- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - Week 48 - 2008
Novel imaging technique reveals
brain abnormalities that may play key role in ADHD
A study published today in the online advance edition of The American Journal of
Psychiatry for the first time reveals shape differences in the brains of children with
ADHD, which could help pinpoint the specific neural circuits involved in the disorder.
Researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Md. and the Johns Hopkins
Center for Imaging Science used a new analysis tool, large deformation diffeomorphic
mapping (LDDMM), which allowed them to examine the precise shape of the basal ganglia. The
study found boys with ADHD had significant shape differences and decreases in overall
volume of the basal ganglia compared to their typically developing peers. Girls with ADHD
did not have volume or shape differences, suggesting sex strongly influences the
disorder's expression. Previous studies examining the basal ganglia in children with ADHD
were limited to volume analysis and had conflicting results, with some reporting a smaller
volume and some reporting no difference in volume. LDDMM provides detailed analysis of the
shape of specific brain regions, allowing for precise examination of brain structures well
beyond what has been examined in previous MRI studies of ADHD. In this study, LDDMM was
used to map the brains of typically developing children in order to generate a basal
ganglia template. This is the first reported template of the basal ganglia. After creating
LDDMM mappings of the basal ganglia of each child with ADHD, statistical analysis was
conducted to compare them to the template. In this study, the initial volume analysis
revealed boys with ADHD had significantly smaller basal ganglia volumes compared with
typically-developing boys. Moving beyond the standard volume analysis, the LDDMM revealed
shape abnormalities in several regions of the basal ganglia. Comparison of the standard
volume and LDDMM analysis of girls with ADHD and their typically developing peers failed
to reveal any significant volume or shape differences.
First Trial in the U.S. to Treat
Both Ischemic & Non-Ischemic Heart Failure to be Performed by U of U Researchers Using
Patient's Own Stem Cells
Researchers at the University of Utah are enrolling people in a new clinical trial that
uses a patient’s own stem cells to treat ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure. The
one-year Cardiac Repair Cell Treatment of Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy
(IMPACT-DCM) study will look at the safety of injecting Cardiac Repair Cells (CRC) and
their ability to improve heart function. Patients enrolled in IMPACT-DCM will have their
own bone marrow cells drawn (about 3 tablespoons worth), which will then be grown in a
culture to expand the number of cells that will help the heart muscle and improve blood
flow. Two weeks later, the patient’s stem cells will be injected directly into the
left ventricle of the heart during a minimally invasive surgery developed by Amit N.
Patel, M.D., national principal investigator for the IMPACT-DCM trial and director of
cardiovascular regenerative medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
“Heart failure affects about 5 million Americans, with more than half a million new
cases diagnosed each year. A subset of these patients has dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a
condition that leaves the heart weakened, enlarged and unable to pump blood efficiently.
For most of these patients, the only option has been a heart transplant,” said David
A. Bull, M.D., professor and division chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the U’s
medical school and site principal investigator for the trial.
Panorama investigates claims that as much as $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost,
stolen or not properly accounted for in Iraq. When the US goes to war, corporate America
goes too. There are contracts for caterers, tanker drivers, security guards and even
interrogators, many of them through companies with links to the White House. Now more than
70 whistleblower cases threaten to reveal the scandals behind billions of dollars worth of
waste, theft and corruption during the Iraq war. Gagging orders A total of $23bn
(£11.75bn) is under scrutiny. The US justice department has imposed gagging orders which
prevent the real scale of the problem emerging. But Panorama's Jane Corbin has spoken to
some of those involved - with astonishing stories to tell of who got rich and who got
burned. She hears allegations of mismanagement, fraud and waste; tales of contractors
chosen for their US government connections without a competitive bidding process;
contractors inflating their costs and double counting to increase their profits and
billions supposed to be used to rebuild the Iraqi military allegedly ending up in the
pockets of some Iraqi government officials. Even the contract to oversee the expenditure
went to a company with no relevant qualification in accounting. "They are the
quintessential war profiteers," said a witness to one of the most notorious companies
involved. "They made money out of chaos."
Some Parents are Homeschooling
Their Kids to Avoid Vaccinations
A growing network of parents have decided to homeschool their children, in part because
of their belief that mandated vaccinations for public and private school children are a
dangerous overreach by state governments.
The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for autism has been used in many countries
worldwide. The results are varied and the individual reports from families and health
professionals are encouraging. There are many testimonies on the net from families who
have taken HBOT for their autistic child with varied results, mostly very
encouraging. HBOT increases the oxygen tissue concentration which increases cerebral
blood flow to an area thus enabling the body to restore brain tissue metabolism of oxygen
and nutrients, helping restoration of any areas which are suffering from hypoxia. New
blood and oxygen begin to stimulate an area, especially one that has viable, recoverable
brain cells that are "idling neurons" not knowing what to do instead of function
normally.
Dr. Doris J. Rapp, MD, board-certified as both an environmental medical specialist and
pediatric allergist, discusses the dangerous chemicals that may be lurking inside your
mattress.
New Discovery Could Be Key to
Unlimited Cheap Energy
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a new way of
storing energy from sunlight. The breakthrough could potentially lead to
‘unlimited’ solar power.
Loyola Researchers Find Sunshine
Deficit May Diminish Vitamin D Levels and Harm Cardiovascular Health
The temperature might not be the only thing plummeting this winter. Many people also will
experience a decrease in their vitamin D levels, which can play a role in heart disease,
according to a new review article in Circulation. Vitamin D deficiency results in part
from reduced exposure to sunlight, which is common during cold weather months when days
are shorter and more time is spent indoors. "Chronic vitamin D deficiency may be a
culprit in heart disease, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome," said Sue
Penckofer, PhD, RN, study author and professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola
University Chicago. The review article cited a number of studies that linked vitamin D
deficiency to heart disease. These studies found rates of severe disease or death may be
30 to 50 percent higher among sun-deprived individuals with heart disease. Penckofer and
colleagues concluded that diet alone is not sufficient to manage vitamin D levels.
Treatment options to correct this level, such as vitamin D2 or D3, may decrease the risk
of severe disease or death from cardiovascular disorders. The preferred range in the body
is 30 - 60 ng/mL of 25(OH) vitamin D.
Sleep helps the mind learn complicated tasks and helps people recover learning they
otherwise thought they had forgotten over the course of a day, research at the University
of Chicago shows. Using a test that involved learning to play video games, researchers
showed for the first time that people who had "forgotten" how to perform a
complex task 12 hours after training found that those abilities were restored after a
night's sleep. "Sleep consolidated learning by restoring what was lost over the
course of a day following training and by protecting what was learned against subsequent
loss," said Howard Nusbaum, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, and
a researcher in the study. "These findings suggest that sleep has an important role
in learning generalized skills in stabilizing and protecting memory." The results
demonstrate that this consolidation may help in learning language processes such as
reading and writing as well as eye-hand skills such as tennis, he said.
Forgotten but not gone - how the
brain takes care of things
Thanks to our ability to learn and to remember, we can perform tasks that other living
things can not even dream of. However, we are only just beginning to get the gist of what
really goes on in the brain when it learns or forgets something. What we do know is that
changes in the contacts between nerve cells play an important role. But can these
structural changes account for that well-known phenomenon that it is much easier to
re-learn something that was forgotten than to learn something completely new? Scientists
at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have been able to show that new cell contacts
established during a learning process stay put, even when they are no longer required. The
reactivation of this temporarily inactivated "stock of contacts" enables a
faster learning of things forgotten.
CAPHOSOL results in minimal oral
mucositis and pain in head/neck cancer patients
ew data show that CAPHOSOL® (www.caphosol.com), an advanced electrolyte solution, results
in low rates of oral mucositis and pain in patients with head and neck (HN) cancer who are
undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The data, which were presented today at the
Advanced Practice Nursing Conference of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), demonstrate
that use of CAPHOSOL from the initiation of cancer treatment results in a low incidence of
oral mucositis (OM) and is associated with high levels of patient and physician
satisfaction and medication compliance. The findings are the latest to suggest that
CAPHOSOL use can benefit cancer patients in the management of OM and related symptoms.
"For cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy, oral mucositis
can be one of the more common and most dreaded complications of treatment, with a profound
impact on quality of life," said principal investigator Marilyn L. Haas, PhD, RN,
CNS, ANP-C, a nurse practitioner at Carolina Clinical Consultant in Asheville, N.C.
"Oral mucositis results from erosion of epithelial cells in the oral cavity -- cells
lining the surface of the throat and esophagus -- during therapy. The condition can cause
severe pain, making it difficult for patients to eat and swallow food, while leaving them
more susceptible to infection. In our registry, patients and physicians report that
CAPHOSOL helps to improve quality of life while limiting the occurrence and severity of
oral mucositis."
Predicting the future for patients
with severe traumatic brain injury
"How will our loved one come out of this?" After an accident that results in
severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI), the answer to this simple question can change
everything for a family. The latest study carried out by Dr. Elaine deGuise, Joanne
Leblanc, Mitra Feyz and all the clinicians of the Traumatic Brain Injury Program for
Adults at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) describes the tools that are most
effective at providing an objective answer to this question almost as soon as patients
leave intensive care. The study was published recently in the Journal of Head Trauma
Rehabilitation. "This study is unique as it involved a multidisciplinary team. We
could therefore assess the patient from many angles and establish an overall
picture," stated Dr. deGuise. "Our findings are important because, in addition
to the advice that we can give to families, we can now implement a comprehensive program
in the continuum of care that is based on more objective and scientific principles."
Researchers Find Link Between
Nicotine Addiction And Autism
Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links
to both nicotine addiction and autism. The finding has led to speculation that existing
drugs used to curb nicotine addiction might serve as the basis for potential therapies to
alleviate the symptoms of autism. The discovery identified a defining role for a protein
made by the neurexin-1 gene, which is located in brain cells and assists in connecting
neurons as part of the brain’s chemical communication system. The neurexin-1 beta
protein’s job is to lure another protein, a specific type of nicotinic acetylcholine
receptor, to the synapses, where the receptor then has a role in helping neurons
communicate signals among themselves and to the rest of the body. This function is
important in autism because previous research has shown that people with autism have a
shortage of these nicotinic receptors in their brains. Meanwhile, scientists also know
that people who are addicted to nicotine have too many of these receptors in their brains.
Drug therapy for premature infants
destroys brain cells in mice
A class of drugs that are used in premature infants to treat chronic lung damage can cause
damage in the brain. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
suggests the drugs may cause cognitive and motor-control problems even when they are given
before birth.
Cooling the brain prevents cell
death in young mice exposed to anesthesia
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests cooling
the brain may prevent the death of nerve cells that has been observed in infant mice
exposed to anesthesia. The effects of anesthesia on human infants and young children have
been debated among neuroscientists, but growing evidence suggests exposure to anesthetic
drugs during brain development may contribute to behavioral and developmental delays.
Mayo researchers identify dangerous
'two-faced' protein crucial to breast cancer spread and growth
Two critical properties of cancer cells are their ability to divide without restraint and
to spread away from the primary tumor to establish new tumor sites. Now, researchers from
the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have found a protein they say acts as a deadly master
switch, both freeing cancer cells from a tumor while ramping up new growth.
3 esophageal, stomach cancer
subtypes linked to smoking; 1 associated with alcohol use
Researchers who have been following the health of more than 120,000 residents of the
Netherlands for more than two decades have found that smoking is associated with two forms
of esophageal cancer as well as a form of stomach cancer, and that drinking alcohol is
strongly linked to one form of esophageal cancer. Researchers say that while their
findings, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual
International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, confirm risk factors
previously associated with these cancers, they don't explain the rising incidence of these
tumors, especially esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma
(GCA), a cancer of the upper stomach area, where it joins the esophagus. "The results
of this study again confirm recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, namely not to smoke
and to drink alcohol in moderation," said study author, Jessie Steevens, M.Sc., of
the Department of Epidemiology at Maastricht University, in Maastricht. "But it also
suggests that there must be other risk factors for EAC and GCA," she said.
"Smoking is a risk factor for both cancers, but since a decreasing part of the
population smokes, this cannot explain why the incidence is rising so rapidly for both
cancers in Western countries in recent decades. "Other factors that might be
associated with the risk of these cancers include obesity, diet and nutrition, exercise,
occupational exposures, medical factors and so forth, which we are beginning to
study," Steevens said. Their findings are from one of the first large cohort studies
to investigate risk factors in esophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia
adenocarcinoma, as well as in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), which resembles
head and neck cancer.
Canadian researchers are trying to answer why some smokers develop lung cancer while
others remain disease free, despite similar lifestyle changes. Results were presented at
the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on
Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, more people die from lung cancer than any other cancer type. In fact,
according to 2004 data, more people died from lung cancer than breast, prostate and colon
cancers combined. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing lung cancer, even
after quitting for long periods of time. "More than 50 percent of newly diagnosed
lung cancer patients are former smokers," said Emily A. Vucic, a graduate student at
the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, B.C. "Understanding why some
former smokers develop lung cancer is clearly important to the development of early
detection, prevention and treatment strategies." The researchers studied how DNA
methylation contributes to lung cancer development in former smokers. Methylation is an
important event regulating gene expression during normal development. As we age and in
cancer, proper patterns of DNA methylation become deregulated throwing off the tight
control of gene activity that normally exists. Using an endoscope, Vucic and colleagues
collected bronchial epithelial cells, which are cells that line the lungs, from 16 former
smokers. The participants quit smoking more than 10 years ago. Eight participants had
surgical removal of non-small cell lung cancer; eight were disease free. Their results
showed differences in methylation levels in lung epithelial cells between former smokers
with and without lung cancer.
genes associated with fat
metabolism could increase kidney cancer risk
A team of international scientists has identified three genes associated with the body's
processing of fats that may increase susceptibility to kidney cancer. The findings were
presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International
Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The researchers found that
variations within three genes associated with lipid peroxidation – the process of
breaking down fats and lipids when exposed to oxygen – could increase a person's risk
of kidney cancer. Scientists have suspected lipid peroxidation as a unifying mechanism
through which risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and smoking could damage kidney
tissue and lead to kidney cancer. "Obesity, hypertension and smoking have been the
only established risk factors for kidney cancer, but they account for only 50 percent of
cases," said lead author Lee E. Moore, Ph.D., M.P.H., an epidemiologist and
investigator at the National Cancer Institute. "Our study suggests that common
genetic variation may account for some of the increased risk in the other half of cases.
This is the first and largest study of renal cell cancer to evaluate the influence of
these genes." For the study, Moore and a group of international colleagues studied
blood DNA from 987 kidney cancer patients and 1,298 healthy counterparts living in Central
and Eastern Europe, which have the highest rates of kidney cancer worldwide. The
scientists analyzed DNA for hundreds of variations within 38 genes known to play a role in
lipid peroxidation, inflammation and oxidative stress. Variants of two genes were
associated with increased risk of kidney cancer: nitric oxide synthase 2A (NOS2A), which
increases levels of nitric oxide, a chemical that promotes free radical damage to cells;
and prostaglandin-endoperoxide 2 (PTGS2), which produces prostaglandins, compounds that
cause inflammation. Variants of a third gene, apolipoprotein E1 (ApoE1), which helps break
down and remove triglycerides from the blood and liver, were associated with a reduction
in risk for the disease.
Aucott et al. report the first in vivo experiments on the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1)
family, which sidles up to silent DNA. The results, to be published in the Nov. 17 issue
of the Journal of Cell Biology, add to the evidence that the different versions of the
proteins help cells fix broken DNA. The function of HP1 proteins has puzzled researchers.
The proteins, which come in three forms in mammals, cozy up to heterochromatin—the
tightly wound sections of DNA where genes are usually inactive. Early studies indicated
that the proteins' job was to turn genes off. But recent work suggested that the proteins
are essential for repairing damaged DNA. These results came from in vitro studies,
however, and the proteins' powers in vivo remained uncertain. Aucott et al. created the
first mouse strain missing one of the HP1 versions, HP1b. The animals die shortly after
birth because their lungs don't inflate. The rodents show brain defects as well. Large
numbers of neurons die, for example, and the neural stem cells in the cortex divide
sluggishly. Both effects could arise from unfixed DNA. When the researchers grew brain
cells from HP1b-lacking mice in culture, they saw clear indications of genomic instability
that can result from faulty DNA repair, including unpaired sister chromatids that
separated prematurely and even extra sets of chromosomes. The HP1 proteins latch onto the
methylated version of the H3 histone, but how this interaction promotes repair is an
unanswered question.
Study helps clarify role of vitamin
D in cancer therapy
A colon cancer cell isn't a lost cause. Vitamin D can tame the rogue cell by adjusting
everything from its gene expression to its cytoskeleton. In the Nov. 17 issue of the
Journal of Cell Biology, Ordóñez-Morán et al. show that one pathway governs the
vitamin's diverse effects. The results help clarify the actions of a molecule that is
undergoing clinical trials as a cancer therapy. Vitamin D stymies colon cancer cells in
two ways. It switches on genes such as the one that encodes E-cadherin, a component of the
adherens junctions that anchor cells in epithelial layers. The vitamin also induces
effects on the cytoskeleton that are required for gene regulation and short-circuiting the
Wnt/b-catenin pathway, which is overactive in most colon tumors. The net result is to curb
division and prod colon cancer cells to differentiate into epithelial cells that settle
down instead of spreading.To delve into the mechanism, the team dosed colon cancer cells
with calcitriol, the metabolically active version of vitamin D. Calcitriol triggered a
surge of calcium into the cells and the subsequent switching on of RhoA–RhoGTPases,
which have been implicated in the cytoskeletal changes induced by vitamin D. The activated
RhoA in turn switched on one of its targets, the rho-associated coiled kinase (ROCK),
which then roused two other kinases. Each step in this nongenomic pathway was necessary to
spur the genomic responses, the researchers showed. The team also nailed down the
contribution of the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The receptor was crucial at the beginning of
the pathway, where it permitted the calcium influx, and at the end, where it activated and
repressed genes. The study is the first to show that vitamin D's genomic and nongenomic
effects integrate to regulate cell physiology. One question the researchers now want to
pursue is whether VDR from different locations—the nucleus, the cytosol, and possibly
the cell membrane—has different functions in the pathway.0
New clue emerges for cellular
damage in Huntington's disease
"Huntington's disease presents an ideal vantage point to study neurodegenerative
disease, because we know the misfolded protein that's responsible," says Martin
Duennwald, formerly a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Whitehead Member Susan
Lindquist. "But we don't understand how this protein causes cellular damage and death
for the neurons that are affected." In a study published in Genes & Development
online on November 17, however, Duennwald and Lindquist report the discovery of a
mechanism driven by the misfolded proteins that could be one early trigger for cell death.
In the U.S., about 1 in 20,000 people suffers from Huntington's. Better understanding of
the cellular toxicity may allow new therapies for this fatal and incurable disorder.
"This is a diabolical disease, because the misfolded protein interacts with and
probably traps many other proteins in the cell," notes Lindquist, who is also a
Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a professor of biology at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Scientists have long known that Huntington's is driven by a
single mutated gene that creates proteins with abnormally long repeats of the amino acid
glutamine ("Q"). In certain neurons, these "polyQ-expanded" proteins
misfold and clump together, damaging and eventually killing the cells.
Raw milk is illegal in many countries as it can be contaminated with potentially harmful
microbes. Contamination can also spoil the milk, making it taste bitter and turn thick and
sticky. Now scientists have discovered new species of bacteria that can grow at low
temperatures, spoiling raw milk even when it is refrigerated. According to research
published in the November issue of the International Journal of Systematic and
Evolutionary Microbiology, the microbial population of raw milk is much more complex than
previously thought."When we looked at the bacteria living in raw milk, we found that
many of them had not been identified before," said Dr Malka Halpern from the
University of Haifa, Israel. "We have now identified and described one of these
bacteria, Chryseobacterium oranimense, which can grow at cold temperatures and secretes
enzymes that have the potential to spoil milk." New technologies are being developed
to reduce the initial bacterial counts of pasteurized milk to very low levels. Most
enzymes will be denatured at the high temperatures used during pasteurisation, which means
they will stop working. However, the heat-stable enzymes made by cold-tolerant bacteria
will still affect the flavour quality of fluid milk and its products. Because of this,
research into cold-tolerant bacteria and the spoilage enzymes they produce is vital.
"Milk can be contaminated with many different bacteria from the teat of the cow, the
udder, milking equipment and the milking environment," said Dr Halpern. "Milk is
refrigerated after collection to limit the growth of microbes. During refrigeration,
cold-tolerant, or psychrotolerant, bacteria that can grow at 7°C dominate the milk flora
and play a leading role in milk spoilage. Although we have not yet determined the impact
on milk quality of C. oranimense and two other novel species (C. haifense and C. bovis)
that were also identified from raw milk samples, the discovery will contribute to our
understanding the physiology of these organisms and of the complex environmental processes
in which they are involved. There is still a lot to learn about the psychrotolerant
bacterial flora of raw milk." There is an ongoing debate about the benefits and risks
of drinking unpasteurised milk. Some people believe the health benefits resulting from the
extra nutrient content of raw milk outweigh the risk of ingesting potentially dangerous
microbes, such as Mycobacterium bovis, which can cause tuberculosis, and Salmonella
species. Because of these risks, many countries have made the sale of unpasteurised milk
illegal. Pasteurisation involves heating milk to around 72°C for 15-20 seconds in order
to reduce the number of microbes in the liquid so they are unlikely to cause disease. Some
bacteria produce extracellular enzymes that are remarkably heat tolerant and can resist
pasteurisation. Lipase enzymes cause flavour defects and proteases can lead to bitterness
and reduced yields of soft cheese. Raw milk is consumed in rural areas of Europe and is
also available in large cities. Distribution of unpasteurised milk is legal in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland but illegal in Scotland. There are around 275 establishments in
England that are approved by the Food Standards Agency to sell raw milk. However, the
green-top bottles must display a warning that indicates the content has not been
heat-treated and may contain harmful organisms. Furthermore, farmers are not allowed to
sell unpasteurised dairy products if their herd is suspected to be infected with bovine
tuberculosis. "In Israel, dairy companies estimate that cold-tolerant bacteria can
cause a 10% loss of milk fats and proteins. When researchers looked at these bacterial
communities, they found that 20% of the bacteria isolated were found to be novel species
and 5% of these were members of the genus Chryseobacterium," said Dr Halpern.
"Because of their effect on milk quality, it is important that we develop sensitive
and efficient tools to monitor the presence of these cold-tolerant bacteria."
Tiny sacs released by brain tumor
cells carry information that may guide treatment
Microvesicles -- tiny membrane-covered sacs -- released from glioblastoma cells contain
molecules that may provide data that can guide treatment of the deadly brain tumor.
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found tumor-associated RNA and proteins in
membrane microvesicles called exosomes in blood samples from glioblastoma patients.
Detailed analysis of exosome contents identified factors that could facilitate a tumor's
growth through delivery of genetic information or proteins, or signify its vulnerability
to particular medications.
Calcium may only protect against
colorectal cancer in presence of magnesium
According to data presented at the Seventh Annual American Association for Cancer Research
International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, an understanding of
the relationship between calcium and magnesium may lead to new avenues of personalized
prevention for colorectal cancer.
Protein compels ovarian cancer
cells to cannibalize themselves
A protein known to inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer works in part by forcing cancer
cells to eat themselves until they die, researchers at The University of Texas M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 15 issue of Cancer Research. The research team
also found that expression of the protein, known as PEA-15, is an independent indicator of
a woman's prospects for surviving ovarian cancer, said senior author Naoto T. Ueno, M.D.,
Ph.D. associate professor of breast medical oncology. An analysis of ovarian cancer tumors
from 395 women showed those with high expression of the PEA-15 had a median survival time
of 50.2 months compared with 33.5 months for women with low levels of the protein in their
tumors. "These findings provide a foundation for developing a PEA-15 targeted
approach for ovarian cancer and for clarifying whether this protein is a novel biomarker
that can predict patient outcomes," Ueno said. Ovarian cancer kills about 15,000
women in the United States annually, and is notoriously hard to diagnose in its early
stages, when it is also most optimal to treat.
Ten Studies Showing the Link
Between Sugar and Increased Cancer Risk
How many times have you heard it mentioned that sugar causes cancer, that cancer patients
should avoid sugar, or that sugar is the favorite food of cancer cells? The truth is, this
goes beyond mere hearsay or traditional knowledge; there is actually a large volume of
scientific evidence available which shows the link between sugar and increased cancer
risk. Here, ten such studies are summarized.
The cognitive decline caused by dementia can be slowed by as simple a measure as brighter
daytime lighting, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Royal Netherlands
Academy of Arts and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Drugs like Avastin that are used to treat some cancers are supposed to work by blocking a
vessel growth-promoting protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF. With
VEGF held in check, researchers have assumed tumors wouldn't generate blood vessels and
that should keep malignancies from growing. In a sense, the cancerous growths would be
"starved". But new research just published in the journal Nature shows this
isn’t true. Instead of weakening blood vessels so they won't "feed"
malignant tumors, these cancer treatments, known as anti-angiogenesis drugs, actually
normalize and strengthen blood vessels -- and that means they can spur tumors to grow
larger.
Vibrant Personal Health can be yours. Herb Specialist, John Houser talks about
balanicng your body pH and the many benfits of getting alkaline.
Marjan
Amazing woman
Marjan
Substance in Black Pepper Increases
Nutrient Absorption up to Two Thousand Percent
Putting black pepper on your food may be one of the easiest, most economical ways to boost
your overall health status. Piperine, the main alkaloid from black pepper has been shown
to substantially increase the bioavailability of the nutrients in foods and supplements.
As the quality of food declines and the costs of food and supplements continue to
skyrocket, it is increasingly important to your health that the nutrients you consume are
able to be used to maximum efficiency by your body.
New research suggests that watermelon may produce effects in the body similar to that of
Viagra, perhaps pointing the way to a natural remedy for men suffering from erectile
dysfunction, says Bhimu Patil of Texas A&M University. Research conducted by Patil and
others has recently revealed that the flesh of watermelon contains higher levels of the
amino acid citrulline than researchers had thought. Until then, most of the citrulline was
believed to reside in the inedible rind of the fruit.
Glowing Results-Pitt Researchers
Use Fluorescence to Develop Fast, Simple Method for Detecting Mercury in Fish and Dental
Fillings
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a simple and quick method for
detecting mercury in fish and dental samples, two substances at the center of public
concern about mercury contamination. The technique involves a fluorescent substance that
glows bright green when it comes into contact with oxidized mercury, the researchers
report in the current online edition of the “Journal of the American Chemical
Society.” The intensity of the glow indicates the amount of mercury present.
Developed in the laboratory of Kazunori Koide (Ko-ee-deh), a chemistry professor in Pitt's
School of Arts and Sciences, the new method can be used onsite and can detect mercury in
30 to 60 minutes for dental fillings (or amalgams) or 10 to 30 minutes for fish, Koide
explained. “Our method could be used in the fish market or the dentist office,”
he said. “We have developed a reliable indicator for mercury that a person could
easily and safely use at home.”
JDRF funded research shows promise
for prevention, reversal of type 1 diabetes
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported that two common
cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1 diabetes in mice. The JDRF-funded
study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by
Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D., director of the Diabetes Center at UCSF and an expert in the
field of autoimmunity.
Study investigates Gore-tex-type
device to stop strokes and mini-strokes
A study is under way at Rush University Medical Center using a small, soft-patch device
made of a Gore-tex-type material -- often used to make durable outerwear -- to close a
common hole found in the heart called a patent foramen ovale in order to prevent recurrent
strokes and transient ischemic attacks in adults.
26 percent of sleepless children
become overweight
The research team analyzed a sample of 1,138 children and found: 26 percent of kids who
didn't sleep enough were overweight, 18.5 percent carried extra weight or a body mass
index of 25 to 30, while 7.4 percent were obese with a body mass index greater than 30.
Antibiotics Can Cause Pervasive,
Persistent Changes to the Microbial Community in the Human Gut, MBL and Stanford
Scientists Report
Using a novel technique developed by Mitchell Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory
(MBL) to identify different types of bacteria, scientists have completed the most precise
survey to date of how microbial communities in the human gut respond to antibiotic
treatment. Sogin, director of the MBL’s Josephine Bay Paul Center, and Susan Huse of
the MBL, along with David Relman and Les Dethlefsen of Stanford University, identified
pervasive changes in the gut microbial communities of three healthy humans after a
five-day course of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. Their results are reported in the Nov. 18
issue of PloS Biology. Using very conservative criteria, the scientists identified at
least 3,300 to 5,700 different taxa (genetically distinct types) of bacteria in the human
distal gut, and antibiotic treatment influenced the abundance of about a third of those
taxa. “You clearly get shifts in the structure of the microbial community with
antibiotic treatment,” says Sogin. “Some bacteria that were in low abundance
prior to treatment may become more abundant, and bacteria that were dominant may decrease
in abundance. When you get these shifts, they may be persistent. Some individuals may
recover quickly, and others won’t recover for many months.”
Men with facial scars are more attractive to women seeking short-term relationships,
scientists at the University of Liverpool have found. It was previously assumed that in
Western cultures scarring was an unattractive facial feature and in non-Western cultures
they were perceived as a sign of maturity and strength. Scientists at Liverpool and
Stirling University, however, have found that Western women find scarring on men
attractive and may associate it with health and bravery. Researchers investigated how
scarring might impact on mate choice for men and women seeking both long-term and
short-term relationships. They found that women preferred men with facial scars for
short-term relationships and equally preferred scarred and un-scarred faces for long-term
relationships. Men, however, regarded women with and without facial scars as equally
attractive for both types of relationship.
Exercise increases brain growth
factor and receptors, prevents stem cell drop in middle age
A new study confirms that exercise can reverse the age-related decline in the production
of neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the mouse brain, and suggests that this happens
because exercise restores a brain chemical which promotes the production and maturation of
new stem cells.
International team discovers gene
associated with epilepsy
A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with
the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene mutation was specific to a rare form
of epilepsy, the study results could help lead to new ideas for overall epilepsy
treatment. The findings, which involved nearly two dozen institutions from six different
countries, appear in the Nov. 7 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Study shows how social support may
protect brain during stroke
New research in mice suggests that high levels of social support may provide some
protection against strokes by reducing the amount of damaging inflammation in the brain.
Researchers at Ohio State University found that male mice that lived with a female partner
before and after a stroke had a much higher survival rate compared to those mice that
lived alone. In addition, the paired mice suffered much less brain damage than did the
surviving solitary mice.
The cancer preventive properties of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables appear to
work specifically in smokers, according to data presented at the American Association for
Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer
Prevention Research.
The American Dietetic Association is attempting to pass laws which make it illegal for
anyone but a registered dietitian to give nutrition advice.
GMO - How to dominate the world
UNC researchers find clue to
stopping breast-cancer metastasis
If scientists knew exactly what a breast cancer cell needs to spread, then they could stop
the most deadly part of the disease: metastasis. New research from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine takes a step in that direction. Carol Otey,
Ph.D. and UNC colleagues reduced the ability of breast cancer cells to migrate by knocking
down the expression of a protein called palladin. They also found higher levels of
palladin in four invasive breast cancer cell lines compared to four non-invasive cell
lines. "This study shows that palladin may play an important role in the metastasis
of breast cancer cells as they move out of the tumor and into the blood vessels and
lymphatics to spread throughout the body," said Otey, associate professor of cell and
molecular physiology. To conduct the study, the researchers grew breast cancer cells in an
"invasion chamber," in which human tumor cells are placed in a plastic well that
is inserted into a larger well. Cells will attempt to move to the bottom of the chamber
because it's baited with growth factors that cells find attractive. But first the cells
have to migrate through a filter coated with a layer of artificial connective tissue.
"The cells have to migrate through that and have to degrade it," Otey said.
"It's a useful model system that mimics what happens in the body."
Vaccine-Related Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome in an Individual Demonstrating Aluminium Overload
A team of scientists have investigated a case of vaccine-associated chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS) and macrophagic myofasciitis in an individual demonstrating aluminium
overload. This is the first report linking aluminium overload with either of the two
conditions and the possibility is considered that the coincident aluminium overload
contributed significantly to the severity of these conditions in a patient. The team, led
by Dr Chris Exley, of the Birchall Centre at Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, has
found a possible mechanism whereby vaccination involving aluminium-containing adjuvants
could trigger the cascade of immunological events that are associated with autoimmune
conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome and macrophagic myofasciitis. The CFS in a
43-year-old man, with no history of previous illness, followed a course of five
vaccinations, each of which included an aluminium-based adjuvant. The latter are extremely
effective immunogens in their own right and so improve the immune response to whichever
antigen is administered in their presence. While the course of vaccinations was cited by
an industrial injuries tribunal as the cause of the CFS in the individual, it was not
likely to be a cause of the elevated body burden of aluminium. The latter was probably
ongoing at the time when the vaccinations were administered and it is proposed that the
cause of the CFS in this individual was a heightened immune response, initially to the
aluminium in each of the adjuvants and thereafter spreading to other significant body
stores of aluminium.
Alcohol sponsorship linked to
hazardous drinking in sportspeople
Researchers from The University of Manchester and the University of Newcastle in Australia
quizzed nearly 1,300 sportspeople and found alcohol-related companies sponsored almost
half of them. The sponsorship ranged from financial incentives, such as payment of
competition fees and the supply of sports kit, but nearly half of the sponsorship deals
included free or discounted alcohol for sporting functions and post-match celebrations.
The study, published in the December edition of the journal Addiction, found that
sportspeople sponsored by the alcohol industry were more likely to engage in binge
drinking than those with no alcohol sponsor.
Scientists gain insight into the
cause and possible treatment of motor neurone disease
BBSRC-funded researchers at UCL along with collaborators at King’s College London
have identified a molecule that could be the key to understanding the cause of
neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neurone disease (MND). This insight opens up the
possibilities for developing new treatments to treat these devastating progressive
conditions. The research is published today (17 November 2008) in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and is funded by BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council) with the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. Lead
researcher Professor Patricia Salinas said: "For decades we have been studying how
nerves communicate with their target muscles and we know that in diseases like MND the
sites of contact between nerves and muscles become weak. However, many mysteries remain as
to how these contacts form under normal circumstances and therefore it has been very
difficult to see what has gone wrong in MND. The work we are publishing today puts another
important piece of the puzzle in place and offers up a new possibility for developing
drugs to treat MND and other neurodegenerative diseases."
IGC-associated scientists discover
new mechanism that regulates formation of blood vessels
Researchers in one of the external groups of the IGC, have discovered a novel mechanism
which regulates the process whereby new blood vessels are formed and wounds heal,
including chronic wounds, such as those found in diabetic patients and those suffering
from morbid obesity. These findings, by Sérgio Dias and his team, are to appear in the
new issue of the journal PLoS ONE(*), and have implications for the development of new
therapeutic approaches to healing damaged blood vessels and building new ones. Working at
the Centro de Investigação e Patobiologia Molecular of the Portuguese Institute of
Oncology Francisco Gentil, in Lisbon, the Neoangiogenesis groupshowed that the cells that
make new blood vessels (called endothelial cells) are stimulated by an intracellular
signalling pathway, mediated by the protein Notch. The formation of new blood vessels is a
crucial step in wound healing: the newly-formed vessels allow anti-inflammatory proteins
to reach the wound site, improve oxygenation of the damaged tissue and carry essential
nutrients for the re-structuring of the tissue, that is, the skin.
Confidence in a decision has long been considered a uniquely human experience and a
hallmark of self-consciousness: which route to take on coming to a crossroads depends on
the confidence one has in each of the possibilities. Now, a new study, coordinated by
Zachary Mainen, principal investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the
IGC, calls into question this human exclusivity by showing that the lowly laboratory rat
can also calculate confidence to make decisions. The surprising findings were first
obtained at the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, in the USA, and have just been published
in the leading scientific journal Nature. The team trained laboratory rats to choose the
compound with the stronger odor in a mixture of two chemical compounds, in order to
receive a reward. Zachary Mainen explains, ‘We changed the composition of the
mixture, thus manipulating the decision making process, and, consequently, the
animals’ confidence in that decision. This situation is akin to asking someone to
decide whether a certain mixture of green and blue shades has more green or more blue. If
the mixture is predominantly green or blue, the decision is easier and confidence in the
decision is higher. On the contrary, if there are equal amounts of green and blue,
uncertainty is higher, and confidence is lower.
Deep brain mapping to isolate
evidence of Gulf War syndrome
Researchers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas are pioneering the use of spatial
statistical modeling to analyze brain scan data from Persian Gulf War veterans, aiming to
pinpoint specific areas of the their brains affected by Gulf War Syndrome. Richard Gunst,
Wayne Woodward and William Schucany, professors in SMU's Statistical Science Department,
are collaborating with imaging specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center to compare
brain scans of people suffering from the syndrome with those of a healthy control group.
The SMU team is working with renowned UTSW epidemiologist Dr. Robert Haley, one of the
foremost experts on the syndrome. A congressionally mandated study has revealed that one
of every four veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffers from neurological symptoms
collectively referred to as Gulf War Syndrome. The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Veterans' Illnesses began work in 2002 and presented its lengthy report to Secretary of
Veterans Affairs James Peake on Monday. Persian Gulf War veterans from across the country
are being tested at UTSW using a type of brain imaging called functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while they perform tasks intended to activate specific regions of
the brain. The SMU team is analyzing brain activation signals reflected from the multiple
images taken of each subject's brain to determine which variations are naturally occurring
and which are due to the syndrome. Previous analyses have been unable to separate real
distinctions from "noise."
Medical journalists need improved
conflict-of-interest standards, say Dartmouth researchers
Two Dartmouth researchers call for greater scrutiny of the relationship between medical
journalists and the health care industries they cover. Their study was published online
today, Nov. 19, in the British Medical Journal, or BMJ. The BMJ paper outlines three areas
where journalists might become entangled in conflict-of-interest issues - during
educational activities that may be drug company sponsored, when accepting sponsored
awards, or in the day-to-day practice of reporting the news by relying too heavily on
industry supplied sources. "The media play a role as society's watchdogs," says
Steven Woloshin, an author on the paper and an associate professor of medicine and of
community and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School (DMS). "Good medical
journalism can expose links between doctors and rewards from pharmaceutical companies. But
who's looking to see whether the journalists are being influenced?" Co-authors on the
paper, titled "Who's Watching the Watchdogs? Medical Journalism and
Entanglement," are Lisa Schwartz, associate professor of medicine and of community
and family medicine at DMS, and Ray Moynihan with the School of Medicine and Public Health
at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Schwartz and Woloshin are also affiliated
with the Veteran's Affairs Outcomes Group and the Center for Medicine and the Media at The
Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. The authors believe
relationships between drug companies and journalists might result in more favorable news
stories, in a similar fashion to how industry funding of medical research is associated
with more favorable research outcomes.
Whether toxicogenomics—gene-expression profiling—can be said to have lived up to
its potential depends upon how it is used. The tool is applied mainly to determine
mechanisms of action and, to a lesser extent, as a predictive tool. The key is to place
the data into a contextual framework, according to many leading researchers.
“Toxicogenomics reflects an integration of genomics technologies and information into
toxicology studies,” explained Cindy Afshari, Ph.D., scientific director, Amgen. Dr.
Afshari hosted the “ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Genomics
Applications in Safety Studies—Case Study Workshop” held last month.
New platinum-phosphate compounds
kill ovarian cancer cells
A new class of compounds called phosphaplatins can effectively kill ovarian, testicular,
head and neck cancer cells with potentially less toxicity than conventional drugs,
according to a new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. The compounds could be less harmful than current cancer treatments on
the market such as cisplatin and carboplatin because they don’t penetrate the cell
nucleus and attach to DNA, said lead author Rathindra Bose. Conventional drugs can
interfere with the functions of the cell’s enzymes, which lead to side effects such
as hearing and hair loss and kidney dysfunction. Though scientists don’t fully
understand the mechanism by which the phosphaplatins kill cancer cells, they suspect that
the compounds bind to the cell surface membrane proteins and transmit a “death
signal” to the interior of the cell, Bose said. The compounds are created by
attaching platinum to a phosphate ligand, which can readily anchor to the cell membrane.
Future studies will focus on identifying the exact process.
Ban on fast food TV advertising
would reverse childhood obesity trends
A ban on fast food advertisements in the United States could reduce the number of
overweight children by as much as 18 percent, according to a new study being published
this month in the Journal of Law and Economics. The study also reports that eliminating
the tax deductibility associated with television advertising would result in a reduction
of childhood obesity, though in smaller numbers. The study was conducted by researchers
from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) with funding from the National
Institutes of Health. NBER economists Shin-Yi Chou of Lehigh University, Inas Rashad of
Georgia State University, and Michael Grossman of City University of New York Graduate
Center co-authored the paper, which measures the number of hours of fast food television
advertising messages viewed by children on a weekly basis. The authors found that a ban on
fast food television advertisements during children's programming would reduce the number
of overweight children ages 3-11 by 18 percent, while also lowering the number of
overweight adolescents ages 12-18 by 14 percent. The effect is more pronounced for males
than females. Though a ban would be effective, the authors also question whether such a
high degree of government involvement—and the costs of implementing such
policies—is a practical option. Should the U.S. pursue that path, they would follow
Sweden, Norway and Finland as the only countries to have banned commercial sponsorship of
children's programs. "We have known for some time that childhood obesity has gripped
our culture, but little empirical research has been done that identifies television
advertising as a possible cause," says Chou, the Frank L. Magee Distinguished
Professor at Lehigh's College of Business and Economics. "Hopefully, this line of
research can lead to a serious discussion about the type of policies that can curb
America's obesity epidemic."
More at-risk teens and young adults
engaging in anal intercourse
A new study by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center suggests that
the incidence of heterosexual anal sex is increasing among teens and young adults –
particularly those who have recently had unprotected vaginal sex. These findings mirror
recent data that show anal sex rates among adults doubled between the years 1995 and 2004.
The study, published online by the American Journal of Public Health, is among the first
to report on the little-known factors associated with heterosexual anal intercourse among
adolescents and young adults. "The topic of anal intercourse is often considered
taboo – especially when discussed in the context of youth relationships – even
though we know that this behavior is a significant risk factor for HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections. It's critical that we recognize that more and more young people
are engaging in anal sex so we can open the lines of communications and help them protect
their sexual health," says lead author Celia Lescano, PhD, of the Bradley Hasbro
Children's Research Center (BHCRC). Researchers assessed the sexual behavior of 1,348
adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 21 who had unprotected sex in the
previous three months. They found that 16 percent had engaged in heterosexual anal
intercourse within the timeframe, with condoms being used just 29 percent of the time.
Jefferson researchers define ideal
time for stem cell collection for Parkinson's disease therapy
Researchers have identified a stage during dopamine neuron differentiation that may be an
ideal time to collect human embryonic stem cells for transplantation to treat Parkinson's
disease, according to data presented at Neuroscience 2008, the 38th annual meeting of the
Society for Neuroscience. Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D., professor and interim director of the
Farber Institute for Neurosciences of Thomas Jefferson University, and her research team
found that neural progenitor cells that express the gene Lmx1a are committed to the
midbrain dopamine neuron lineage, but still retain proliferative capacity. Because of
these characteristics, the stage at which Lmx1a is expressed may be ideal for
transplantation. "Identifying the subset of developing dopamine neurons and selecting
those cells at the stage appropriate for their transplantation has been challenging,"
said Dr. Iacovitti. "Our research demonstrates that we are now able to grow neurons
and select the ones that may work as a therapy, without the use of synthetic genes. This
advance represents an important leap forward in the quest to devise a viable cell
replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease."
A drug based on a chemical found in garlic can treat diabetes types I and II when taken as
a tablet, a study in the new Royal Society of Chemistry journal Metallomics says. When
Hiromu Sakurai and colleagues from the Suzuka University of Medical Science, Japan, gave
the drug orally to type I diabetic mice, they found it reduced blood glucose levels. The
drug is based on vanadium and allaxin, a compound found in garlic, and its action
described in an Advance Article from Metallomics available free online from today. The
first issue of the new journal will be published in 2009.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona
produce more data on key genes in diabetes
One of the most reliable indicators to predict that a person will develop type 2 diabetes
is the presence of insulin resistance. Insulin is produced in the pancreas and is the
hormone responsible for ensuring that glucose reaches several tissues and organs in the
body, such as muscles. Insulin resistance is characterized by the lack of tissue response
to insulin and is counteracted by a greater production of insulin by the pancreas. When
the pancreas does not have the capacity to produce the amount of insulin required for
tissues to receive glucose, glucose in blood increases to pathological levels and the
individual goes from being insulin-resistant to suffering type 2 diabetes. Although it is
unclear what makes people develop insulin resistance, several studies report that
resistant subjects show functional alterations in mitochondria. These intracellular
organelles are responsible for transforming glucose into energy that the cell will then
use to perform several functions. A study performed by the researcher Marc Liesa, a member
of Antoni Zorzano’s lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona),
describes a new control pathway of a gene responsible for mitochrondrial fusion, a process
that contributes to the correct function of these organelles. This pathway could therefore
be a key component in the development of insulin resistance. The results of this study
have been published in the scientific journal PloS One.
2 new compounds show promise for
eliminating breast cancer tumors
Two new compounds created by a University of Central Florida professor show early promise
for destroying breast cancer tumors. Associate Professor James Turkson’s compounds
disrupt the formation and spread of breast cancer tumors in tests on mice. The compounds,
S3I-201 and S3I-M2001, break up a cancer-causing protein called STAT3, and researchers
have observed no negative side effects so far. "The compounds are very
promising," Turkson said. "They’ve worked very well in mice, and now
we’re looking for partners to help us take these compounds to the next level of
trials."
Scientists exploring new compounds
to target muscular dystrophy
Using a drug-discovery technique in which molecules compete against each other for access
to the target, scientists have identified several compounds that, in the laboratory, block
the unwanted coupling of two molecules that is at the root of muscular dystrophy.
Enzyme discovery may lead to better
heart and stroke treatments
A Queen's University study sheds new light on the way one of our cell enzymes, implicated
in causing tissue damage after heart attacks and strokes, is normally kept under control.
Led by Biochemistry professor Peter Davies, the research team's discovery will be useful
in developing new drug treatments that can aid recovery in stroke and heart disease, as
well as lessen the effects of Alzheimer's and other neurologically degenerative diseases.
"This is particularly exciting because the enzyme structure we were seeking –
and the way its inhibitor blocks activity without itself being damaged – have proved
so elusive until now," says Dr. Davies, Canada Research Chair in Protein Engineering.
The team's findings will be published on-line in the international journal, Nature, on
Thursday Nov. 20. In remodeling proteins needed for cell growth and movement, our cells
use the enzyme calpain to break off pieces from other proteins. Calpain is activated when
the cell releases short bursts of calcium. During heart attacks or strokes, however, blood
supply to cells is interrupted. When the blockage is re-opened, the influx of blood causes
calcium levels in the cell to become dangerously high, and the calpain activity to
increase. The result is significant damage to tissues. "While you want the enzyme to
switch on and off, you don't want it to go out of control," says Biochemistry
research associate Rob Campbell, a member of the Queen's team.
Overuse of Narcotics and
Barbiturates May Make Migraine Worse
A team of researchers led by investigators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of
Yeshiva University has determined that certain commonly-prescribed medications may have
the unintended consequence of increasing the frequency of migraine attacks. This important
finding could alter the way doctors prescribe migraine medicines. In a recent article
published in the journal Headache, the Einstein-led study of more than 8,000 migraine
sufferers nationwide, found that the use of medications containing barbiturates or
narcotics — which relieve migraine short-term — may make migraine worse if these
medications are overused. Treatment with these classes of medicines was associated with an
increased risk of transformed migraine (TM) headaches, a form of migraine characterized by
15 or more days of headache per month. The finding is significant because 35 million
Americans suffer from migraine headaches and an additional 5 million suffer from
transformed migraine. Migraine symptoms include throbbing head pain, most commonly on one
side. The pain can worsen with physical activity. Attacks most commonly last from 4 to 72
hours, but may persist for longer. More severe attacks are overwhelming and hinder daily
activities. In addition to personal suffering, lost labor costs in the U.S. due to
migraine are in excess of $13 billion per year according to an earlier study from the
Einstein team.
Science teams at Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory identify 13 new tumor-suppressor genes in liver cancer
Over the years, hunting for cancer-related genes and understanding how they work has been
an important, although time-consuming, exercise. At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL),
five different research groups have now combined their expertise to speed up the rate of
discovering cancer-related genes and validating their function in living animals. The
result of the collaborative effort is a large-scale, rapid, cost-effective genetic screen
that in a preliminary test succeeded in uncovering 13 new tumor suppressors – genes
that inhibit the activity of cancer genes. Tumor suppressors are important in cancer
development generally, and specifically in liver cancer, where they frequently have been
found to be missing in people who develop the illness. These discoveries, published online
ahead of print on Nov.17 and scheduled to appear in the November 26 issue of Cell,
“are a huge step forward in understanding the genetics of cancer and open up a host
of new strategies to improve its diagnosis and treatment,” according to CSHL
Professor Scott W. Lowe, Ph.D., the corresponding author of the study. Other authors
include Scott Powers, Ph.D., Director of the Human Cancer Genome Center at CSHL, and CSHL
Professors Gregory J. Hannon, Ph.D., W. Richard McCombie, Ph.D., and Michael Wigler, Ph.D.
Researchers from the Université
Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, IBMM, Charleroi) show that a rhesus factor controls renal
functionand male fertility
The “Rhesus” blood group is well-known from the public for its importance in the
field of transfusion medicine. For several years, researchers from ULB have been studying
Rhesus factors. These factors belong to a family comprising five proteins, three of which
are present at the red cell surface (RhCE, RhD and RhAG) and determine the Rhesus blood
group, and two others (RhBG and RhCG) which are found in various organs including the
kidney, the liver and the male genital tract.The function of Rhesus factors remained
completely unknown till Dr. Anna Maria Marini (Research associate from the FNRS) and her
collaborators (Laboratory of Molecular Physiology of the Cell, Prof. Bruno André, ULB,
IBMM, Charleroi) established a relationship between Rhesus factors and yeast ammonium
transporters. Ammonium is used as a major nitrogen source by microbes and plants but is
rather known for its toxicity and its implication in the regulation of blood acidity (pH)
in mammals. In 2000, this research group proposes that Rhesus factors play a role in the
transport of ammonium in mammals, a process also remaining unknown in animals. This
hypothesis was tested by Dr. Sophie Biver during her doctoral thesis performed in the
Laboratory of Biology of Development (Profs Josiane and Claude Szpirer, also at IBMM,
ULB), in collaboration with the group of Dr. Marini.The results of their research is
published this 20 November in the prestigious review Nature.
Children of centenarians live
longer, have lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes
A recent study appearing in the November issue of Journal of American Geriatrics Society
revealed that centenarian offspring (children of parents who lived to be at least 97 years
old) retain important cardiovascular advantages from their parents compared to a
similarly-aged cohort.
Uncertainty Can Be More Stressful
Than Clear Negative Feedback
In a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for
Psychological Science, University of Toronto psychologists Jacob Hirsh and Michael
Inzlicht examined whether neurotic individuals would react more strongly to clear negative
information or to uncertainty. The researchers administered a computerized time-estimation
task, in which the participants had to indicate when they thought one second had passed
from the appearance of a symbol on the screen. The participants were then given clear
positive, clear negative, or uncertain feedback (i.e., a question mark). All the while,
the researchers measured the participants’ brain activity using
electroencephalography (EEG).
Bad cholesterol inhibits the
breakdown of peripheral fat
The so called bad cholesterol inhibits the breakdown of fat in cells of peripheral
deposits, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
The discovery reveals a novel function of LDL as a regulator of fat turnover besides its
well-established detrimental effects in promoting atherosclerosis.
People who have lost the ability to interpret emotion after a severe brain injury can
regain this vital social skill by being re-educated to read body language, facial
expressions and voice tone in others, according to a new study. The research, published in
the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, reveals that appropriate training can result in
significant gains in "emotional perception", which is crucial for successful
social communication. The study involved 18 participants recruited from an outpatient
service at the Liverpool Hospital Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, in Sydney, Australia.
All had experienced a severe traumatic brain injury at least six months earlier and had
significantly impaired ability to interpret emotions in others. Observations by clinicians
or the participants themselves had identified chronic social difficulties or isolation, an
apparent disregard or a lack of awareness of social cues, or inappropriate social
responding. Someone who has suffered traumatic brain injury - commonly due to a blow to
the skull - can lose the ability to accurately read other people's emotional cues, which
may make their social behaviour awkward, badly timed or miscalculated, notes the study's
lead author, UNSW clinical psychologist, Dr Cristina Bornhofen.
The health threat to city dwellers posed by Southern California wildfires like those of
November 2008 may have been underestimated by officials. Detailed particulate analysis of
the smoke produced by previous California wild fires indicates that the composition posed
more serious potential threats to health than is generally realized, according to a new
paper analyzing particulate matter (PM) from wildfires in Southern California. The paper,
entitled "Physicochemical and Toxicological Profile of Particulate Matter (PM) in Los
Angeles during the October 2007 Southern California Wildfires," will appear in
Environmental Science and Technology. It confirms earlier studies by air polllution
specialist Constantinos Sioutas of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, who is also
co-director of the Southern California Particle Center. For the study Sioutas and
colleagues from USC, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and RIVM (the National Institute
of Health and the Environment of the Netherlands) analyzed the particular matter gathered
during the fall 2007 blazes."Fire emissions produce a significantly larger aerosol in
size than typically seen in urban environments during periods affected by traffic sources,
which emit mostly ultrafine particles," Sioutas said.
Study identifies causes of bone
loss in breast cancer survivors
Osteoporosis is a growing concern among breast cancer survivors and their doctors because
certain cancer drugs can cause bone loss. But a new study has found that cancer drugs
aren't the only culprits. Among 64 breast cancer patients referred to a bone health
clinic, 78 percent had at least one other cause of bone loss, such as vitamin D deficiency
and an overactive parathyroid gland.
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained new insights into
regulation of one of the body's enzyme workhorses called calpains. As the cell's molecular
overachievers, calpains function in many cellular processes, including the movement of
cells in tissues, the death of damaged cells, insulin secretion, and brain cell and muscle
function. The downside of this broad set of responsibilities is that defective or
overactive calpains have been linked to an array of disorders, including a form of
muscular dystrophy, Type 2 diabetes, gastric cancers, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
diseases, cataracts, and the death of both heart muscle in heart attacks and of brain
tissue in stroke and traumatic brain injury. "Our basic findings on calpain
regulation could add useful pieces to the puzzles of these disorders and perhaps reveal
targets for drugs to treat them," said Douglas Green, Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude
Department of Immunology. Calpains are triggered by calcium flowing into the cell. This
process induces the enzyme to snip apart many target proteins, as part of the cell's
regulatory machinery. However, such a critical enzyme needs ultra-precise control, which
is the job of another protein called calpastatin. A central question has been how
calpastatin is so exquisitely specific in attaching to calpain and inhibiting
it—essentially ignoring other highly similar enzymes in the cell.
Gene required for radiation-induced
protective pigmentation also promotes survival of melanoma cells
Scientists have new insight into the response of human skin to radiation and what drives
the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer. The research, published by Cell Press
in the November 21 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, may be useful in the design of new
strategies for prevention of malignant melanoma.
It is said that timing is everything and that certainly appears to be true for autumn
infants. Children who are born four months before the height of cold and flu season have a
greater risk of developing childhood asthma than children born at any other time of year,
according to new research.
Type of breast reconstruction
impacts radiation therapy outcomes
For breast cancer patients who underwent a mastectomy and who undergo radiation therapy
after immediate breast reconstruction, autologous tissue reconstruction provides fewer
long-term complications and better cosmetic results than tissue expander and implant
reconstruction, according to a study in the Nov. issue of the International Journal of
Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, the official journal of the American Society for
Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.
To convince more people to undergo the potentially life-saving colonoscopy, Prof. Arber
has developed a simple early-warning test that can detect colon cancer in the blood. Using
biomarkers, it is the first test on the market that can detect cells of colon polyps the
precursors to colon cancer in the blood, with a very high degree of sensitivity and
accuracy. This painless, non-invasive and inexpensive test could very well be a
breakthrough of the decade.
Misreading of damaged DNA may spur
tumor formation
Cells can turn on tumor-promoting growth circuits by falsely reporting critical genetic
information during the process of transcription: making RNA from DNA. Damage to the DNA
making up a gene can lead to a misreading of the gene as it is made into RNA, a process
called transcriptional mutagenesis. Transcriptional mutagenesis could represent an
additional way DNA damage contributes to tumor formation.
A substance produced in the body called high-sensitivity C-reactive-protein (hs-CRP) is
suspected to play a role in the link between gum disease and heart disease.Acute gum
disease increases the amount of hs-CRP in the bloodstream, which is a natural response to
inflammation caused by injury or infection.
Islet cell transplantation is a promising therapy for people with type 1 diabetes, but it
requires a regime of powerful immunosuppressive drugs so the immune system won't reject
the insulin-producing islets. The drugs raise the risk of infections and cancer and are
toxic to the islets themselves. Northwestern researchers have developed a new technique
that eliminated the need for these drugs. The strategy is a potential therapy for human
islet cell transplantation.
