http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified compounds that appear to inhibit a signaling pathway in Huntington's disease, a finding that may eventually lead to a potential drug therapy to help slow the progression of degenerative nerve disorders. http://phys.org/news228062170.html Chemistry Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:36:40 EST news228062170 The Aurora A kinase may contribute to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) by inactivating a key calcium channel in kidney cells, according to a study in the June 13 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology. http://phys.org/news227188269.html Biology Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:53:37 EST news227188269 Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a potentially important new therapeutic target that could prevent stress-related cell death, a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, as well as heart attack and stroke. http://phys.org/news226241927.html Chemistry Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:58:58 EST news226241927 Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, have identified a potential new biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma. The novel cell screening method used in the study also clarifies the process behind tumor metastasis and may allow the identification of biomarkers for other aggressive cancers. The findings now appear online in Cancer Research. http://phys.org/news219579793.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:23:24 EST news219579793 A pediatric brain tumor that causes gruesome suffering is finally yielding its secrets. For the first time, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have cultured human cells from this cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, and used those cells to create an animal model of the disease. Their discoveries will facilitate research on new treatments for DIPG, a tumor of school-aged children that is now almost universally fatal. http://phys.org/news218131241.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:11:13 EST news218131241 UCD Conway researchers have determined the 3-dimensional solution structure of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) for the first time using nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular modelling. This visual was selected as the cover image of the current issue of the biochemical journal, FEBS Letters. http://phys.org/news215942697.html Chemistry Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:06:11 EST news215942697 All of us may be able to breathe a little easier now that scientists from Pennsylvania have found a new therapeutic target for controlling dangerous inflammation in the lungs. A new research report in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that blocking the activation of an enzyme called delta-protein kinase C (delta-PKC) could protect the lungs from neutrophil-mediated damage, which can result in out of control inflammation. In an animal model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), inhibiting delta-PKC in the lungs showed dramatically reduced inflammation, thereby protecting the lungs from further damage. http://phys.org/news213368996.html Medicine & Health Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:30:01 EST news213368996 An international team of researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University's Manojkumar Puthenveedu has discovered the mechanism by which signaling receptors recycle, a critical piece in understanding signaling receptor function. Writing in the journal Cell, the team for the first time describes how a signaling receptor travels back to the cell membrane after it has been activated and internalized. http://phys.org/news212237468.html Biology Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:52:03 EST news212237468 Researchers at King's College London have discovered that leukaemic stem cells can be reversed to a pre-leukaemic stage by suppressing a protein called beta-catenin found in the blood. http://phys.org/news211467762.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:03:10 EST news211467762 Bacteria are among the simplest organisms in nature, but many of them can still talk to each other, using a chemical "language" that is critical to the process of infection. Sending and receiving chemical signals allows bacteria to mind their own business when they are scarce and vulnerable, and then mount an attack after they become numerous enough to overwhelm the host's immune system. http://phys.org/news210870831.html Chemistry Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:14:33 EST news210870831 Neuroscientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have developed a protein peptide that may be a novel type of highly targeted treatment for depression with a low side-effect profile. Depression affects one in ten Canadians at some time in their lives and is a leading cause of disability worldwide. http://phys.org/news210252613.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:20:04 EST news210252613 A new discovery by UNC scientists describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing. http://phys.org/news208453158.html Biology Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:39:35 EST news208453158 Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene linked to the spread of eye melanoma. http://phys.org/news208099228.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:20:45 EST news208099228 Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with investigators of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) of France led by Nicolae Ghinea, PhD, have found a common link among several malignant tumor types in all grades of cancer. This breakthrough may ultimately provide a new diagnostic or therapeutic target to detect cancer early or stop tumor growth. The study is published in the October 21 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. http://phys.org/news206814663.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:00:01 EST news206814663 Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have found that a gene associated with the onset of Type 2 diabetes also is found at lower-than-normal levels in people with Alzheimer's disease. The research, led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, The Saunder Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, was published this month in Aging Cell. http://phys.org/news206115726.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:40:01 EST news206115726 In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight. http://phys.org/news205594140.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:50:24 EST news205594140 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the University of California-San Francisco have found a new way to kill cancer cells, opening the way for a new generation of cancer treatments. http://phys.org/news204867760.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Sep 2010 04:43:17 EST news204867760 (PhysOrg.com) -- Elevated levels of a growth protein in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients is linked to impaired neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are generated, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego in today's edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://phys.org/news203841510.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:39:02 EST news203841510 In work suggesting a new approach to treating polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a leading cause of kidney failure, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were able to block the formation of fluid-filled cysts, the hallmark of the disease, in a mouse model. Their findings, using a compound that inhibits a receptor known as c-Met, will be published in the September 13th online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://phys.org/news203599998.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:10:01 EST news203599998 Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease that results in chronic kidney failure. http://phys.org/news203599903.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:20:03 EST news203599903 Nearly two decades after they identified the specific genetic flaw that causes a common type of muscular dystrophy, scientists believe they have figured out how that flaw brings about the disease. The finding by an international team of researchers, including scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center, settles a longstanding question about the roots of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy or FSHD. The work is published in the August 20 issue of Science. http://phys.org/news201427709.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:20 EST news201427709 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rare variants in the gene coding of an enzyme that controls the activity of a key immune cell occur more often in people with autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found in a multi-institutional study. The researchers' report, published in the journal Nature, identifies a pathway that could be a therapeutic target and may present a model for future studies of the role of rare gene variants in common disorders. http://phys.org/news197204464.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:01:27 EST news197204464 Patients with HER2-positive cancers can have dramatic responses to HER2-targeted drugs but eventually develop resistance to the agents. With that problem in mind, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers are testing a novel type of antibody called MM-111 in patients with HER2-positive disease who have progressed on standard therapy. http://phys.org/news194876583.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:01 EST news194876583 Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that certain types of specializations on nerve cells called "spines" are depleted as a person ages, causing cognitive decline in the part of the brain that mediates the highest levels of learning. These spines receive an important class of synapses that are involved with the process of learning. The discovery provides the medical community with a new therapeutic target to help prevent this loss of function. The study is published in the June 2 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://phys.org/news194711617.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:33:54 EST news194711617 Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a global health problem, in part due to the exceptional drug resistance displayed by the TB-causing agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Beyond even acquired drug resistance, these bacteria are also inherently resistant to many other common antibiotics, which limits the available options in finding alternative treatments to resistant TB strains. http://phys.org/news191589193.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:13:25 EST news191589193 Most solid cancers can't grow beyond a limited size without an adequate blood supply and supporting vascular network. Because of this, cancer researchers have sought to understand how a tumor's vascular network develops—and, more importantly, how to prevent it from developing: If the vascular network never develops, the theory goes, the tumor cannot grow. http://phys.org/news189599744.html Medicine & Health Sun, 04 Apr 2010 13:00:12 EST news189599744 In a study that could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with the cystic fibrosis, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a defective signaling pathway that contributes to disease severity. In the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers report that defective signaling for a protein called the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) accounts for a portion of disease symptoms in cystic fibrosis, and that correction of the defective pathway reduces symptoms of the disease in mice. http://phys.org/news185374080.html Medicine & Health Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:00:05 EST news185374080 Scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered a novel survival factor whose rapid transport along nerve cells is crucial for keeping them alive. The same factor seems likely to be needed to keep our nerves healthy as we age. These findings, published today in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, show that a molecule known as Nmnat2 provides a protective function; in its absence healthy, uninjured nerve cells start to degenerate and boosting levels of Nmnat2 can delay degeneration when the cells are injured. This suggests an exciting new therapeutic avenue for protecting nerves from disease and injury-induced degeneration. http://phys.org/news183704884.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:08:27 EST news183704884 A new study in human cells has singled out a molecule that specifically directs immune cells to develop the capability to produce an allergic response. The signaling molecule, called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), is key to the development of allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis (eczema) and food allergy. http://phys.org/news183225745.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:20:04 EST news183225745 Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution. http://phys.org/news181466564.html Medicine & Health Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:43:57 EST news181466564