http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have unraveled the molecular foundations of cocaine's effects on the brain, and identified a compound that blocks cravings for the drug in cocaine-addicted mice. The compound, already proven safe for humans, is undergoing further animal testing in preparation for possible clinical trials in cocaine addicts, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-uncover-molecular-roots-cocaine.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:02 EST news288435228 Many medical issues affect nerves, from injuries in car accidents and side effects of chemotherapy to glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. The common theme in these scenarios is destruction of nerve axons, the long wires that transmit signals to other parts of the body, allowing movement, sight and sense of touch, among other vital functions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-nerve-wiring-self-destructs.html Neuroscience Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:10 EST news287305987 (Medical Xpress)—Membrane fusion is a highly regulated event, both inside cells, and between them. From the moment a sperm first fuses with an egg, subsequent developmental events depend upon its proper control. Inside cells, fusion events regulate phagocytosis and vesicle exocytosis, as well as control proliferative and apoptotic events associated with mitochondria. Fusion between cells, as in the formation of placental trophoblasts, osteoclasts, and myoblasts, share many of the genetic and biochemical pathways used for fusion processes occurring inside cells. Developing communities of cells have also improvised, and come up with a few additional tricks of their own. In a paper just published in Nature, researchers from the University of Virginia, have taken a closer look at how myoblasts fuse in the development of skeletal muscle to become multinucleated syncytia. In particular, the researchers reveal how apoptosis in a chosen few of the myotube progenitors is critical to the process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-fusion-cell-death-skeletal-muscle.html Medical research Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:33:32 EST news286205591 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a previously unknown biological mechanism involved in the regulation of pancreatic islet beta cells, whose role is to produce and release insulin. The discovery suggests a new therapeutic target for treating dysfunctional beta cells and type 2 diabetes, a disease affecting more than 25 million Americans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-fractalkine-protein-diabetes.html Diabetes Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:11 EST news284898063 Scientists may be able to better predict which patients with colorectal cancer will respond to chemotherapy using a new mathematical model that measures the amount of stress required for a cancer cell to die without harming healthy tissue. The results of this study are published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-response-chemotherapy-colorectal-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:20:01 EST news277578272 Drugs that are used in the clinic to treat some forms of breast and kidney cancer and that work by inhibiting the signaling molecule mTORC1 might have utility in treating some of the more than 15 percent of human cancers driven by alterations in the Myc gene, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-hard-to-treat-myc-driven-cancers-susceptible-drug.html Cancer Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:00:01 EST news274695612 (Medical Xpress)—A protein called Myc, commonly found at high levels inside cancer cells, fuels the disease by allowing cells to override their in-built self-destruct mechanisms, according to two new studies by US scientists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-myc-protein-cancer-volume.html Cancer Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:15:02 EST news268301694 (Medical Xpress)—The p53 gene plays a key role in the prevention of cancer, by blocking cell growth and triggering programmed cell death or apoptosis. If, however, p53 has mutated and become defective, the cancer cells can acquire the ability to evade apoptosis and become more resistant to therapy. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital have now obtained results from the first tests using a new substance that can restore the function of defective p53 and activate apoptosis in cancer cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-substance-cancer-cell-suicide.html Cancer Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:42:44 EST news267180156 The natural plant compound phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) hinders the development of mammary tumors in a mouse model with similarities to human breast cancer progression, according to a study published August 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-plant-based-compound-breast-cancer-mouse.html Cancer Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news263130657 Cigarette smoke reduces the production of a Fallopian tube gene known as "BAD", which helps explain the link between smoking and ectopic pregnancy. The finding, from scientists led by Drs Andrew Horne and Colin Duncan at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Reproductive Health in Edinburgh, UK, was described today at the annual meting of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) in Istanbul. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-bad-fallopian-tube-ectopic.html Health Tue, 03 Jul 2012 04:08:02 EST news260507260 (HealthDay) -- Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) activate a mechanism involving coupling of FAS/FAS ligand to induce T cell apoptosis and immune tolerance, according to an experimental study published online April 26 in Cell Stem Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-mechanism-idd-benefit-stem-cells.html Medical research Wed, 02 May 2012 15:40:01 EST news255188355 The benefits of breast milk are well known, but why breastfeeding protects against various forms of cancer remains a mystery. A new study in the Journal of Human Lactation found high levels of cancer-fighting TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) in human milk, which might be one source of breast milk's anticancer activity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-high-trail-protein-breast-contribute.html Health Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:38:04 EST news254417874 A large change in the volume of a cell, from its basal level, is detrimental to its health. Therefore, our cells are equipped with mechanisms to maintain their constant volume. When a cell detects an environmental change that will alter its volume, due to changes in the osmotic pressure, it will adjust its internal water content to counter these influences. This is done through the movement of ions into, and out of, the cell through specialised ion channels. However, the identity of the molecules responsible for this phenomenon remain largely unknown. Professor Yasunobu OKADA, the Director-General of The National Institute for Physiological Sciences and the Vice-President of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and his research team, have identified the key molecule preventing the shrinking and eventual death (apoptosis) of cells when they are subjected to a condition of hyperosmolarity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-trp-cells-hyper.html Medical research Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:35:27 EST news250424779 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has discovered key elements of a strategy commonly used by tumor cells to survive when they spread to distant organs. The finding could lead to drugs that could inhibit this metastasis in patients with tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-scientists-illuminate-cancer-cells-survival.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:53:22 EST news246819192 Glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer, is one of the most resistant to available therapies and patients typically live approximately 15 months. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-pathway-glioblastoma-resistance.html Cancer Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:37:28 EST news246627439 Sepsis, a form of systemic inflammation, is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. Sepsis is linked with massive cell death; however, the specific mechanisms involved in the lethality of sepsis are unclear. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in the December 23rd issue of the journal Immunity finds that inhibition of a specific cell death pathway called "necroptosis" protected mice from lethal inflammation. The research may lead to new therapeutic interventions for fatal inflammatory conditions that are notoriously hard to control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-scientists-cell-death-pathway-involved.html Medical research Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:00:08 EST news243777561 The research team in France has developed an animal model carrying a mutation of the DCC gene. Mice carrying the mutation develop tumours, because this gene can no longer induce the death of the cancer cells. This discovery could lead to the development of a new targeted cancer treatment that aims to reactivate the dying of cancer cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-gene-colorectal-cancers.html Cancer Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:18:47 EST news243083919 A clinical trial of patients with diabetes has demonstrated that cryoplasty post-dilitation compared to conventional balloon angioplasty in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) decreased the risk of in-stent restenosis (ISR). Results from the COBRA clinical trial were presented today at the 23rd Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-results-cobra-trial-tct.html Cardiology Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:54:27 EST news240260061 Challenging a half-century-old theory about why chemotherapy agents target cancer, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have devised a test that can predict how effective the drugs will be by determining whether a patient's tumor cells are already "primed" for death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cancers-chemo-rewrites-theory.html Cancer Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:00:22 EST news238940682 There is an observed correlation between Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels atherosclerosis, with twice amount of IgE present in patients with acute myocardial infarction as in patients with stable angina or without coronary heart disease (CHD). Guo-Ping Shi, DSc, Jing Wang, MD, PhD, and colleagues in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have demonstrated the direct participation of IgE in atherogenesis in a mouse model. These findings appear in the August 8, 2011 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-link-immunoglobulin-atherogenesis.html Medical research Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:45 EST news232105128 (Medical Xpress) -- Though apoptosis is hardly a household word, it’s been estimated that more than half of all diseases for which we have no suitable treatment are related to malfunctions in apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. It’s a body’s way of getting rid of mutated, damaged, old and other possibly harmful cells, and many researchers believe that mastering it could lead to a new cancer treatment, for example. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-tool-apoptosis-related-disease.html Medical research Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:53:01 EST news227958768