Body

Most people don't think worms are cool. But the tiny flatworm that Northwestern University scientist Christian Petersen studies can do something very cool indeed: it can regenerate itself from nearly every imaginable injury, including decapitation. When cut in half, it becomes two worms.

This amazing ability of the planarian flatworm to regenerate its entire body from a small wedge of tissue has fascinated scientists since the late 1800s. The worms can regrow any missing cell or tissue -- muscle, neurons, epidermis, eyes, even a new brain.

Richmond, Va. (May 16, 2011) – Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have discovered a new biomarker related to the body's immune system that can predict a breast cancer patients' risk of cancer recurrence. This breakthrough may lead to new genetic testing that further personalizes breast cancer care.

An analysis of a recent mumps outbreak in Ontario, Canada, indicates that two doses of mumps vaccine are more effective than one and further reveals the importance of ensuring people, especially older adolescents and young adults, are up to date on their mumps vaccinations. The administration of the second dose at a later age could have an impact on outbreaks, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101371.pdf.

Treatment and awareness of hypertension in Canada have improved significantly in the last 25 years for community-dwelling adults, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101767.pdf.

All animals face the challenge of deciding which chemicals in the environment are useful and which are harmful. A new study greatly improves our understanding of how animals sense an important class of potentially harmful chemicals: weak acids. The study appears online on May 16 in the Journal of General Physiology (www.jgp.org).

Using a technique that silences genes promoting infection, researchers have developed a novel, topically-applied molecular microbicide capable of preventing HIV transmission. The microbicide is predicted to have long-lasting effects in mice, opening the door to developing an intravaginal microbicide that could protect women against HIV infection potentially for weeks at a time and bolster public health efforts to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 16, 2011) – Whitehead Institute researchers have found that depriving human melanoma cells of the essential amino acid leucine can be lethal to the cells, suggesting a possible strategy for therapeutic intervention.

The researchers observed the effect in melanoma cells with a mutation in the RAS/MEK signaling pathway—the most common mutation found in the deadliest form of skin cancer.

A team of researchers — led by Sang-Hun Lee, at Hanyang University, Republic of Korea, and Kwang-Soo Kim, at Harvard Medical School, Belmont, — has now compared the ability of cells derived from different types of human stem cell to reverse disease in a rat model of Parkinson disease and identified a stem cell population that they believe could be clinically relevant.

The HIV epidemic is continuing spread and efforts to develop a vaccine that protects against infection are still showing limited promise. Therefore, researchers are seeking to develop alternative approaches to block HIV transmission. One such strategy is vaginal application of an agent known as a microbicide, which works to kill the virus at the site of entry into the body. A team of researchers, led by Judy Lieberman, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, has now developed a new agent that they hope could be used as the active ingredient in a microbicide to prevent HIV transmission.

BOSTON – May 16, 2011 – The road to type 2 diabetes is paved with insulin resistance, a condition often associated with obesity in which the hormone begins to fail at its job helping to convert sugars to energy. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have now identified an enzyme called PKC-delta as an important molecular modifier for development of insulin resistance, diabetes and fatty liver in mice. They also have found evidence suggesting a similar role for the enzyme in humans, making PKC-delta a promising new target for drugs for diabetes and related ailments.

By analyzing complex interactions of the immune system in an animal study, pediatric researchers have found potential tools for controlling a life-threatening condition called a cytokine storm that may strike children who have juvenile arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

What does it take to regenerate a limb? Biologists have long thought that organ regeneration in animals like zebrafish and salamanders involved stem cells that can generate any tissue in the body. But new research suggests that multiple cell types are needed to regrow the complete organ, at least in zebrafish.

COLLEGE STATION — Research on controlling the stem cells of plants could eventually lead to learning how to make them produce more fruit, seed and leaves, according to Dr. Xiuren Zhang, Texas AgriLife Research scientist and professor with the Texas A&M University department of biochemistry and biophysics.Results of a nearly three-year project led by an AgriLife Research team headed by Zhang was published in Cell, one of the most cited scientific peer-review journals in the world.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (5/16/2011) – The visual power of a brand can be the first breakthrough companies make with their customers. But efforts to artistically manipulate the typeface of a corporate logo can backfire for firms, according to a Boston College researcher.

Consumers may perceive companies that use incomplete typeface logos — such as the horizontal baby blue stripes that form the letters IBM — as innovative. However, these firms run the risk of being viewed as untrustworthy, according to a report forthcoming in the July issue of the Journal of Marketing.

For years Professor Leo von Hemmen, a biophysicist at the TU Muenchen, and Professor Bruce Young, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, have been researching the sense of hearing in snakes. While discussing the toxicity of their snakes, it dawned on them that only few snakes inject their venom into their victims' bodies using hollow poison fangs. Yet, even though the vast majority of poisonous reptiles lack hollow fangs, they are effective predators.