Body

JUPITER, FL, September 4, 2014 - In a collaborative study, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology have developed a more effective method to determine how immune cells called T cells differentiate into specialized types of cells that help eradicate infected cells and assist other immune cells during infection.

AMHERST, Mass. – A collaborative team of scientists including biochemist Peter Chien at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has reconstructed how bacteria tightly control their growth and division, a process known as the cell cycle, by specifically destroying key proteins through regulated protein degradation.

Salamanders spend the vast majority of their lives below ground and surface only for short periods of time and usually only on wet nights. When they do emerge, salamanders can be spotted not only on forest floors but also up in trees and on other vegetation, often climbing as high as 8 feet. Given their infrequent appearances aboveground, it has never been clear to biologists why salamanders take time to climb vegetation. Researchers at the University of Missouri recently conducted a study testing a long-standing hypothesis that salamanders might climb vegetation for food.

Trust in others and confidence in societal institutions are at their lowest point in over three decades, analyses of national survey data reveal. The findings are forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Accidents as minor as a slip of the knife while chopping onions can turn dangerous for patients with hemophilia, who lack the necessary proteins in their blood to stem the flow from a wound.

People with severe hemophilia typically receive regular injections of these proteins, called clotting factors, as a treatment for the disease. But up to 30 percent of people with the most common form, hemophilia A, develop antibodies that attack these lifesaving proteins, making it difficult to prevent or treat excessive bleeding.

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – September 4, 2014) A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists found the avian influenza A H3N8 virus that killed harbor seals along the New England coast can spread through respiratory droplets and poses a threat to humans. The research appears in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (September 4, 2014) – Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—adult cells reprogrammed back to an embryonic stem cell-like state—may hold the potential to cure damaged nerves, regrow limbs and organs, and perfectly model a patient's particular disease. Yet through the reprogramming process, these cells can acquire serious genetic and epigenetic abnormalities that lower the cells' quality and limit their therapeutic usefulness.

NEW YORK, NY, September 4, 2014 — Research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shown for the first time that organoids derived from human prostate cancer tumors can be grown in the laboratory, giving researchers an exciting new tool to test cancer drugs and personalize cancer treatment.

CINCINNATI – Researchers have identified a genetic/molecular network that fuels a high-risk and aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and its precursor disease Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) – providing a possible therapeutic strategy for an essentially untreatable form of the blood cancer.

Scientists from the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute (CBDI) at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report their results in a study posted online Sept. 4 by Cell Reports.

An international team of researchers has identified a new inherited neuromuscular disorder. The rare condition is the result of a genetic mutation that interferes with the communication between nerves and muscles, resulting in impaired muscle control.

The new disease was diagnosed in two families – one in the U.S. and the other in Great Britain – and afflicts multiple generations. The discovery was published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

This news release is available in Spanish.

While healthy people have proteins in their blood called clotting factors that act quickly to plug wounds, hemophiliacs lack these proteins, making even minor bleeds difficult to stop.

The main treatment option for people with severe hemophilia is to receive regular infusions of clotting factor. But 20 to 30 percent of people who get these infusions develop antibodies, called inhibitors, against the clotting factor. Once these inhibitors develop, it can be very difficult to treat or prevent future bleeding episodes.

New Orleans, LA – Research led by scientists in Dr. Song Hong's group at LSU Health New Orleans has identified a novel family of chemical mediators that rescue the reparative functions of macrophages (a main type of mature white blood cells) impaired by diabetes, restoring their ability to resolve inflammation and heal wounds. The research is in-press and is scheduled to be published in the October 23, 2014 issue of Chemistry & Biology, a Cell Press journal.

(Boston) – Results of a new study conducted in St. Petersburg, Russia, show that decreasing HIV transmission among Russian HIV-infected drinkers will require creative and innovative approaches.

While new HIV infections globally have declined, HIV rates remain high in Russia. This is due in large part to injection drug use and spread via heterosexual sex transmission. Alcohol use also has been shown to be related to risky sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In one year, India's ozone pollution damaged millions of tons of the country's major crops, causing losses of more than a billion dollars and destroying enough food to feed tens of millions of people living below the poverty line.