http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. 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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-discovery-chemo-side-effects.html Cancer Sun, 11 Mar 2012 14:00:15 EST news250690765 In a recent study led by Uppsala University, the researchers compared the DNA of identical (monozygotic) twins of different age. They could show that structural modifications of the DNA, where large or small DNA segments change direction, are duplicated or completely lost are more common in older people. The results may in part explain why the immune system is impaired with age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-identical-twins-reveal-mechanisms-aging.html Genetics Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:15 EST news247402600 German neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to especially long and branched processes called dendrites, which the cells communicate with. The researchers also showed that the growth-promoting property of the receptors is linked to how much calcium they allow to flow into the cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-architects-brain-scientists-decipher-role.html Neuroscience Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:04:21 EST news238845848 A new technique has made it possible to study the functioning of motor proteins in living brain cells. Previously, this could previously only be done under artificial conditions outside the cell. Motor proteins transport building blocks from one location to another in a cell. NWO researcher Lukas Kapitein managed to image how motor proteins find their way around brain cells. The research into transport systems inside brain cells may lead to an improved understanding of how brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease progress. The new Cell Biology Department at Utrecht University, which opened on 7 October, will further develop and utilise this new technique. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-technique-unravels-brain-cells.html Medical research Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:07:19 EST news238316825 All cells in our body have a system that can handle cellular waste and release building blocks for recycling. The underlying mechanism is called autophagy and literally means "self-eating". Many cancer cells have increased the activity of this system and the increased release of building blocks equip the cancer cells with a growth advantage and can render them resistant towards treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-small-molecules-starve-cancer-cells.html Cancer Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:27:02 EST news237353211 An international team of researchers has identified two new genes connected with hereditary renal diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-genes-rare-inherited-diseases.html Genetics Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:01:13 EST news234522034 Many proteins, the primary building blocks of life, depend on elements such as copper, zinc and other trace elements to function properly. “Some metal molecules are required as a structural component for proteins, while others are used as catalytic cofactors,” explains Ayako Fukunaka, a researcher working with Makoto Hiromura and Shuichi Enomoto at the RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science in Kobe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-lending-a-helping-hand.html Medical research Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:40:03 EST news229946650 Damage to normal DNA is a hallmark of cancer cells. Although it had previously been known that damage to normal cells is caused by stress to their DNA replication when cancerous cells invade, the molecular basis for this remained unclear. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-dna-cancer-cells.html Cancer Tue, 03 May 2011 11:07:15 EST news223639620