Body

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville researchers have discovered that a protein previously known for its role in kidney function also plays a significant role in the nervous system. In an article featured in the April 13 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, they show that the adaptor protein CD2AP is a key player in a type of neural growth known as collateral sprouting.

Fossils of a 13-million-year-old extinct crocodilian from the Peruvian Amazon suggest that South American and Indian species evolved separately to acquire protruding, "telescoped" eyes that helped the animals conceal their bodies underwater while scanning the river's edge. The new study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, provides a long-sought insight about the extremely long and slender-snouted gavialoids--one of the three major types of crocodilians, along with alligators and crocodiles--that are represented today by just one living species, the Indian gharial.

What is true for humans is also true for baboons: The tougher the childhood, the higher the risks of premature death later in life.

Numerous studies have shown that childhood trauma can have far-reaching effects on adult health and survival; new research finds the same is true for wild baboons.

People who experience childhood abuse, neglect and other hallmarks of a rough childhood are more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes and other health problems later in life, even after the stressful events have passed, previous research shows.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have invented a new way to create three-dimensional human heart tissue from stem cells. The tissue can be used to model disease and test drugs, and it opens the door for a precision medicine approach to treating heart disease. Although there are existing techniques to make three-dimensional tissues from heart cells, the new method dramatically reduces the number of cells needed, making it an easier, cheaper, and more efficient system.

The 13-million-year-old fossils of an extinct crocodylian, named 'the storyteller,' suggest that South American and Indian species evolved separately to acquire protruding, 'telescoped' eyes for river-dwelling, according to a study published April 20, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi from the University de Montpellier, France, and colleagues.

Analysis of hairs from muskoxen in the Arctic tundra indicates they had limited amounts of forage available and relied heavily on body stores during snow-heavy winters, according to a study published April 20, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jesper Bruun Mosbacher from the Arctic Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues.

Patients receiving cancer treatment could increase their chance of survival by up to 20% and help stop their cancer from spreading by taking a low-dose of aspirin, new research suggests.

In a systematic review of the available scientific literature a team from Cardiff University's School of Medicine found a significant reduction in mortality and cancer spread by patients who took a low-level dose of aspirin in addition to their cancer treatment (average study follow-up length over 5 years).

Adolescents and young adults with a severe inherited immunodeficiency disorder improved following treatment with novel gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The results of this study appear today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

An antibody that defends blood vessels against sepsis can prevent mice from succumbing to the disease, a new study shows. Instead of targeting the pathogen or the body's inflammation response as existing, unsuccessful sepsis treatments have done, this approach targets the patient's vascular response. What's more, unlike conventional therapeutic antibodies, the antibody involved here works by converting a normally harmful protein into a protective one.

April 20, 2016 Sepsis, more commonly known as blood poisoning, is an exceptional healthcare problem. It is more common than heart attacks, and kills more people than any type of cancer and despite this, it remains largely unknown. According to a 2013 paper published in The New English Journal of Medicine1, it affects more than 19 million people around the world yearly and the number keeps increasing.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Most basal cell skin cancers are easily removed -- those on the arm, leg or back. But when the cancer is on the eyelid or when it starts to invade surrounding tissue, it's no longer straightforward.

A team of researchers who specialize in treating cancers of the eye wanted to identify a marker that would indicate aggressive basal cell skin cancer, and perhaps also provide a potential target for treatment.

Alexandria, Va., USA - The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have published an issue of Advances in Dental Research on the International Caries Consensus Collaboration's (ICCC) recommendations for carious lesion management and related terminology, developed from evidence-led consensus. Jo Frencken, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands; JDR Associate Editor Nicola Innes, University of Dundee, Scotland; and Falk Schwendicke, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, served as guest editors of this special issue.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (April 20, 2016) - Using a novel method, Whitehead Institute researchers have determined how a non-coding mutation identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) can contribute to sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). The approach could be used to analyze GWAS results for other sporadic diseases with genetic causes, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.

A casual observation about size differences in mice has led to the discovery that defects in a process for digesting dead cells called LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) may lead to a lupus-like autoimmune disorder. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the research, which appears as an advance online publication today in the scientific journal Nature.

Seven fossil teeth exposed by the Panama Canal expansion project are the first evidence of a monkey on the North American continent before the Isthmus of Panama connected it to South America 3.5 million years ago. A team including Carlos Jaramillo, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), published this discovery online in the journal, Nature today. They named the new monkey species Panamacebus transitus in honor of Panama and the monkey's movement across the ancient seaway that divided North and South America.