Body

The bacterial outer envelope is densely packed with proteins that form small pores and facilitate the passage of nutrients, toxins and signaling molecules. Professors Timm Maier and Sebastian Hiller from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel now demonstrate how these transporter proteins are integrated into the outer membrane. Using x-ray structural analysis they reveal the structure-function relationship of the protein TamA, which plays an important role in the assembly of transport proteins in the bacterial outer membrane.

Atlanta, September 23, 2013 — Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) who are potentially suffering from depression can be effectively identified by a two-item questionnaire, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting.

Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized by membranes, whose shape and dynamics are precisely regulated to maintain their correct functions. Consequently, many cellular processes such as endocytosis, migration and morphogenesis rely on proteins that bind directly to membranes and sculpt them into desired shapes.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/23/2013) -- New research from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has uncovered the role gene ORMDL3 plays in the disease asthma. ORMDL3, a gene recently linked to asthma susceptibility, has now been linked to the body's ability to recruit inflammatory cells during an airway allergic reaction. Study findings appear today in the journal Nature Communications.

Atlanta, September 22, 2013 — Adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy (RT) and high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also indicated that the combined treatments produced acceptable levels of toxicity.

1. A recent discovery by scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), in close collaboration with researchers at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), provides hope for a new personalised treatment strategy that could use a patient's own blood to treat the infection. This could help treat millions of people living with chronic infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. These findings were published in the August 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

A brighter, better, longer-lasting dental implant may soon be on its way to your dentist's office.

Dental implants are posts, usually made of titanium, that are surgically placed into the jawbone and topped with artificial teeth. More than dentures or bridges, implants mimic the look and feel of natural teeth. While most dental implants are successful, a small percentage fail and either fall out or must be removed. A scientist at Michigan Technological University wants to lower that rate to zero using nanotechnology.

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have found that even our immune system is subject to performance enhancement, with our bodies giving immune cells the boost they need to ensure the best team is selected to fight infections.

The discovery could help in developing new treatments for blood diseases such as leukaemia and autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks its own tissues, such as in diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. It could also be used to enhance immune response to HIV and other chronic infections.

Systematic conservation planning is a multiple-objective process. Identification of important areas and species with high conservation priority is two of the research objectives. China is one of mega-biodiversity countries of the world. Along with rapid economic development and environmental degeneration, native and endemic species of China are confronting growing threats in the last two decades. It is an urgent agenda to set up relevant conservation policies, researches and decision supports so as to better reduce extinction risks of vertebrate animals of China.

Binge-eating disorder, designated only months ago by the American Psychiatric Association as a diagnosis in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is associated with substantial lifelong impairments comparable to those of bulimia nervosa, according to a World Health Organization study based on community epidemiological surveys conducted in 12 nations worldwide.

The publication of the results online today in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences is timed to coincide with the beginning of Weight Stigma Awareness Week (September 23-27).

Many older women with newly diagnosed breast cancer have difficulty accomplishing daily tasks, and African-Americans seem to be disproportionately affected. Those are the findings of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results suggest that many breast cancer patients could benefit from receiving therapy to improve their physical function.

People pay more attention to the number of people killed in a natural disaster than to the number of survivors when deciding how much money to donate to disaster relief efforts, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The donation bias can be reversed, however, with a simple change in terminology.

New York, NY and Stockholm, Sweden -- A team of researchers affiliated with Ludwig Cancer Research and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in the current issue of Nature Methods a dramatically improved technique for analyzing the genes expressed within a single cell -- a capability of relevance to everything from basic research to future cancer diagnostics.

LOS ANGELES — Molecular microbiologists at the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered intricate regulatory mechanisms within the cell that could lead to novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Their findings, which have long-standing significance in the basic understanding of cell biology, appear in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

DETROIT — Members of an educational organization contribute to its leadership and can blend personal and social needs to help leaders encourage cooperation, a Wayne State University researcher has found.

Administrators of college preparatory programs — which are aimed at high school students but housed in colleges or universities — typically have been viewed as leaders, with students seen as followers. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to focus on the impact of followers on educational organizations' leadership and leadership practices.