Diseases
Protein 'jailbreak' helps cancer cells live
March 28, 2012 9:13 am | by David Orenstein, Brown University | News | CommentsResearchers at Brown University and Hasbro Children's Hospital have traced the molecular interactions that allow the protein survivin to escape the nucleus of a breast cancer cell and prolong the cell's life. The study may help in the development of better therapies and prognostics.
Bacterial cell engineering can produce better, cheaper drug therapies
March 27, 2012 11:47 am | by Anne Ju, Cornell University | News | CommentsTherapeutic proteins, which provide cutting-edge treatments of cancer, diabetes, and countless other diseases, are among today's most widely consumed biopharmaceuticals. By introducing bottom-up carbohydrate engineering into common bacterial cells, Cornell University researchers have discovered a way to make these drugs cheaper and safer.
Researchers create living human gut-on-a-chip
March 27, 2012 7:55 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created a gut-on-a-chip microdevice lined by living human cells that mimics the structure, physiology, and mechanics of the human intestine. As a more accurate alternative to conventional cell culture and animal models, the microdevice could help researchers gain new insights into intestinal disorders and evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential treatments.
Tiny reader makes fast, cheap DNA sequencing feasible
March 26, 2012 9:23 am | News | CommentsResearchers have devised a nanoscale sensor to electronically read the sequence of a single DNA molecule, a technique that is fast and inexpensive and could make DNA sequencing widely available. The technique could lead to affordable personalized medicine, potentially revealing predispositions for afflictions such as cancer, diabetes, or addiction.
Scientists unlock key to cancer cell death mystery
March 26, 2012 7:07 am | News | CommentsAn international team of scientists has announced a new advance in the ability to target and destroy certain cancer cells. A group led by the University of Leicester has shown that particular cancer cells are especially sensitive to a protein called p21, which usually forces normal and cancer cells to stop dividing, but was recently shown in some cases to kill cancer cells.
'Bed-of-nails' breast implant deters cancer cells
March 23, 2012 8:49 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Brown University have created an implant that appears to deter breast cancer cell regrowth. Made from a common federally approved polymer, the implant is the first to be modified at the nanoscale in a way that causes a reduction in the blood-vessel architecture that breast cancer tumors depend upon, while also attracting healthy breast cells.
Research points to possible new route to fight dengue virus
March 23, 2012 4:32 am | News | CommentsPurdue University researchers have identified enzymes and biochemical compounds called lipids that are targeted and modified by the dengue virus during infection, suggesting a potential new approach to control the aggressive mosquito-borne pathogen.
Team discovers how bacteria resist a 'Trojan horse' antibiotic
March 19, 2012 8:41 am | News | CommentsA new study describes how bacteria use a previously unknown means to defeat an antibiotic. The researchers found that the bacteria have modified a common "housekeeping" enzyme in a way that enables the enzyme to recognize and disarm the antibiotic.
Scientists use frogs to battle superbugs
March 19, 2012 5:54 am | News | CommentsIn search of ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Australian scientists are analyzing synthetic antimicrobial skin secretions of Australian Green-Eyed and Growling Grass frogs. These two species were selected because peptides secreted from their skin form a defense to a broad spectrum of bacteria including Staphylococcus .
Stem cells hint at potential treatment for Huntington's disease
March 15, 2012 10:11 am | News | CommentsHuntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. But if researchers can build on new research, a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease.
Biologists find potential drug that speeds cellular recycling
March 13, 2012 9:53 am | News | CommentsA University of Michigan cell biologist and his colleagues have identified a potential drug that speeds up trash removal from the cell's recycling center, the lysosome. The finding suggests a new way to treat rare inherited metabolic disorders and common neurodegenerative diseases.
Discovery could reduce chemo's side effects
March 12, 2012 3:17 am | News | CommentsIn a prize-winning finding, a team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue.
Could a NOSH-aspirin-a-day keep cancer away?
March 8, 2012 8:46 am | News | CommentsThe humble aspirin may soon have a new role. Scientists from The City College of New York have developed a new aspirin compound that has great promise to be not only an extremely potent cancer fighter, but even safer than the classic medicine cabinet staple.
Spectroscopic imaging reveals early changes leading to breast tumors
March 7, 2012 4:15 am | News | CommentsPurdue University researchers have created a new imaging technology that reveals subtle changes in breast tissue, representing a potential tool to determine a woman's risk of developing breast cancer and to study ways of preventing the disease. The researchers, using a 3D culture that mimics living mammary glad tissue, also showed that a fatty acid found in some food influences this early precancerous stage.
Researchers invent device to rapidly detect infectious disease
March 1, 2012 8:03 am | News | CommentsInfectious diseases can spread very rapidly, so quickly identifying them can be crucial to stopping an epidemic. However, current testing for such diseases can take hours and days. But not for much longer. University of Tennessee, Knoxville researchers have developed a portable device that can be used onsite to detect infectious diseases, pathogens, as well as physiological conditions in people and animals.
Measuring blood flow to monitor sickle cell disease
March 1, 2012 5:29 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsResearchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital have devised a simple blood test that can predict whether sickle cell patients are at high risk for painful complications of the disease. To perform the test, the researchers measure how well blood samples flow through a microfluidic device.
Modified bone drug kills malaria parasite in mice
February 28, 2012 5:31 am | News | CommentsA chemically altered osteoporosis drug may be useful in fighting malaria, researchers report in a new study. Unlike similar compounds tested against many other parasitic protozoa, the drug readily crosses into the red blood cells of malaria-infected mice and kills the malaria parasite. The drug works at very low concentrations with no observed toxicity to the mouse.
Bird flu, pig flu, now bat flu? Human risk unclear
February 27, 2012 5:34 pm | by Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsFlu bugs are common in humans, birds and pigs and have even been seen in dogs, horses, seals and whales, among others. But for the first time, scientists have found evidence of flu in bats, reporting a never-before-seen virus whose risk to humans is unclear.
Sponge-like spheres give RNA the armor it needs
February 27, 2012 5:48 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsFor the past decade, scientists have been developing cancer treatments based on RNA interference, which shuts off malfunctioning genes with short snippets of DNA. Delivering the RNA, however, has been a problem. The solution at Paula Hammond’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology laboratory is to pack the RNA into microspheres so dense they reach their destination intact.
New malaria method could boost drug production
February 17, 2012 5:04 am | by David Rising, Associated Press | News | CommentsGerman scientists have developed a new way to make a key malaria drug that they say could easily quadruple production and drop the price significantly, increasing the availability of treatment for a disease that kills hundreds of thousands every year.
Drinking alcohol shrinks critical brain regions in genetically vulnerable mice
February 16, 2012 9:29 am | News | CommentsBrain scans of two strains of mice imbibing significant quantities of alcohol reveal serious shrinkage in some brain regions—but only in mice lacking a particular type of receptor for dopamine, the brain's "reward" chemical. A study conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory provides new evidence that these dopamine receptors, known as DRD2, may play a protective role against alcohol-induced brain damage.
Prions play key role in yeast survival, evolution
February 16, 2012 8:51 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMisfolded proteins called prions are best known for causing neurodegenerative disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and mad cow disease. However, a new study by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute finds that they can also play a much more beneficial role.
Chemists mimic nature to expand the range of biosensors
February 15, 2012 4:11 am | News | CommentsBiosensors used in medical diagnostics are typically very specific, detecting within a fixed dynamic ranges. Researchers recently designed a new type of biosensor that copies nature’s approach, which is to employ many different sensors all looking for a common target over a wide range.
New molecule can tangle up DNA for more than two weeks
February 15, 2012 4:06 am | News | CommentsChemists at The University of Texas at Austin have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before the DNA liberates itself, much longer than any other molecule reported. The invention could be the basis for drugs that target rogue DNA directly.
Sensing self and non-self: New research into immune tolerance
February 14, 2012 9:34 am | by Richard Harth | News | CommentsAt the most basic level, the immune system must distinguish self from non-self. But the system is far from foolproof and cancer exploits its weaknesses. In a new study a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute examines how CD8 T cells—critical weapons in the body's defensive arsenal—are regulated when they transition from a "tolerant" state to an defensive state and back.
