http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined into narrow neuritic farms. Near-incessant motion within these channels forces mitochondria to transact constant fusion and fission events whose roles in genetic repair are just beginning to be understood. Many common neurodegenerative diseases have been found to have an underlying mitochondrial deficit either in their ability to produce energy, or deal with the oxidative byproducts of producing that energy. It has recently emerged that deficits in the ability of mitochondria to translocate, fuse, and divide also contribute significantly to disease. A new study in Plos One now suggests that alterations in the way mitochondria move may directly underlie even more esoteric phenomena—like mood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-mood-motions-mitochondria.html Neuroscience Thu, 23 May 2013 17:35:03 EST news288549263 (HealthDay)—For vitamin D deficient individuals, cholecalciferol therapy is associated with reduced phosphocreatine recovery half-time in skeletal muscle and with improvements in fatigue, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Endocrinology/British Endocrine Societies, held from March 18 to 21 in Harrogate, U.K. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-vitamin-d-linked-mitochondrial-oxidative.html Health Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:10:01 EST news282914850 A multi-institutional study has revealed that BRAF-positive metastatic malignant melanomas develop resistance to treatment with drugs targeting the BRAF/MEK growth pathway through a major change in metabolism. The findings, which will be published in Cancer Cell and have been released online, suggest a strategy to improve the effectiveness of currently available targeted therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-braf-inhibitor-treatment-melanoma-cells.html Cancer Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:51:41 EST news281962294 A team, headed by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel from the Institute of Biology III of the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Balbino Alarcón from the Center for Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa of the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, has succeeded in explaining an important step in the activation of the so-called T-cells in the immune system. In humans and mice, T-cells are responsible for deciding whether a defense reaction should be activated to combat foreign substances. Scientists want to prevent the receptor of the T-cells (TCR) from mistakenly also identifying the body's own tissue as a foreign substance to be fended off, because this can lead to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In order to do so, it is first necessary to elucidate the individual steps of TCR activation. Alarcón and Schamel published their findings on the exposure of the proline-rich region, an amino acid sequence in the TCR, in the current issue of the Journal of Immunology. The American Association of Immunologists selected this publication as a highlight of the issue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-team-important-t-cells-immune.html Immunology Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:49:39 EST news279456568 A certain enzyme, the CaM kinase II, keeps the cardiac muscle flexible. By transferring phosphate groups to the giant protein titin, it relaxes the muscle cells. This is reported by researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Linke of the Institute of Physiology at the Ruhr Universität in the journal Circulation Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-enzyme-cam-kinase-ii-muscle.html Cardiology Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:31:39 EST news277640781 (Medical Xpress)—In a new study, University at Buffalo scientists describe the role that a protein called TFIIB plays in helping cells repair DNA damage, a critical function for preventing the growth of tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-protein-role-cells-dna.html Medical research Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:46:34 EST news270996381 (Medical Xpress)—A fundamental mechanism controlling cells of the human immune system could be key to helping fight inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, new research at the University of Dundee has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-immune-cells-inflammatory-diseases.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:34:27 EST news269159658 (HealthDay)—Smoking-induced insulin resistance, which improves with smoking cessation, may be due to activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), according to a study published online Sept. 10 in Diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-mechanism-smoking-induced-insulin-resistance-elucidated.html Diabetes Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:51:35 EST news267105084 A laboratory study led by UNC medical oncologist Stergios Moschos, MD, demonstrates how a new targeted drug, Elesclomol, blocks oxidative phosphorylation, which appears to play essential role in melanoma that has not been well-understood. Elesclomol (Synta Pharmaceuticals, Lexington, MA) was previously shown to have clinical benefit only in patients with normal serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a laboratory test routinely used to assess activity of disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-reveals-molecular-melanoma-treatment.html Cancer Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:17:06 EST news264464196 Scientists at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen have used a new method to assemble a massive catalogue of data on proteins. This gives them unprecedented insight into a process called protein phosphorylation. The research was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-giant-raft-disease.html Medical research Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:53:22 EST news260095995 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Protein Phosphorylation Unit at the University of Dundee have discovered a new molecular switch that acts to protect the brain from developing Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-molecular-on-off-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 23 May 2012 06:50:50 EST news256974522 To better understand the signaling pathways active in sarcomas, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center used state-of-the-art mass spectrometry-based proteomics to characterize a family of protein enzymes that act as "on" or "off" switches important in the biology of cancer. The tyrosine kinases they identified, the researchers said, could act as "drivers" for the growth and survival of sarcomas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-drivers-sarcoma-growth-survival.html Cancer Wed, 02 May 2012 03:10:02 EST news255146304 A key protein, which may be activated to protect nerve cells from damage during heart failure or epileptic seizure, has been found to regulate the transfer of information between nerve cells in the brain. The discovery, made by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published in Nature Neuroscience and PNAS, could lead to novel new therapies for stroke and epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-neuroscientists-key-protein-responsible-nerve.html Neuroscience Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:00:07 EST news254301787 (HealthDay) -- The ability of metformin to bind mitochondrial copper may be essential to its mechanism of action, according to a study published online April 9 in Diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-metal-important-metformin-action.html Diabetes Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:10:01 EST news253601302 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) in collaboration with their colleagues from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering of the ETH Zurich, describe how the signaling molecule JNK directly modifies histones to alter gene transcription. As JNK acts in a signaling pathway that is impaired in every third form of cancer, the results published in Nature Genetics open up a new pathway for kinase regulated gene expression and potential therapeutic intervention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-chromatin.html Genetics Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:19:17 EST news244801142 (Medical Xpress) -- New research hopes to explain premature births and failed inductions of labour. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-womb.html Medical research Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:50:04 EST news243670893 Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) have discovered a key mechanism responsible for selectively degrading aggregates of ubiquitinated proteins from the cell. Their findings indicate that the capture and removal of such aggregates is mediated by the phosphorylation of a protein called p62, opening the door to new avenues for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-uncovers-brain-cells-degrade-dangerous.html Medical research Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:04:36 EST news239886270 A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may lead to a way to prevent the progression, or induce the regression, of lung injury that results from use of the anti-cancer chemotherapy drug Bleomycin. Pulmonary fibrosis caused by this drug, as well as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) from unknown causes, affect nearly five million people worldwide. No therapy is known to improve the health or survival of patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-lung-fibrosis-blocked-mouse.html Medical research Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:48:06 EST news237055679