One way in which men and women differ is in their expression of liver proteins that control a large number of whole-body processes such as energy generation and lipid and steroid hormone production and turnover. Now, Walter Wahli and colleagues, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, have identified a new mechanism underlying this differential expression of proteins in male and female mice.
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September 2, 2009 – Humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar, yet it is not difficult to identify the many ways in which we are clearly distinct from chimps. In a study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), scientists have made a crucial discovery of genes that have evolved in humans after branching off from other primates, opening new possibilities for understanding what makes us uniquely human.
LA JOLLA, CA—Protein S, a well-known anticoagulant protein, keeps the blood flowing in more than one way, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The protein contributes to the formation and function of healthy blood vessels.
The researchers found that mice lacking protein S suffered massive blood clots, but also had defective blood vessels that allow blood cells to leak into the surrounding tissue.
This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-09/jaaj-082809.php">Chinese.
A surgical procedure known as LUNA (laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation) did not result in improvements in chronic pelvic pain, painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse or quality of life when compared with laparoscopic surgery that does not interrupt pelvic nerve connections, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.
For some patients with acute coronary syndromes, the strategy of immediate intervention at a medical center does not appear to result in differences in outcomes in comparison with an intervention performed the next working day, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.
Comparison of the primary outcomes of registered clinical trials with their subsequent publication appears to show some discrepancies, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.
This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-09/jaaj-_1082809.php">Chinese.
Children in Ethiopia who received the antibiotic azithromycin as a method for controlling the contagious eye disease trachoma had a lower odds of death compared to children who did not receive the antibiotic, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida and their collaborators worldwide have discovered that a single gene promotes development of essential tremor in some patients and Parkinson's disease in others. These are two common but distinct neurological disorders. Notably, patients with essential tremor shake when they move, and Parkinson's disease patients shake when they are at rest.
COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Tues., Sept. 1, 2009) – Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is an invaluable method for studying the interactions between proteins and DNA on a genome-wide scale. ChIP can be used to determine whether a transcription factor interacts with a candidate target gene, and is used to monitor the presence of histones with posttranslational modifications at specific genomic locations. The results are often extremely useful for investigating the functions of specific transcription factors or histone modifications.
RESTON, Va.—A new study published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET)/computer tomography (CT) scans with the imaging agent choline could detect recurring prostate cancer sooner than conventional imaging technologies in some patients who have had their prostates surgically removed.
Patients who had a cardiac resynchronization device combined with a defibrillator (CRT-D) implanted had a 34 percent reduction in their risk of death or heart failure when compared to patients receiving only an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD), according to a landmark study published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC) in Barcelona, Spain. The overall benefit observed from resynchronization therapy was driven by a 41 percent reduction in heart failure.
Body mass index (BMI) readings may not be the best gauge of obesity in older adults, according to new research from UCLA endocrinologists and geriatricians. Instead, they say, the ratio of waist size to hip size may be a better indicator when it comes to those over 70.
Researchers have experimentally induced antibodies that neutralize HIV-1 and simultaneously recognize both HIV-1 envelope protein and lipids. The results were reported by U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) researchers in AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society.
PHILADELPHIA – Body mass in younger and older adulthood, and weight gain between these periods of life, may influence a man's risk for prostate cancer. This risk varies among different ethnic populations, according to results of a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Montreal, September 1, 2009 – Patients suffering from two serious autoimmune disorders which cause muscular inflammation are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, says a group of Montreal researchers. Dr. Christian A. Pineau and his team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have linked muscular inflammation to increased cardiovascular risk for the first time. Their results were published recently in The Journal of Rheumatology.