http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. The findings suggest that blocking this pathway in lupus-triggering cells could be a potent weapon against the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-key-element-lupus-drug.html Medical research Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:43:05 EST news279222177 Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine are inching closer to solving a long-standing mystery in sepsis, a complex and often life-threatening condition that affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. every year. By blocking the activity of a protein, STIM1, in cells that line the insides of blood vessels in mice, they have halted a cascade of cellular events that culminates in the out-of-control inflammation that marks sepsis, and protected lungs from severe damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-strategies-sepsis.html Medical research Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:00:01 EST news278335012 (Medical Xpress)—For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram—common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere—have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-pesticides-parkinson-uncover-proof-link.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:45:05 EST news276504277 Researchers report in the journal Developmental Cell that they have identified genes that control growth and regeneration of the intestine in the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-planarian-flatworms-regeneration.html Medical research Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:30:06 EST news270389664 Scientists from the United States and Sweden have discovered a new control point that could be important as a drug target for the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. A-kinase anchoring proteins or AKAPs are known to influence the spatial distribution of kinases within the cell, crucial enzymes that control important molecular events related to the regulation of glucose levels in the blood. In a new study published in The EMBO Journal, the team of researchers led by Simon Hinke and John Scott reveal for the first time that AKAPs influence the levels of glucose in the body by coordinating the spatial positioning of phosphatases, naturally occurring enzymes that counteract the effects of kinase enzymes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-anchoring-proteins-glucose-metabolism-insulin.html Medical research Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:12:06 EST news265975917 Dietary salt intake and obesity are two important risk factors in the development of high blood pressure. Each packs its own punch, but when combined, they deliver more damage to the heart and kidneys than the sum of their individual contributions. Discovering the molecular mechanisms behind this lethal synergy has presented a challenge to scientists, but research led by Toshiro Fujita, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine and chief of the Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology at the University of Tokyo, suggests that high dietary salt intake and obesity work together to trigger an abnormal activation of a cellular protein called Rac1. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-abnormal-protein-deadly-link-high.html Medical research Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:40:01 EST news235650317