http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new way of tackling cancer and predicting tumor virulence are has been reported by a French team of scientists from the Institut Albert Bonniot de Grenoble including researchers from CNRS, Inserm and Université Joseph Fourier. The scientists have shown that, in all cancers, an aberrant activation of numerous genes specific to other tissues occurs. For example, in lung cancers, the tumorous cells express genes specific to the production of spermatozoids, which should be silent. This work, published on 22 May 2013 in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that identifying the genes that are abnormally activated in a cancer makes it possible to determine its virulence with great accuracy. This study represents an original concept that will allow cancer patients to be given an accurate diagnosis as well as personalized care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-method-cancer-virulence.html Cancer Sun, 26 May 2013 16:35:02 EST news288804886 In this prospective study, led by Dr Richard Moreau, INSERM Research Director (Mixed Research Unit 773 "Centre de Recherche biomédicale Bichat-Beaujon"; INSERM/Université Paris Diderot) who is also a practitioner attached to the Hepatology Department of the Beaujon Hospital (AP-HP), researchers studied a cohort of 1343 patients from 12 European countries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-liver-disease-enable-provision-treatment.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:26:21 EST news285499574 Vitamin D deficiency may decrease kidney function in transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The finding suggests that vitamin D supplementation may help improve the health of kidney transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-vitamin-d-linked-kidney-function.html Other Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:00:02 EST news283707576 (Medical Xpress)—Neurons have developed elaborate mechanisms for transporting critical components, like transmitter-laden vesicles, down their axons to the synaptic terminations. An axon in a blue whale may be several meters long while those in M.mymaripenne, a wasp smaller than a paramecium, may be just microns long. Yet regardless of scale, these axons all seem to use similar molecular motors working on similar microtubule tracks to deliver vesicular cargo. In a paper recently published in Cell, researchers at INSERM, in France, have shown that the principle source of energy for these motors may not be the mitochondria as has been traditional assumed. Instead the ATP to power these motors appears to from vesicle-attached glycoloytic machinery, namely the enzyme GADPH (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-vesicle-attached-atp-mitochondria-powers-axonal.html Neuroscience Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:56:33 EST news283438560 (Medical Xpress)—For the first time, researchers from the Laboratoire biotechnologie et signalisation cellulaire at the Strasbourg-based Ecole supérieure de biotechnologie (CNRS/Université de Strasbourg) and Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (CNRS/Université de Strasbourg/Inserm) have solved the three-dimensional structure of an important oncoprotein involved in cell proliferation and in the development of the human papilloma virus (HPV). Type 16 (HPV 16), which causes cervical cancer, is the most dangerous of human papilloma viruses. This work, published in Science on 8 February 2013, should make it possible to identify and improve medication to block the protein and prevent it from causing tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-cervical-cancer-d-image-hpv.html Cancer Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:40:02 EST news280142866 Artificially sweetened sodas have been linked to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes for women than sodas sweetened with ordinary sugar, a French study unveiled on Thursday found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-sodas-hike-diabetes.html Health Thu, 07 Feb 2013 04:48:44 EST news279434852 One of the mechanisms involved in the onset of stress-induced depression has been highlighted in mice by researchers from CNRS, Inserm and UPMC. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-aggressions-trigger-social-aversion-mice.html Medical research Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:49:41 EST news277714165 Women who have migraines with aura, which are often visual disturbances such as flashing lights, may be more likely to have problems with their heart and blood vessels, and those on newer contraceptives may be at higher risk for blood clots, according to two studies released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-migraine-aura-heart-blood-clots.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:00:01 EST news277452953 Researchers from Inserm and the Université Lille/Université Lille Nord de France have recently used a neurodegeneration model of Alzheimer's disease to provide experimental evidence of the relationship between obesity and disorders linked to the tau protein. This research was conducted on mice and is published in the Diabetes Review. It corroborates the theory that metabolic anomalies contribute massively to the development of dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-detrimental-effect-obesity-lesions-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:30:41 EST news276784231 Insulin resistance, or prediabetes, in individuals with kidney disease may be caused by the progressive retention of certain compounds that are normally excreted by the kidneys in healthy individuals, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings might be used to prevent insulin resistance in kidney disease patients, which could lower their risk of developing heart problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-prediabetes-patients-kidney-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:00:04 EST news275244992 Why would our immune system turn against our own cells? This is the question that the combined Inserm/CNRS/ Pierre and Marie Curie University/Association Institut de Myologie have strived to answer in their "Therapies for diseases of striated muscle", concentrating in particular on the auto-immune disease known as myasthenia gravis. Through the project known as FIGHT-MG (Fight Myasthenia Gravis), financed by the European Commission and coordinated by Inserm, Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen Le Panse have contributed proof of the concept that a molecule imitating a virus may trigger an inappropriate immune response, causing muscular function to deteriorate. These results have been published in Annals of Neurology, accessible on line. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-auto-immune-disease-viral-route.html Neuroscience Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:32:44 EST news275149949 For the first time, a defective protein that plays a specific role in degrading intermediate filaments (IF), one of three classes of filaments that form the structure of nerve cells, has been discovered by an international team of researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-rare-lethal-childhood-disease-tracked.html Medical research Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:00:07 EST news274961015 This study provided important data about the fertility window of women who had suffered from childhood cancer and information concerning the associated risk factors, but did not confirm the greater risk of premature menopause (before the age of 40) that was reported by the American studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-age-menopause-women-childhood-cancers.html Cancer Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:07:26 EST news273845222 A "sonar vision" system that enables people who are blind from birth to perceive the shape of a face, a house or even words and letters, is being developed by a team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Using this device, the researchers have shown that, in people that are blind from birth, the areas of the cerebral cortex normally devoted to reading become activated in response to stimulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-sonar-vision-congenitally.html Neuroscience Thu, 29 Nov 2012 08:03:17 EST news273398585 Researchers from Inserm and CNRS from the Institute for genetics and molecular and cellular biology (IGBMC) and from the Research Institute at the Strasbourg school of biotechnology (Irebs) have focussed their efforts on PARG, currently thought to be a promising new therapeutic target in the treatment of cancer. Their work has revealed the role of this molecule in regulating gene expression. The results were published on 25 October 2012 in the on-line Molecular Cell review. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveal-molecule-function-terms-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:10:02 EST news270815672 A study in The Journal of Cell Biology identifies a motor protein that ferries HIV to the plasma membrane, helping the virus escape from macrophages. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-kinesin-chauffeur-hiv-destruction.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:38:02 EST news270128268 A new molecule with anti-cancer and anti-metastatic properties has been discovered by teams from CNRS, CEA, the Institut Curie and Inserm, in collaboration with Australian and British researchers. This anticancer drug acts on cells resistant to conventional chemotherapy thanks to an entirely novel action mechanism. It targets not only the multiplication of cells but also their mobility and thus could prevent the formation of metastases. Published in Cancer Research, the results obtained in vitro and on animals could, in the medium term, lead to the development of alternative anti-cancer treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-molecule-anti-cancer-anti-metastatic-properties.html Cancer Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:33:10 EST news265998783 People who are obese and also have high blood pressure and other risk factors called metabolic abnormalities may experience a faster decline in their cognitive skills over time than others, according to a study published in the August 21, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-obesity-metabolic-factors-linked-faster.html Neuroscience Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:00:05 EST news264692556 The HLY (Healthy Life Years) indicates how long people can expect to live without disability. It has been computed annually for each Member State of the European Union since 2005. These figures are released in the framework of the first annual meeting of the European Joint Action on Healthy Life Years (EHLEIS), organized in Paris on April 19, 2012 (ASIEM, 6 rue Albert de Lapparent, from 1:30pm) by the French Ministry of Health. The European Joint Action on Healthy Life Years (EHLEIS) is led by FRANCE, and coordinated by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-life-healthy-years-european-union.html Health Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:55:44 EST news254022937 Asthma is a chronic inflammatory and respiratory disease caused by an abnormal reactivity to allergens in the environment. Of the several avenues of exploration that are currently being developed, vaccination appears to be the most promising approach. In a publication soon to appear in the review Human Gene Therapy, the research scientists at Inserm and CNRS ( Institut du thorax, CNRS, France) reveal an innovatory vaccine against one of the allergens most frequently encountered in asthma patients. After vaccine was directly injected into the muscle of an asthmatic mouse, a nanovector significantly reduced both the hypersensitivity to the allergen and the associated inflammatory response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-asthma-vaccination-intramuscular.html Inflammatory disorders Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:22:50 EST news252753756 New research in humans published today reveals that the so-called FKBP52 protein may prevent the Tau protein from turning pathogenic. This may prove significant for the development of new Alzheimer's drugs and for detecting the disease before the onset of clinical symptoms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-alzheimer-disease-role-fkbp52-protein.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:14:41 EST news251471644 The position of cellular nuclei in muscle fibres has an important role in some muscle weaknesses. Edgar Gomes, an Inserm researcher in the myology group at the Institute of Myology (mixed Inserm/UPMC unit) recently made this discovery in collaboration with an American team. The researchers identified several proteins involved in "correctly" positioning nuclei, which is required for the muscles to function. Their results are published in a letter in the Nature review, dated March 18. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-discovery-proteins-involved-positioning-muscular.html Medical research Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:48:05 EST news251466106 New research suggests women who have migraine or have had them in the past are at an increased risk for developing depression compared to women who have never had migraine. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-migraine-linked-depression-women.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:01 EST news249137409 A French team coordinated by Mathias Pessiglione, Inserm researcher have identified the part of the brain driving motivation during actions that combine physical and mental effort: the ventral striatum. The results of their study were published in PLoS Biology on 21 February 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-center-depths-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:55:24 EST news249134115 Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that a protein called JAK triggers contractions in tumors which allows cancer cells to squeeze though tiny spaces and spread, in research published in Cancer Cell today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-scientists-cancers-muscle-like-body.html Cancer Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:36:34 EST news232709775 led by Pierre Gressens, at Inserm U676, Paris, France, and Vincent Lelièvre, at CNRS UPR-3212, Strasbourg, France -- has identified a signaling pathway key for normal brain development in the mouse. Of paramount importance, the data generated suggest that environmental factors, including maternal ones, can influence the final size of the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-vip-brain.html Medical research Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:29:06 EST news228742136 Changes in the ability of lung cells to divide may play a role in initiating or prolonging lung tissue inflammation, a hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study conducted by researchers in France. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-cell-division-abnormality-contributes-inflammation.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 15 May 2011 11:23:29 EST news224677389