http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. In Parkinson's disease, the protein "alpha-synuclein" aggregates and accumulates within neurons. Specific areas of the brain become progressively affected as the disease develops and advances. The mechanism underlying this pathological progression is poorly understood but could result from spreading of the protein (or abnormal forms of it) along nerve projections connecting lower to upper brain regions. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn have developed a novel experimental model that reproduces for the first time this pattern of alpha-synuclein brain spreading and provides important clues on the mechanisms underlying this pathological process. They triggered the production of human alpha-synuclein in the lower rat brain and were able to trace the spreading of this protein toward higher brain regions. The new experimental paradigm could promote the development of ways to halt or slow down disease development in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-animal-insights-mechanisms-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 24 May 2013 11:38:10 EST news288614282 An irregularity within many neuroblastoma cells may indicate whether a neuroblastoma tumor, a difficult-to-treat, early childhood cancer, is vulnerable to a new class of anti-cancer drugs known as BET bromodomain inhibitors, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center scientists will report at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-biomarker-neuroblastomas-vulnerable-class.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:00:09 EST news284735117 (Medical Xpress)—Healthy cells don't just happen. As they grow and divide, they need checks and balances to ensure they function properly while adapting to changing conditions around them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mitochondrial-metabolic-sirt4-dna.html Cancer Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:21:59 EST news284361702 Some patients are genetically prone to such dangerously high levels of cholesterol that no amount of diet, exercise and medications can reduce their cholesterol to safe levels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-machine-similar-dialysis-cholesterol-blood.html Other Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:20:05 EST news281356867 Genetic abnormalities accrued by tumor cells lead to inappropriate production of proteins at the wrong time or place, or even the synthesis of unusual hybrid proteins not found in normal cells. Such abnormalities can serve as 'red flags' that alert the immune system that something has gone awry, triggering proliferation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that can recognize and destroy defective cells based on these protein signatures.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-reprogrammed-immune-cells-doctors-edge.html Cancer Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:50:02 EST news281348556 Lynch Syndrome is a heritable genetic mutation that causes colorectal, endometrial and other cancers. A cooperative study that included the University of Colorado Cancer Center, published in this month's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, revises the risk of colorectal cancer down but other cancers up for women with Lynch Syndrome who have had endometrial cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-colorectal-cancer-women-lynch-syndrome.html Cancer Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:21:13 EST news281110864 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are devastating neurodegenerative diseases with no effective treatment. Researchers are beginning to recognize ALS and FTD as part of a spectrum disorder with overlapping symptoms. Now investigators reporting online February 12 in the Cell Press journal Neuron have discovered an abnormal protein that first forms as a result of genetic abnormalities and later builds up in the brains of many patients with either disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-identification-abnormal-protein-als-frontotemporal.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:30:01 EST news279894429 Although a large majority of head and neck cancers have a deregulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, data recently published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, indicated that deregulation of this pathway does not necessarily signify that the tumor is dependent on it for survival and progression. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-common-genetic-neck-cancers-key.html Cancer Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:00:01 EST news278676552 A century after the world's first ultrasonic detection device – invented in response to the sinking of the Titanic – Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have provided the first neurophysiological evidence for something that researchers have long suspected: ultrasound applied to the periphery, such as the fingertips, can stimulate different sensory pathways leading to the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-neuroscientists-ultrasound-tweaked-sensations.html Neuroscience Thu, 06 Dec 2012 13:40:00 EST news274023562 Stomach cancer doesn't get the same publicity as lung or breast cancer, but it is a health threat to be taken very seriously. "Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of worldwide cancer mortality, with an annual death rate of over 700,000 individuals," explains Patrick Tan of the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore. He notes that this disease is especially prevalent in Asia; gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer amongst Singaporean men. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-bonanza-genomic-sequence-valuable-insights.html Genetics Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:45:51 EST news266658344 Inflammation -- not genetic susceptibility -- drives the growth of intestinal bacteria and invasive E. coli linked to Crohn's disease (CD), reports a new Cornell study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-inflammation-crohn-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:20:59 EST news264305973 Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have opened a clinical trial to test the theory that giving a patient a new immune system can cure severe cases of Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-clinical-trial-advanced-crohn-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:41:46 EST news262266094 The use of genome-wide array analysis in parents whose children are suspected of having a genetic disease shows that the parents frequently also have previously undetected genetic abnormalities, a researcher from The Netherlands told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. Being aware of this is important to parents because it means that their risk of having another affected child is significantly increased. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-genome-wide-analysis-previously-undetected-abnormalities.html Genetics Sun, 24 Jun 2012 08:22:08 EST news259744773 Researchers at The University of Nottingham have identified three sets of genetic markers that could potentially pave the way for new diagnostic tools for a deadly type of brain tumour that mainly targets children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-genetic-markers-brain-tumor-treatments.html Cancer Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:06:09 EST news258977156 Researchers studying rare genetic disorders have uncovered insights into those diseases in biological structures that regulate chromosomes when cells divide. Focusing on the cohesin complex, a group of proteins forming a bracelet that encircles chromosome pairs, scientists have discovered mutations that disrupt cohesin, causing a recently recognized class of diseases called cohesinopathies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-mutations-impair-childhood-growth-disrupting.html Genetics Tue, 29 May 2012 12:41:22 EST news257514072 Although the two disorders may seem dissimilar, epilepsy and psychosis are associated. Individuals with epilepsy are more likely to have schizophrenia, and a family history of epilepsy is a risk factor for psychosis. It is not known whether the converse is true, i.e., whether a family history of psychosis is a risk factor for epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-evidence-familial-vulnerability-epilepsy-psychosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:17 EST news255178308 Researchers have identified a set of genetic abnormalities in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) that doctors can use to more accurately predict patients' prognoses and select treatments that are most likely to benefit them. The study, led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will be published in the March 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-genetic-profiling-doctors-accurately-prognosis.html Cancer Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:00:13 EST news250953091 When a 41-year-old woman was diagnosed with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia, she received a bone marrow transplant and subsequent leukocyte infusion from her sister. These treatments controlled her leukemia, but seven years later, both sisters developed follicular lymphoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-sisters-lymphoma-evolution.html Cancer Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:25:36 EST news242929530 Amplification of anaplastic lymphoma kinase, which has been reported in other cancers such as non-small cell lung cancers, may be a primary driver of the rapid metastasis that patients with inflammatory breast cancer experience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-pathway-linked-inflammatory-breast-cancer.html Inflammatory disorders Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:22:39 EST news240409351 While genetic inheritance is known to play a role in the multifactorial development of most diseases of the heart, there are also a number of clearly diagnosed cardiac conditions which owe their development to quite specific genetic abnormalities. When these genetic disorders affect the integrity of the heart's muscle they are known as a "cardiomyopathy"; when the disorder affects the heart's "excitability", it is known as a "channelopathy". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-genetic-inherited-cardiac-conditions-patchy.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Jun 2011 03:28:24 EST news228364086 Mutations in a group of genes associated with brain activity frequently cause intellectual disability, according to a study led by scientists affiliated with the University of Montreal and the research centre at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine. Intellectual disability is a severe handicap that affects between one and two percent of children worldwide. It can often be attributed to genetic causes, but the specific genes involved were mostly unknown. "The group of genes we identified all play important roles in nerve synapses, the structures that allow brain cells to rapidly transfer information," explained senior author Dr. Jacques Michaud. "These findings indicate that, in this case, intellectual disability occurs because there is a disruption in nerve cell communication." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-intellectual-disability-frequently-non-hereditary-genetic.html Genetics Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:25:50 EST news222341139