Body

WORCESTER, MA - Researchers at UMass Medical School have identified a new molecular pathway critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system. This finding, based on studying calcium ion-controlled pathways in mice, may lead to new treatments for a host of digestive disorders ranging from common gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), to swallowing disorders, incontinence and pancreatitis. Details of the study were published in Nature Communications.

The most aggressive form of pancreatic cancer - often described as one of the hardest malignancies to diagnose and treat -- thrives in the presence of neighboring tumor cells undergoing a particular form of "orchestrated cell death." This is according to a major study recently published in the journal Nature.

The redwood and sequoia trees in California, the baobab trees in Madagascar, and the rose gum Eucalyptus trees in northeastern Australia are only a few of the spectacular large, old trees still growing today. Protecting these trees, some hundreds or thousands of years old, requires thinking long-term about concerns such as their unique habitat needs and the impacts of climate change, researchers write in a Forum published April 22, Earth Day, in Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

AMHERST, Mass. - In a new study, University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers Krishna Poudel and colleagues report that zinc deficiency may contribute to chronic inflammation among HIV-positive individuals. Theirs is believed to be the first investigation to explore the association between serum zinc levels and inflammation among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, while taking their anti-retroviral therapy (ART) into account.

If you've been on the Internet lately, you've probably seen a cat selfie. Now, a Field Museum expedition to the Peruvian Amazon has elevated the animal selfie phenomenon to a whole new level. Earlier this year, a team of 25 scientists trekked to the unexplored reaches of Medio Putumayo-Algodón, Peru and spent 17 days conducting a rapid biological and social inventory of the area. As part of their efforts to document the region's biodiversity, the team set up 14 motion-activated camera traps and used a drone to capture aerial footage of the rainforest. The results are amazing.

A team of researchers at Sinai Health System's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) and University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre has developed a new technology that can stitch together DNA barcodes inside a cell to simultaneously search amongst millions of protein pairs for protein interactions. The paper will be published today in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

Photoswitchable agents might reduce side effects of a chemotherapy. So far, photodynamic therapies have been dependent on oxygen in the tissue. But hardly any oxygen exists in malignant, rapidly growing tumors. A group of researchers of KIT and the University of Kiev has now developed a photo-switchable molecule as a basis of an oxygen-independent method. Their successful laboratory tests on tumors are reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie (Applied Chemistry). DOI: 10.1002/ange.201600506.

A walk through most Midwestern state parks and nature preserves looks much different today than it did a century ago.

In contrast to a backdrop of diverse wildflowers, bees, butterflies and birds -- commonly seen in 19th-century landscape paintings -- modern wooded areas are now overrun by imported invasive plants, choking out most native species and disrupting much of the natural biodiversity.

Only a few years after its discovery, it is difficult to conceive of genetics without the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme scissors, which allow for a very simple, versatile and reliable modification of DNA of various organisms. Since its discovery, scientists throughout the world have been working on ways of further improving or adjusting the CRISPR-Cas9 system to their specific needs.

AS the sole UK academic presenting a paper at a large-scale conference in the USA, the University of Huddersfield's Professor Jill Johnes introduced her audience to some new concepts in education finance. She also returned with a fresh idea of her own - to establish a new European association for education and finance policy.

Long-term infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause liver inflammation and increase the risk of liver cancer. Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, found that resolving HBV infection was not associated with reduced rates of liver cancer.

Timing is everything when it comes to the development of the vertebrate face. In a new study published in PLoS Genetics, USC Stem Cell researcher Lindsey Barske from the laboratory of Gage Crump and her colleagues identify the roles of key molecular signals that control this critical timing.

A research group led by Osaka University and collaborative institutions discovered that disorders in the same gene PIGG are the cause for intellectual disability with seizures and hypotonia. PIGG is one of the enzymes active in the GPI anchor glycolipid synthesis and the current study revealed its significance in the development of the cerebral nervous system.

One of the secrets to rich milk production in lactation has been uncovered by researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Their studies have revealed that breast cells develop two nuclei as the breast switches on lactation to nurture the newborn.

This change begins to occur in late pregnancy with the generation of vast numbers of cells with two nuclei.

Melbourne researchers have uncovered the genes responsible for the way the body fights infection at the point of 'invasion' - whether it's the skin, liver, lungs or the gut.