Body

When flies are made to lose a gene with links to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), they suffer the same sleep disturbances and restlessness that human patients do. The findings reported online on May 31 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, strongly suggest a genetic basis for RLS, a condition in which patients complain of an irresistible urge to move that gets worse as they try to rest.

Scientists have discovered that mutations in the gene BTBD9, which is linked with restless legs syndrome (RLS) in humans, disturb sleep in fruit flies. The mutant flies wake up more often during sleep periods, which resembles a key feature of human RLS.

The same mutations in BTBD9 also reduce levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the flies. Some kind of deficiency in dopamine signaling is thought to lie behind RLS in humans.

The results are published in the journal Current Biology.

During formation of multi-cellular organisms, cells need to talk to each other to make critical decisions as to what kind of cell to become, as well as when and where to become that cell type. The Notch signaling system allows cells to directly talk to each other to program almost every cell type in the body.

Now, researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have shown for the first time that the mechanical force produced by cell-cell interactions is critical for programming by the Notch signaling system.

Scientists have traditionally sought the evolutionary origins of human speech in primate vocalizations, such as monkey coos or chimpanzee hoots. But unlike these primate calls, human speech is produced using rapid, controlled movements of the tongue, lips and jaw. Speech is also learned, while primate vocalizations are mostly innately structured. New research published in Current Biology by W.

Boston, Mass. — Using advanced technologies for rapidly sequencing and analyzing DNA from clinical and pathologic samples, a multidisciplinary research team consisting of geneticists, pathologists and surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital has identified the genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome, a rare congenital malformation and overgrowth disorder.

BOSTON—Researchers at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center have devised a strategy to directly activate a natural "death" protein, triggering the self-destruction of cells. They say the development could represent a new paradigm for designing cancer drugs.

London, May 31, 2012 - As the UN Special Rapporteur on maternal mortality in India points out there is a 'yawning gulf between … commendable maternal mortality policies and their urgent, focused, sustained, systematic and effective implementation', the May issue of Reproductive Health Matters explores the causes and impact of this gap, but also highlights hopeful signs of progress.

BOSTON—A novel compound has become the first targeted therapy to benefit patients with the most common genetic subtype of lung cancer, an international clinical trial led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other institutions will report at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) June 1-5 in Chicago.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have created a new computer technology that can listen to multiple bird sounds at one time to identify which species are present and how they may be changing as a result of habitat loss or climate change.

The system, one of the first of its type, should provide an automated approach to ecological monitoring of bird species that is much more practical than a human sitting in the field, hours on end.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have successfully transplanted primary kidney cells intravenously to treat renal failure in rats, pointing the way to a possible future alternative to kidney transplants and expensive dialysis treatments in humans.

Scientists at Aarhus University, Denmark in collaboration with the biotech company Cytoguide now publish a key to use glucocorticoid steroids in a kind of intelligent medicine that specifically hits the relevant cells. Data are based on rodent studies but if this principle is translated to humans it may greatly improve todays hazardous treatment with this type of potent steroids.

This is the main perspective in the research now published in the recognized research journal Molecular Therapy in the Nature Publishing group.

50-fold higher potency

DALLAS – May 31, 2012 – An immune-system receptor plays an unexpected but crucially important role in keeping stem cells from differentiating and in helping blood cancer cells grow, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report today in the journal Nature.

Scientists are reporting development of a new paper-based device that can warn workers that they are being exposed to potentially unhealthy levels of airborne metals almost immediately, instead of the weeks required with current technology. The report on the device, which costs about one cent to make and could prevent illness in the millions of people who work with metal, appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry.

Bethesda, MD—Scientists from the Universities of Illinois and California have found that the inflammatory protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in the duration of acute pancreatitis in animal models with this condition. Their report, in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, describes experiments in lean and obese mice that identify the presence of high IL-6 as one of the reasons why the disease is more devastating in obese people.

Here's the recipe from a new study for minimizing indoor air pollution from cooking – which can produce levels of indoor air pollution higher than those encountered in heavily polluted outdoor air: Turn on the range exhaust fan and cook on the back burners. The study appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.