Body

Boston, MA - Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems--polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)--exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking water supplies for six million people in the U.S., according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

The study will be published August 9, 2016 in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

The overall prevalence of diabetic kidney disease has not changed significantly in the United States for 30 years, but the characteristics of kidney disease have changed markedly, according to a study in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association.

"What we found was a little surprising and a little complex," said lead author Ian de Boer, a UW Medicine nephrologist and University of Washington associate professor of medicine. He is with the Kidney Research Institute, a collaboration between the Northwest Kidney Centers and UW Medicine.

Washington, DC - August 9, 2016 - For years, researchers have known that the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can trigger severe, sometimes deadly secondary bacterial pneumonia, in some people who are subsequently infected with influenza A virus, but scientists have not known exactly how this happens. Now, scientists have developed a new model for studying this phenomenon, which could lead to new treatments designed to prevent secondary bacterial infections.

PHILADELPHIA --Researchers have uncovered how genes identified from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) affect high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), a biomarker of cardiovascular disease, after comparing several animal models with human patient data. A large team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Copenhagen, Bristol-Myers Squibb and several others institutions detail their findings in a paper published today in Cell Metabolism.

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 9, 2016) - Research conducted by a team from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggests conditions are such that no major red tide outbreaks should be expected along Florida's west coast this year. Their conclusions are based on elevated nutrient levels in the Gulf of Mexico that favor the emergence of organisms other than those related to red tide.

HOUSTON, Aug. 8, 2016 - Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the U.S. With one in every four deaths occurring each year, the five-year survival rate after a heart attack is worse than most cancers. A big part of the problem is the inability of the human heart to effectively repair itself after injury. A team of University of Houston researchers is trying to change that.

Biomedical scientists have revealed the inner workings of a group of proteins that help to switch critical genes on and off during blood-cell production, in a finding that could lead to the development of new and improved cancer drugs.

One of the proteins involved is linked to breast cancer, which is the most common cancer for women and kills more than half a million women around the world each year. Existing breast cancer treatments do not target this protein specifically.

In today's turtles the shell has a key protective function. The animals can withdraw into it and protect themselves against predators. No other group of vertebrates has modified its physique to such an extent to develop an impenetrable protective structure.

Quercetin is a natural occurring flavonoid. Quercetin exerts a direct pro-apoptotic effect on tumor cells by blocking the growth of several cancer cell lines at different phases of the cell cycle. Quercetin derivatives have attracted considerable attention for their cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines. This project was aimed for pharmacophore mapping of NSCLC cells by focusing on finding the structure of the receptor. The compounds were of natural origin, which are known to act on the NSCLC protein and there are notable references of such compounds in scholarly literature.

At the beginning of August, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published a report on a pilot project of a new accelerated path for drug approval (adaptive pathways). In this approval procedure, for a highly restricted population drugs are to be launched on the market faster based on less evidence. Further data on effectiveness, safety, and benefit for broader use are only to be generated after drug approval within everyday health care - as so-called real world data.

Intermittent parathyroid hormone treatment (iPTH) and mechanical loading through exercise have both been shown to stimulate bone formation. These osteoanabolic stimuli are partially mediated by G protein-coupled receptors. Previous studies have suggested that enhanced signalling through the Gαq/11 pathway inhibits the bone-building actions of PTH, however the influence of enhanced Gαq/11 pathway on exercise has not been reported in vivo.

Ocean acidification, rising temperatures, eutrophication and loss of oxygen: Life in the oceans has to cope with a variety of factors. How will plants and animals react when global climate change alters their environment? Laboratory and field experiments, observations at naturally extreme habitats and modelling approaches help researchers to evaluate the reactions of the ecosystem ocean.

A Japanese research group has determined the crystal structure of the JUNO protein, an egg surface protein essential for fertilization. These structure-based mutational analyses elucidated a mechanism of the interaction between egg (JUNO protein) and sperm (IZUMO1) on a molecular level. These studies will provide a framework toward an understanding of the fertilization mechanism.

In the journal, Nature Communications, a team of Danish researchers reports that they have developed a new class of artificial proteins. In the long term, the results could lead to better treatment of cancer and diabetes.

Nature has created a host of proteins, which come in many forms, and which have many functions in our body. They are the body's principal, and hardest working building blocks. For example, some of them provide our muscles with strength; while others make sure that our cells receive messages.

CINCINNATI - Patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) develop heart complications and nearly a quarter die a sudden death. Now, researchers have linked malfunctioning molecular pathways to specific heart anomalies in SCA that result from progressive fibrosis and result in sudden death.