Body

The rare ability of some individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone appears to depend – at least partially – on specific qualities of the immune system's killer T cells and not on how many of those cells are produced.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The billions of bugs in our guts have a newfound role: regulating the immune system and related autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

PHILADELPHIA (June 11, 2012) – Millions of Americans reach for their cough drops or syrup at the first sign of a cough. However, scientists are unsure if and how these popular remedies work. Now, new findings from the Monell Center suggest that sucrose and menthol, ingredients commonly regarded as flavorings in these preparations, each act independently to reduce coughing.

Hamilton, ON (June 11, 2012) – Researchers at McMaster University have discovered that long-term insulin use does not harm people with diabetes or pre-diabetes or put them at risk of heart attacks, strokes or cancer.

This is contrary to concerns that long-term use of insulin may cause heart disease, says Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, principal investigator of the study, professor of medicine at McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and deputy director of the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Taking just a few seconds to cool freshly laid eggs would add weeks to their shelf life, according to a Purdue University study.

The rapid-cooling process, developed by Kevin Keener, a professor of food science, uses liquid carbon dioxide to stabilize the proteins in egg whites so much that they could be rated AA ╨ the highest grade for eggs ╨ for 12 weeks. Earlier research showed that the same cooling technology could significantly reduce occurrences of salmonella illnesses.

A study led by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators has identified a gene expression pattern that may explain why chemotherapy prior to surgery isn't effective against some tumors and suggests new therapy options for patients with specific subtypes of breast cancer.

JUPITER, FL, June 11, 2010 – In a pair of related studies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified several proteins that help regulate cells' response to light—and the development of night blindness, a rare disease that abolishes the ability to see in dim light.

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The oceans have warmed in the past 50 years, but not by natural events alone.

New research by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and international collaborators shows that the observed ocean warming over the last 50 years is consistent with climate models only if the models include the impacts of observed increases in greenhouse gas during the 20th century.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 8, 2012) — A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows how light and strained ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells and less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used drug.

Strings of all kinds, when jostled, wind up in knots. It turns out that happens even when the strings are long strands of molecules that make up proteins.

A new study by scientists at Rice University and elsewhere examines structures of proteins that not only twist and turn themselves into knots, but also form slipknots that, if anybody could actually see them, might look like shoelaces for cells.

Recent government studies show that hepatitis C, which can destroy the liver and necessitate a liver transplant, now kills more American adults than AIDS, and new UCLA research shows just how prevalent the disease is among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles.

The human immune system has a natural ability to identify and attack tumor cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells that are particularly effective at killing tumor cells due to their ability to secrete cytotoxic enzymes. However, mutations have allowed many types of tumors to develop a resistance to NK-mediated killing through ill-defined mechanisms. Dr.

A pair of recent studies describes how pancreatic cancer cells produce a protein that attracts the body's immune cells and tricks them into helping cancer cells grow. The research, published by Cell Press in the June 12th issue of the journal Cancer Cell, also reveals that blocking the protein may be an effective way to treat pancreatic cancer.

Studying mice and humans, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and their collaborators in Paris have identified two proteins that are required to maintain a supply of stem cells in the developing kidney.

In the presence of the two proteins, FGF9 and FGF20, mouse kidney stem cells stayed alive outside the body longer than previously reported. Though the cells were maintained only five days (up from about two), the work is a small step toward the future goal of growing kidney stem cells in the lab.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, are working to develop substances that can prevent parasites, bacteria and fungi from producing essential proteins, research that could, in the long term, lead to new drugs for several major diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases – a type of enzyme – are important targets for the development of new drugs for several major diseases such as cancer, various parasitic diseases and bacterial and fungal infections.