http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia have identified a key mechanism of metastasis that could lead to blocking tumor growth if their findings are confirmed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-key-driver-metastasis.html Cancer Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:07:23 EST news239242034 Exceptional cognitive and physical function in old age leaves a tell-tale immunologic fingerprint, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Likewise, older adults who have mild impairments bear a distinct immunologic pattern, too, according to findings published today in the PLoS One. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-exceptional-cognitive-physical-health-age.html Medical research Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:28:47 EST news238408116 Specialized immune cells called T cells can recognize threats and induce immune responses through T cell receptors (TCRs), but these receptors do not act alone. Multiple receptors gather together at the cell surface to cooperatively switch on T cells. “The minimum unit for triggering T lymphocyte activation is known as the TCR microcluster [TCR-MC],” explains Takashi Saito of the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology in Yokohama. “These are the key structure for T cells to recognize antigens and become activated.” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-specialized-motor-proteins-immune.html Medical research Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:10:07 EST news237199819 Cells making slippery mucus provide a sticking point for disease-causing bacteria in the gut, according to a study published on October 3 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-bacteria-mucus-making-gut-cells.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:01 EST news236861851 Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have made a landmark discovery in the battle against the rapid spread of aggressive cancers associated with PRL-3 oncoprotein . Contrary to the current accepted theory that antibodies can only bind to cancer proteins found on the cancer cell surface, the IMCB team led by Dr Zeng Qi is the first to discover that antibodies can in fact directly target intracellular oncoproteins like PRL-3 that reside within the cancer cells to suppress cancer growth successfully. This breakthrough finding will pave the way for more targeted solutions for cancer treatment and also offers hope for cancer prevention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-headway-cancer-treatment-landmark.html Cancer Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:49:51 EST news234694164 All cells need glucose (sugar) to produce the energy they need to survive. High glucose levels in the bloodstream (such as occur after a meal), trigger the pancreas to produce insulin. In turn, muscle and fat cells respond to insulin by moving GLUT4, a glucose transporter, from intracellular storage out to the cell surface. There, GLUT4 can take up the glucose the cell needs from the bloodstream. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-glucose-uptake-newly-protein.html Medical research Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:21:51 EST news234530490 Researchers have identified an unconventional path that may correct the defect underlying cystic fibrosis, according to a report in the September 2nd issue of the journal Cell. This new treatment dramatically extends the lives of mice carrying the disease-associated mutation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-unconventional-path-cystic-fibrosis.html Medical research Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:46:52 EST news234099944 Canadian researchers have discovered that a tumor cell marker is a receptor for measles virus, suggesting the possible use of measles virus to help fight cancer. Their findings appear in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens on August 25th. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-cell-receptor-measles-virus-tumors.html Cancer Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:48:13 EST news233513282 Researchers at the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), St. Paul's Hospital and the University of British Columbia have identified a new treatment target for a virus that causes severe lung infections and an estimated 10% of common colds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-pathway-infection-common-potentially-life-threatening.html Medical research Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:08:34 EST news232625297 About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. Most of these patients respond well to two novel agents being studied in clinical trials that inhibit the gene, with remarkable responses that are, unfortunately, almost always limited in duration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-combo-therapies-drug-resistance-melanoma.html Cancer Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:27:53 EST news231496019 When normal proteins form protein clumps in the body, then alarm bells start ringing. Such clumps, called "amyloids," are closely associated with Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes. If doctors knew how these proteins form clumps, then they might be able to treat such diseases more efficiently. The physicist Adrian Keller and his colleagues at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the university in Aarhus, Denmark, have succeeded in taking a major step in that direction. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-pursuit-dangerous-clumps.html Medical research Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:46:29 EST news231065153 Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a gene-based test to distinguish harmless from precancerous pancreatic cysts. The test may eventually help some patients avoid needless surgery to remove the harmless variety. A report on the development is published in the July 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-benign-cancerous-gene-cancer-potential.html Cancer Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:46:26 EST news230391957 Researchers have described a new, recessively inherited human syndrome featuring craniosynostosis, maxillary hyperplasia, delayed tooth eruption and extra teeth. They also identified causative mutations in a gene IL11RA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-craniosynostosis-tooth-eruption-supernumerary-teeth.html Medical research Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:44:57 EST news229261478 An invasive cell that leads to fibrosis of the lungs may be stopped by cutting off its supply of sugar, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-lung-fibrosis.html Medical research Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:00:43 EST news228387613 Scripps Research Institute scientists have discovered new elements of the blood clot-formation process. The findings could lead to better drugs for preventing heart attacks and other clot-related conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-blood-clots.html Medical research Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:15:45 EST news227196866 Work by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London could point to a new way to treat aggressive types of cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-molecular-movements-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:55:52 EST news226572918 A key step in the processing of HIV within cells appears to affect how effectively the immune system's killer T cells can recognize and destroy infected cells. Researchers at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found that – as HIV proteins are broken down within cells, a process that should lead to labeling infected cell for destruction by CD8 T cells – there is a great variability in the stability of resulting protein segments, variations that could significantly change how well cells are recognized by the immune system. Their report appears in the June Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-breakdown-hiv-proteins-essential-recognition.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 09 May 2011 12:48:08 EST news224164005 Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have discovered how a molecular receptor on the surface of white blood cells identifies when invading fungi have established direct contact with the cell surface and pose an infectious threat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-white-blood-cells-invaders.html Medical research Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:18:54 EST news223291074