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Researchers develop synthetic compound that may lead to drugs to fight pancreatic, lung cancer

DALLAS – March 10, 2011 – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a chemical compound that may eventually lead to a drug that fights cancers that are dependent on a particular anti-viral enzyme for growth.

The researchers are testing the compound's effectiveness at fighting tumors in mice. If it is successful, they will then work to develop a drug based on the compound to combat pancreatic and non-small cell lung cancer, two cancer types in which this particular enzyme, TBK-1, often is required for cancer cell survival.

Report: International collaboration between researchers results in greater recognition

U.S. researchers who collaborate with international scientists are more likely to have their work cited than peers who do not utilize overseas expertise, according to a new study released this week by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. U.S. collaborators with international scientists are also more likely to receive greater recognition and produce work with greater impact.

New UF study shows some sharks follow 'mental map' to navigate seas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new study led by a University of Florida researcher uses tracking data of three shark species to provide the first evidence some of the fish swim directly to targeted locations.

Researchers found tiger and thresher sharks showed the ability to orient at large distances, with tiger sharks swimming in direct paths at least 4 miles away and reaching specific resource areas about 30 miles away, said lead author Yannis Papastamatiou, a marine biologist in the division of ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.

Tiny gems take big step toward battling cancer

Chemotherapy drug resistance contributes to treatment failure in more than 90 percent of metastatic cancers. Overcoming this hurdle would significantly improve cancer survival rates.

Dean Ho, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at Northwestern University, believes a tiny carbon particle called a nanodiamond may offer an effective drug delivery solution for hard-to-treat cancers.

NASA and other satellites keeping busy with this week's severe weather

Satellites have been busy this week covering severe weather across the U.S. Today, the GOES-13 satellite and NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the huge stretch of clouds associated with a huge and soggy cold front as it continues its slow march eastward. Earlier this week, NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite captured images of severe weather that generated tornadoes over Louisiana.

International panel revises 'McDonald Criteria' for diagnosing multiple sclerosis

International Panel Revises "McDonald Criteria" for Diagnosing MS -- Use of new data should speed diagnosis -- Publication coincides with MS Awareness Week

MIT scientists identify new H1N1 mutation that could allow virus to spread more easily

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In the fall of 1917, a new strain of influenza swirled around the globe. At first, it resembled a typical flu epidemic: Most deaths occurred among the elderly, while younger people recovered quickly. However, in the summer of 1918, a deadlier version of the same virus began spreading, with disastrous consequence. In total, the pandemic killed at least 50 million people — about 3 percent of the world's population at the time.

Differences in mammalian brain structure and genitalia linked to specific DNA regions in new study

STANFORD, Calif. — Humans are clearly different from chimpanzees. The question is, why? According to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, it may boil down in part to what we don't have, rather than what we do. The loss of snippets of regulatory DNA, the scientists found, could be the reason why, for example, humans lack the penile spines found in many other mammals, and also why specific regions of our brains are larger than those of our closest relatives.

Missing DNA helped give humans big brains

A new study demonstrates that specific traits that distinguish humans from their closest living relatives – chimpanzees, with whom we share 96 percent of our DNA – can be attributed to the loss of chunks of DNA that control when and where certain genes are turned on. The finding mirrors accumulating evidence from other species that changes to regulatory regions of DNA – rather than to the genes themselves – underlie many of the new features that organisms acquire through evolution.

When leukemia returns, gene that mediates response to key drug often mutated

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – March 9, 2011) Despite dramatically improved survival rates for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), relapse remains a leading cause of death from the disease. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators identified mutations in a gene named CREBBP that may help the cancer resist steroid treatment and fuel ALL's return.

Gene variant influences chronic kidney disease risk

A team of researchers from the United States and Europe has identified a single genetic mutation in the CUBN gene that is associated with albuminuria both with and without diabetes. Albuminuria is a condition caused by the leaking of the protein albumin into the urine, which is an indication of kidney disease.

'GPS system' for protein synthesis in nerve cells gives clues for understanding brain disorders

PHILADELPHIA – Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania explain how a class of RNA molecules is able to target the genetic building blocks that guide the functioning of a specific part of the nerve cell. Abnormalities at this site are in involved in epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease, and cognitive disorders. Their results are published this week in the journal Neuron.

Novel method could improve the performance of proteins used therapeutically

FINDINGS: Whitehead Institute scientists have created a method that uses the enzyme sortase A to site-specifically modify proteins. Using this technique, researchers were able to increase potency, slow the metabolism, and improve thermal stability of several proteins, including interferon alpha 2 (IFN-alpha 2) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor 3 (GCSF-3). IFN-alpha 2 is used to treat a variety of diseases, including leukemia, melanoma, and chronic hepatitis C, while GCSF-3 (known as filgrastim and marketed as Neupogen®) is administered to patients with neutropenia.

First international index developed to predict suicidal behavior

Although thousands of people commit suicide worldwide each year, researchers and doctors do not have any method for evaluating a person's likelihood of thinking about or trying to commit suicide. An international group of scientists, in which the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM) has participated, has devised the first risk index in order to prevent suicides.

Study shows how plants sort and eliminate genes over millennia

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Hybrid plants with multiple genome copies show evidence of preferential treatment of the genes from one ancient parent over the genes of the other parent, even to the point where some of the unfavored genes eventually are deleted.