This work reveals a good example for assessing and establishing the best conservation method for other endangered species.

Turning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have proposed a new method that creates a computational model of the cell from large networks of gene and protein interactions, discovering how genes and proteins connect to form higher-level cellular machinery.

The findings are published in the December 16 advance online publication of Nature Biotechnology.