Many standard antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs block the enzymes that snip the kinks and knots out of DNA – DNA tangles are lethal to cells – but the drugs are increasingly encountering resistant bacteria and tumors.
Body
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine for the first time have determined that bone marrow cells play a critical role in fighting respiratory viruses, making the bone marrow a potential therapeutic target, especially in people with compromised immune systems. They have found that during infections of the respiratory tract, cells produced by the bone marrow are instructed by proteins to migrate to the lungs to help fight infection. The data are published in the current issue of Cell Host & Microbe.
Tampa, FL (May 24, 2010) --- A new animal study has found that high levels of the B-vitamin folate (folic acid) prevented heart birth defects induced by alcohol exposure in early pregnancy, a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome.
A study published online on May 24th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org) suggests that boosting the abundance of one of the body's own proteins might be more effective than antibiotic treatment at fighting off a common meningitis-causing bacterium (E. coli K1).
PITTSBURGH, May 23 – Their scientific methods may have been quite different, but their conclusions were not. In asking whether drug resistance could be a problem if antiretroviral (ARV) drugs become a mainstay for HIV prevention, the two studies – one involving a mathematical model and the other assays of cells and tissue – arrived at the same answer. Resistance could happen if people who are unknowingly already infected use the approach.
Anti-aging supplements made up of mixtures might be better than single compounds at preventing decline in physical function, according to researchers at the University of Florida's Institute on Aging. In addition, it appears that such so-called neutraceuticals should be taken before very old age for benefits such as improvement in physical function.
The findings from rat studies, published last week in the journal PLoS One, have implications for how dietary supplementation can be used effectively in humans.
Some cut flowers and potted plants are better than others at fending off the aging process, known as senescence. To help tomorrow's blooms stay fresh longer, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologist Cai-Zhong Jiang is investigating the gene-controlled mechanisms of plants' aging.
Such probing may eventually reveal how to modify flowers' aging-linked genes, or the proteins that are products of those genes.
Jiang is with the ARS Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit at Davis, Calif.
A DNA-vaccine that restricts the supply of blood to tumours has been developed by scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The vaccine slows the growth of breast cancer tumours in mice.
If a cancer tumour is to become larger than a few millimetres it must be able to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels, in order to secure the supply of oxygen and nutrients. Drugs that prevent the growth of blood vessels are thus a potential treatment alternative for tumours.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have caught male topi antelopes in the act of faking fear in front of females in heat as a way to improve their chances of having sex.
The male antelopes, observed in southwest Kenya, send a false signal that a predator is nearby only when females in heat are in their territories. When the females react to the signal, they remain in the territory long enough for some males to fit in a quick mating opportunity.
NEW YORK (May 24, 2010) - A technique pioneered in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, can orchestrate stem cells to migrate to a three-dimensional scaffold infused with growth factor, holding the translational potential to yield an anatomically correct tooth in as soon as nine weeks once implanted.
PITTSBURGH, May 24 – A flexible ring containing two anti-HIV drugs showed in laboratory tests that it can deliver therapeutic levels of both drugs for up to 30 days, researchers reported today at the International Microbicides Conference (M2010) in Pittsburgh, adding that they consider the ring near ready for testing of its safety in women.
HSP10 (Heat Shock Protein), helps monitor and organise protein interactions in the body, and responds to environmental stresses, such as exercise and infection, by increasing its production inside cells. Researchers at Liverpool, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of California, found that excessive amounts of HSP10 inside mitochondria – 'organs' that act as energy generators in cells – can halt the body's ageing process by preserving muscle strength.
May 24, 2010 – Genetic variation due to DNA mutation is a driving force of adaptation and evolution, as well as a contributing factor to disease. However, the mechanisms governing DNA mutation rate are not well understood. In a Genome Research report, researchers have identified intrinsic properties of DNA that influence mutation rate, shedding light on mechanisms involved in genome maintenance and potentially disease.
Nine new species of handfish have been described by CSIRO in research that highlights an urgent need to better understand and protect the diversity of life in Australia's oceans.The new species are described in a review of the handfish family by Hobart-based fish taxonomists from the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Daniel Gledhill and Peter Last.