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Scientists in Michigan are reporting the development of a powerful new probe for identifying proteins affected by a key chemical process important in aging and disease. The probe works like a GPS or navigation system for finding these proteins in cells. It could lead to new insights into disease processes and identify new targets for disease treatments, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the Sept. 18 issue of ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal.

Genes that regulate the energy consumption of cells have a different structure and expression in type II diabetics than they do in healthy people, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet published in Cell Metabolism. The researchers believe that these 'epigenetic mutations' might have a key part to play in the development of the disease.

BETHESDA, Md. (September 2, 2009) — Exercise helps prevent weight regain after dieting by reducing appetite and by burning fat before burning carbohydrates, according to a new study with rats. Burning fat first and storing carbohydrates for use later in the day slows weight regain and may minimize overeating by signaling a feeling of fullness to the brain.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Researchers have found that early stage cancers of the esophagus can be treated as effectively by less-invasive, organ-sparing endoscopic therapy as compared to more complex surgical removal of the esophagus, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the September 2009 issue of Gastroenterology.

X-linked nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (XNDI) is a severe congenital kidney disease caused by mutations in the V2R gene. Currently, there is no effective drug to specifically treat XNDI, mainly because there are no good animal models of the disease. However, Jürgen Wess and colleagues, at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, have now developed a viable mouse model of XNDI that recapitulates the major manifestations of the human disease.

One way in which men and women differ is in their expression of liver proteins that control a large number of whole-body processes such as energy generation and lipid and steroid hormone production and turnover. Now, Walter Wahli and colleagues, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, have identified a new mechanism underlying this differential expression of proteins in male and female mice.

September 2, 2009 – Humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar, yet it is not difficult to identify the many ways in which we are clearly distinct from chimps. In a study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), scientists have made a crucial discovery of genes that have evolved in humans after branching off from other primates, opening new possibilities for understanding what makes us uniquely human.

LA JOLLA, CA—Protein S, a well-known anticoagulant protein, keeps the blood flowing in more than one way, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The protein contributes to the formation and function of healthy blood vessels.

The researchers found that mice lacking protein S suffered massive blood clots, but also had defective blood vessels that allow blood cells to leak into the surrounding tissue.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-09/jaaj-082809.php">Chinese.

A surgical procedure known as LUNA (laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation) did not result in improvements in chronic pelvic pain, painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse or quality of life when compared with laparoscopic surgery that does not interrupt pelvic nerve connections, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

For some patients with acute coronary syndromes, the strategy of immediate intervention at a medical center does not appear to result in differences in outcomes in comparison with an intervention performed the next working day, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

Comparison of the primary outcomes of registered clinical trials with their subsequent publication appears to show some discrepancies, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-09/jaaj-_1082809.php">Chinese.

Children in Ethiopia who received the antibiotic azithromycin as a method for controlling the contagious eye disease trachoma had a lower odds of death compared to children who did not receive the antibiotic, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida and their collaborators worldwide have discovered that a single gene promotes development of essential tremor in some patients and Parkinson's disease in others. These are two common but distinct neurological disorders. Notably, patients with essential tremor shake when they move, and Parkinson's disease patients shake when they are at rest.

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Tues., Sept. 1, 2009) – Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is an invaluable method for studying the interactions between proteins and DNA on a genome-wide scale. ChIP can be used to determine whether a transcription factor interacts with a candidate target gene, and is used to monitor the presence of histones with posttranslational modifications at specific genomic locations. The results are often extremely useful for investigating the functions of specific transcription factors or histone modifications.

RESTON, Va.—A new study published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET)/computer tomography (CT) scans with the imaging agent choline could detect recurring prostate cancer sooner than conventional imaging technologies in some patients who have had their prostates surgically removed.