Body

A drug currently on the market to treat leukemia reversed symptoms of colitis in lab tests, according to recently published findings by medical researchers with the University of Alberta.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Shairaz Baksh published his team's discovery in the peer-reviewed journal, PLOS ONE.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Some people possess a small number of cells in their bodies that are not genetically their own; this condition is known as microchimerism. In prior studies, researchers from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine found that this condition also exists in dogs. Now, the researchers have found evidence that this condition can be passed from a female dog to her offspring while they are still in the womb.

Reporting on a small preliminary study, Johns Hopkins researchers say a simple blood test based on detection of tiny epigenetic alterations may reveal the earliest signs of pancreatic cancer, a disease that is nearly always fatal because it isn't usually discovered until it has spread to other parts of the body.

The findings of their research, if confirmed, they say, could be an important step in reducing mortality from the cancer, which has an overall five-year survival rate of less than 5 percent and has seen few improvements in survival over the last three decades.

New Rochelle, NY, October 23, 2013—The stem cell field is at a critical point, with the potential for a major impact on clinical medicine if stem cell-based therapies can overcome serious and immediate challenges. These challenges and key action items to overcome them are described in an article published on Fast Track as part of the World Stem Cell Report 2013, a special upcoming supplement to Stem Cells and Development.

Some of the most dangerous cancers are those that can outmaneuver the very drugs designed to defeat them, but researchers are now reporting a new Trojan-horse approach. In a preliminary study in the journal ACS Nano focusing on a type of breast cancer that is highly resistant to current therapies, they describe a way to sneak small particles into tumor cells, lower their defenses and attack them with drugs, potentially making the therapy much more effective.

(Boston)—Research from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) suggests that testosterone treatment in hypogonadal (testosterone deficient) men restores normal lipid profiles and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. These finding currently appear online in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseaseand diabetes mellitus. There is a strong association between MetS and testosterone deficiency.

Large areas of vinyl flooring in daycares and schools appear to expose children to a group of compounds called phthalates, which have been linked to reproductive and developmental problems, scientists are reporting. They published their results on the ubiquitous plastic ingredients in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.

In remote regions of the world where electricity is hard to come by and scientific instruments are even scarcer, conducting medical tests at a doctor's office or medical lab is rarely an option. Scientists are now reporting progress toward an inexpensive point-of-care, paper-based device to fill that void with no electronics required. Their study on the extremely sensitive test, which simply relies on the user keeping track of time, appears in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.

There are two main modes of open access publishing – Green Open Access, where the author has the right to provide free access to the article outside the publisher's web site in a repository or on his/her own website, and Gold Open Access, where articles are available for free download directly from the publisher on the day of publication.

Parkinson's disease continues to puzzle physicians and biologists alike - even though it is well-established that symptoms like muscle tremors, rigidity, and, during the final stages, immobility can all be traced back to the death of a certain type of brain cell called a dopaminergic neuron. The underlying cause of this cellular death is a complex web of interrelated genetic molecular processes as well as external factors, most of the details of which are well-known. But how the various factors correlate and influence each other continues to elude the scientific community.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and colleagues at University Children's Hospital Zürich in Switzerland have managed to improve cytostatic therapy for children with the chronic immune deficiency disorder granulomatous disease prior to stem cell transplantation. By tailoring doses of the cytostatics administered before the transplantation, the researchers achieved a higher rate of survival with minimal adverse reactions. Now more patient groups are to undergo the same therapeutic strategy.

Be it hibernation or the routes of migratory birds: all animal behaviour that is subject to annual rhythms is controlled by a molecular clock. Although this has been known for a long time, in many cases it is still unclear how far genes are involved in setting this internal clock. Up to now, this also applied to the common buzzard and its migration from parental breeding grounds. Behavioural scientists in Professor Dr. Oliver Krüger's team at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Biology have now confirmed that a genetic clock determines when young buzzards leave their parents' territory.

A living cell is built with barriers to keep things out – and researchers are constantly trying to find ways to smuggle molecules in.‬ ‪Professor Giovanni Maglia (Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology, KU Leuven) and his team have engineered a biological nanopore that acts as a selective revolving door through a cell's lipid membrane. The nanopore could potentially be used in gene therapy and targeted drug delivery.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

In a bioinformatics breakthrough, iMinds – STADIUS – KU Leuven researchers have successfully applied advanced artificial intelligence to enable the automated analysis of huge amounts of genetic data. Their new software suite, eXtasy, automatically generates the most likely cause of a given genetic disorder. The breakthrough directly impacts the treatment of millions of people with a hereditary disease.

Researchers have identified a potential way to manipulate the immune system to improve its ability to fight off tuberculosis (TB).

TB is a major problem for both humans and cattle and the new findings could help scientists to create better drugs to combat the disease in both.

The disease is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which infects the lungs. The mycobacteria are able to establish persistent TB infections by taking up residence in macrophages – cells of the immune system that would normally destroy invading microorganisms.