Tag: Researchers

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine have discovered the first example of a novel mode of neurotransmitter-based communication. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, challenges current dogma about mechanisms of signaling in the brain, and uncovers new pathways for developing therapies for disorders like epilepsy, anxiety and chronic pain. Voltage-gated potassium

More hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in correctional facilities, a possibility if medication costs were to drop, is essential to controlling the hepatitis C epidemic in the US, according to researchers from the Rollins School of Public Health and Harvard University. In a new paper published in the June 2018 edition of the Infectious Disease

Sleep is known to be important for creative thinking, but exactly how it helps and what role each sleep stage—REM and non-REM—plays remains unclear. A team of researchers have now developed a hypothesis, outlined in an Opinion published May 15 in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, to explain how the interleaving of REM and

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have been studying how the immune system succeeds in keeping pathogens in check. For the first time, the researchers have now discovered antibodies that are capable of disarming not only one specific bacterium, but a whole variety of microorganisms at once. The newly discovered antibodies recognize a

University of Minnesota researchers in the dentistry school-based Institute for Molecular Virology (IMV) have made a key discovery that could have important implications for developing a strategy to stop the spread of a highly infectious virus currently spreading among remote areas of central Australia. Called human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), infection rates are

A recent study by sensory researchers at Kansas State University’s Olathe campus finds that emojis are a viable alternative to words when it comes to accurately measuring how kids feel about food, products and other experiences. The results appear in the study, “The emoji scale: A facial scale for the 21st century,” which was published

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have launched a pilot study to see how a drug that treats several related autoimmune disorders affects the skeleton. The two-year study, led by Susan M. Goodman, MD, a rheumatologist at HSS in New York City, will look at the effect on bone of secukinumab in men and

By creating multiple types of neurons from stem cells and observing how they interact, Salk scientists have developed a new way to study the connections between brain cells in the lab. Using the technique, which generates a partial model of the brain, the team showed how communication between neurons is altered in people with schizophrenia.

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have discovered a way turn pluripotent stem cells into atrial cells, which make up the upper chambers, or atria, of the heart. The discovery will enable them to better study atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder also known as AFib, which originates in the heart’s atria. As

The message, “breast is best” may be familiar and powerful, but it’s not enough to get some women to breastfeed. A new University of Rochester Medical Center project creates a partnership with mothers who are not likely to breastfeed exclusively, and tries to improve the rates by first understanding their perspective and obstacles. Although Rochester

Researchers at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute have shown a novel relationship between the intestinal microbiome and atherosclerosis, one of the major causes of heart attack and stroke. This was measured as the burden of plaque in the carotid arteries. In order to understand the role that bacteria in the gut may play

The average preschooler watches more than three hours of TV, film and other video programming each day—just one of many examples illustrating the huge role that entertainment plays in children’s lives. But parents don’t need to fear their children playing with iPads and other devices, researchers say. Mindful play with an adult, combined with thoughtful

While most cases of chronic dizziness result from a physical disorder, psychiatric issues can be a cause—or a consequence—of chronic dizziness, according to research published The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Chronic dizziness can result from a number of underlying health problems, most commonly involving neurologic, vestibular and cardiac diseases. For patients who have

Cancer patients are commonly treated with the maximum dose they are able to withstand that does not cause too many toxic side effects. However, many patients become resistant to these treatments and develop cancer recurrence. Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center are using mathematical modeling based on evolutionary principals to show that adaptive drug treatments based

New research from the Department of Food Science (FOOD) at the University of Copenhagen suggests that in the not-too-distant future, it might be possible to drink a cocktail of selective viruses (bacteriophages) that travel directly into the gut and kill the disease-causing bacteria without the use of antibiotics, and without harming the beneficial commensal intestinal

A team of Russian scientists together with foreign colleagues, reports that the venom of the crab spider Heriaeus melloteei may be used as a basis for a treatment against hypokalemic periodic paralysis. This disease is caused by genetic mutation that leads to the occurrence of the so-called ω-currents, or leakage currents, via voltage-gated ion channels

A research team from Queen’s University Belfast, in collaboration with an international team of experts, have made ground-breaking insights into how inflammatory diseases work. This development could in time lead to new treatments for a range of diseases caused by inflammation, including sepsis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis and Multiple Sclerosis. The findings have recently been published

Tumor heterogeneity describes the differences between different cells within a given tumor. These differences have major implications for the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of cancer patients. Different mechanisms have been proposed to account for tumor heterogeneity such as epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process in which epithelial tumor cells loose their adhesion and acquire

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that is strongly associated with metastatic breast cancer and that could be a target for future therapies. High levels of the protein ZMYND8 are correlated with poor survival in breast cancer patients, said Dr. Weibo Luo, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Pharmacology, and with the

Liver stem cells that express high levels of telomerase, a protein often associated with resistance to aging, act in mice to regenerate the organ during normal cellular turnover or tissue damage, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The cells are distributed throughout the liver’s lobes, enabling it to