Excess nutrients, such as fat and sugar, don't just pack on the pounds but can push some cells in the body over the brink. Unable to tolerate this "toxic" environment, these cells commit suicide.
Body
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered a pathway in mice that allows white fat – a contributor to obesity and type 2 diabetes – to burn calories in a way that's normally found in brown fat and muscle. The findings are in the July 6 edition of Cell Metabolism.
When researchers at the Buck Institute dialed back activity of a specific mRNA translation factor in adult nematode worms they saw an unexpected genome-wide response that effectively increased activity in specific stress response genes that could help explain why the worms lived 40 percent longer under this condition. The study, appearing in the July 6, 2011 edition of Cell Metabolism, highlights the importance of mRNA translation in the aging process.
For better or worse, a popular class of anti-diabetic drugs does more than lower blood sugar. One known as rosiglitazone (trade name Avandia) has been in the spotlight for its possible link to increased cardiovascular events, but it also seems to come with unexplained vascular benefits and an unwelcome tendency for weight gain. Now, two separate studies in the July Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, explore those other effects of the drugs known collectively as thiazolidinediones (TZDs), both of which stem from their activity in fat.
Cancer cells are well known for their altered metabolisms, which may help them generate the energy they need for rapid growth. Using an emerging imaging technology, researchers reporting in the July Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have discovered that those metabolic shifts actually develop even before detectable tumors form. By the same token, the studies in mice with liver cancer show that the altered tumor metabolism shifts back before established tumors shrink.
Bioprospectors from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a microbe in a Nevada hot spring that happily eats plant material – cellulose – at temperatures near the boiling point of water.
In fact, the microbe's cellulose-digesting enzyme, called a cellulase, is most active at a record 109 degrees Celsius (228 degrees Fahrenheit), significantly above the 100oC (212oF) boiling point of water.
Tel Aviv — A common complaint, back pain is one of the many side effects of aging. Over three quarters of the population experience it at some point, and until now, researchers have had little conclusive proof of the causes and mechanisms of the pain.
Intake of high levels of folate may reduce colorectal cancer risk, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in food.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin (C. diff) infection (CDI), which causes diarrhea. The findings indicate that a molecular method detects up to 50 percent more cases of C. diff than other methods. While molecular technology is more expensive, it allows for more cases to be identified and assists in patient safety efforts within the hospital in terms of preventing hospital-acquired C. diff infections.
LAUREL, Md. – Speculation that the welfare of a small, at-risk shorebird is directly tied to horseshoe crab populations is in part supported by new scientific research, according to a U.S. Geological Survey- led study published this week in Ecosphere, a journal of the Ecological Society of America.
A University of Georgia researcher has invented a new technology that can inexpensively render medical linens and clothing, face masks, paper towels—and yes, even diapers, intimate apparel and athletic wear, including smelly socks—permanently germ-free.
The simple and inexpensive anti-microbial technology works on natural and synthetic materials. The technology can be applied during the manufacturing process or at home, and it doesn't come out in the wash. Unlike other anti-microbial technologies, repeated applications are unnecessary to maintain effectiveness.
Researchers of the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have gained new insights into planarian flatworms, which are an attractive model for stem cell biology and regeneration. Close collaboration between four laboratories at the BIMSB led by Stefan Kempa, Christoph Dieterich, Nikolaus Rajewsky and Wei Chen has led to the identification of thousands of gene products, many of which are expressed and are important in stem cell function.
Patients with gastric tumours in their stomach will no longer have to suffer an eight-hour long surgery, but instead can look forward to a short day surgery which last a few minutes to an hour without the need for hospitalisation.
This new procedure – the world's first flexible endoscopy robotic surgery in the stomach – was successfully performed on patients suffering from gastric tumours in India.
The procedure was performed on a total of three patients, one patient per day from 1 to 3 July.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — More breast cancer patients than previously believed may be receiving radiation treatments after breast-conserving surgery, a University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center study shows.
Researchers looked at a key database often used to assess whether cancer patients receive appropriate care and found that it may not always be adequately capturing whether breast cancer patients undergo radiation treatments.