http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Scientists from the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) have discovered why a particular cancer drug is so effective at killing cells. Their findings could be used to aid the design of future cancer treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-video-reveals-cancer-cells-achilles.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:22:08 EST news286017597 Using a new stem-cell based drug screening technology with the potential to reinvent and greatly reduce the cost of the way new pharmaceuticals are developed, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have found a compound more effective in protecting the neurons killed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – Lou Gehrig's disease – than two drugs that failed in human clinical trials after hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-reinventing-drug-discovery-als.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:20:45 EST news285506437 In a surprising finding that helps explain fundamental behaviors of normal and diseased cells, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered a set of powerful gene regulators dubbed "super-enhancers" that control cell state and identity. Healthy cells employ these super-enhancers to control genes responsible for cellular functions and developmental transitions—such as that from embryonic stem cell to nerve cell—but cancer cells are able to assemble their own insidious super-enhancers to overproduce harmful oncogenes that lead to aggressive tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-master-expose-cancers-achilles.html Cancer Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:08 EST news284898455 Deep inside your brain, a legion of stem cells lies ready to turn into new brain and nerve cells whenever and wherever you need them most. While they wait, they keep themselves in a state of perpetual readiness – poised to become any type of nerve cell you might need as your cells age or get damaged. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-stem-cell-important.html Neuroscience Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:14:27 EST news284811259 (Medical Xpress)—Important new research from UMass Medical School demonstrates how exosomes shuttle proteins from neurons to muscle cells where they take part in critical signaling mechanisms, an exciting discovery that means these tiny vehicles could one day be loaded with therapeutic agents, such as RNA interference (RNAi), and directly target disease-carrying cells. The study, published this month in the journal Neuron, is the first evidence that exosomes can transfer membrane proteins that play an important role in cell-to-cell signaling in the nervous system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-intercellular-potential-rnai-gene-based-therapeutics.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:10:01 EST news283596137 Transplants of blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood may be an effective alternative to transplants of matched donor bone marrow stem cells to treat children with a rare, debilitating disease known as Hurler's syndrome (HS), according to results of a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cord-blood-effective-alternative-donor.html Medical research Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:03:12 EST news282477785 Researchers think that for cancer to develop, damaged cells have to undergo certain transitions that cause them to spread, or metastasize. Junior Tristan Bepler, a biology and computer science major, is testing this hypothesis, studying two types of cell transitions scientists have linked to the spread of cancer. He works in the lab of Mariano Garcia-Blanco, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, and looks at the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition, or MET, and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, or EMT. Mesenchymal cells are more motile, while epithelial cells tend to be fixed in rows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-tracking-cell-transitions-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:35:57 EST news281781335 Though a small group of proteins, the family called Ras controls a large number of cellular functions, including cell growth, differentiation, and survival. And because the protein has a hand in cellular division, mutated Ras, which can be detected in one-third of all tumors, contributes to many human cancers by allowing for the rapid growth of diseased cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-immune-melanoma-proteins-cancer-cells.html Cancer Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:35:27 EST news279200113 New research examining the role of race and ethnicity in an individual's decision to become a donor for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) identifies several factors associated with varied participation rates in national donor registries across racial/ethnic groups. Results of this first-of-its-kind study are published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cultural-social-factors-barriers-minority.html Other Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:26:19 EST news275228760 Johns Hopkins researchers report concrete steps in the use of human stem cells to test how diseased cells respond to drugs. Their success highlights a pathway toward faster, cheaper drug development for some genetic illnesses, as well as the ability to pre-test a therapy's safety and effectiveness on cultured clones of a patient's own cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-advances-stem-cells-personalized-medicine.html Medical research Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:37:33 EST news273166640 Eye experts and scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered specific cells in the eye which could lead to a new procedure to treat and cure blinding eye conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cells-people-sight.html Ophthalmology Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:47:28 EST news271597638 When Linda Tuttle was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined her experience would inspire her colleagues to design new treatments to tackle the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-trojan-horse-drug-therapy-approach.html Cancer Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:20:01 EST news268330092 (Medical Xpress)—A new clinical research study at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) will test a first-of-its-kind cancer "vaccine" that may prove effective against many forms of solid-tumor cancers. The vaccine, to be investigated in a trial involving patients with brain cancer, generates an immune response that appears to put the target molecule, the cancer survival protein survivin, into a bind it can't escape. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-brain-cancer-vaccine-peptide-survival.html Cancer Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:39:25 EST news268043955 (Medical Xpress)—Kansas State University researchers have discovered a molecule that may be capable of delivering drugs inside the body to treat diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-newly-molecule-drugs-diseases.html Medical research Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:42:04 EST news267709313 Johns Hopkins researchers have created a synthetic protein that, when activated by ultraviolet light, can guide doctors to places within the body where cancer, arthritis and other serious medical disorders can be detected. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-collagen-seeking-synthetic-protein-doctors-tumor.html Medical research Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:28:54 EST news265476523 Gaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of which genes are turned on at a given moment. However, achieving this entry is such a painstaking task that it is considered an art form; it is so difficult to learn that only a small number of labs in the world practice it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-robot-reveals-brain-cells.html Neuroscience Sun, 06 May 2012 13:20:01 EST news255508667 Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other institutions have identified two distinguishable groups of genes: those that produce very abundant biochemical products in the cell and function properly in the majority of biological processes, and a flexible subset that might have abnormal function in a disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-distinguishable-gene-groups-problematic.html Genetics Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:29:30 EST news254399355 A team of researchers led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has designed what appears to be a powerful gene therapy strategy that can treat both beta-thalassemia disease and sickle cell anemia. They have also developed a test to predict patient response before treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-gene-therapy-approach-red-blood.html Genetics Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:32:51 EST news252088361 Australian scientists have developed a new technique using stem cells, in the hope to replace damaged cells in Parkinson's disease. The technique could be developed for application in other degenerative conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-stem-cell-brain-parkinson-disease.html Medical research Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:07:54 EST news240235667 Mayo Clinic has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration for two new cancer vaccines that mobilize the body's defense mechanisms to destroy malignant cells. The vaccines are among the first aimed at preventing cancer recurrence. The approval clears the way for Phase I clinical trials with women treated for ovarian or breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mayo-clinic-fda-ovarian-breast.html Cancer Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:46:24 EST news232807571 A new way to fight inflammation uses molecules called polymers to mop up the debris of damaged cells before the immune system becomes abnormally active, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-anti-inflammatory-agents-silence-overactive-immune.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:01:02 EST news232637347 Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a particular form of leukemia or cancer of the bone marrow, which can be treated with targeted imatinib. However, in some cases this medicine has no effect. Researchers at the VIB Vesalius Research Centre, K.U. Leuven, under the direction of Peter Carmeliet, have investigated the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) in mice with CML. Blocking this growth factor increases the life expectancy of these mice, even in those resistant to imatinib. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-efficient-therapy-specific-leukemia.html Cancer Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:01:28 EST news227264422