http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology, found an interaction between the neural circuits that detect hot and cold stimuli: cold perception is enhanced when nerve circuitry for heat is inactivated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hot-cold-interact.html Neuroscience Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:54:41 EST news284655275 Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can coax cells to move toward a beam of light. The feat is a first step toward manipulating cells to control insulin secretion or heart rate using light. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cells-medical.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:00:09 EST news284644083 (Medical Xpress)—The cellular gatekeepers that escort the most common pharmaceuticals into our cells continue to work within the cells as well, according to a UC San Francisco discovery that could transform drug design and lead to new ways to treat disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cellular-gatekeepers-doors-drugs.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:53:48 EST news284622817 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a new model system to study a receptor protein that controls cell death in both humans and fruit flies, a discovery that could lead to a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-trigger-cell-death-nervous.html Medical research Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:39:17 EST news284222316 Two University of Colorado Cancer Center studies show that the protein receptor Mer is overexpressed in many leukemias, and that inhibition of this Mer receptor results in the death of leukemia cells – without affecting surrounding, healthy cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-therapies-aml-mer-receptor-effect.html Cancer Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:40:01 EST news282215658 Blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to tumors can also deliver something else - a signal that strengthens nearby cancer cells, making them more resistant to chemotherapy, more likely to spread to other organs and more lethal, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online in Cancer Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-blood-vessel-cells-coax-colorectal.html Cancer Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:31:19 EST news278937053 The inflammatory response is a double-edged sword—it enables the body to mount a vigorous defense against infection, but can also inflict serious physiological damage if allowed to rampage uncontrolled. Patients experience the worst of both worlds when an infection gives way to sepsis. They undergo an initial strong inflammatory response that subsequently gives way to immunosuppression, wherein immune cells no longer respond to toxic molecules produced by bacteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-inappropriate-immune-pathway-infection-body.html Immunology Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:02 EST news267875244 A receptor protein suppresses local invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells, the most lethal aspect of the disease, according to a research team headed by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-lifr-protein-suppresses-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:35:21 EST news267784508 (Medical Xpress)—The medial preoptic area of the brain has been found over the years to be very closely involved with certain behaviors in mice, such as sexual proclivity, locomotion, aggression and the motivation to care for young. The chemistry involved in such behavioral activity has unfortunately though, remained rather a mystery. Now a team of researchers working at Rockefeller University have found, as they describe in their paper detailing their findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that a gene encoding estrogen receptor protein called ERα which is expressed in neurons in the preoptic part of the mouse brain, appears to impact the degree to which mice care for their young. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-gene-partly-responsible-maternal-mice.html Genetics Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:43:11 EST news267169382 Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-innate-immune-protein-war-bacterial.html Immunology Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:04:21 EST news260445856 The human immune system has a natural ability to identify and attack tumor cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells that are particularly effective at killing tumor cells due to their ability to secrete cytotoxic enzymes. However, mutations have allowed many types of tumors to develop a resistance to NK-mediated killing through ill-defined mechanisms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-cancer-immune.html Cancer Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:00:31 EST news258632667 (Medical Xpress) -- The ancient Tibetan goji berry could help fight blindness caused by long-term diabetes according to studies conducted by University of Sydney researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ancient-berry-diabetic.html Diabetes Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:23:57 EST news258103391 (Medical Xpress) -- Newfound details of the immune system suggest a role for never-before-considered drug classes in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune diseases, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published online today in Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-shift-lupus-asthma.html Immunology Tue, 29 May 2012 09:14:41 EST news257501620 National Institutes of Health researchers have reversed behaviors in mice resembling two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice that normally display such autism-like behaviors, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-agent-autism-like-behaviors-mice.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:50:38 EST news254584076 Removing a lipoprotein receptor known as SR-BI may help protect against breast cancer, as suggested by new findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2012 by Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-good-cholesterol-receptor-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:49:20 EST news252686774 Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer had limited side effects and in many cases a drop in prostate-specific antigen expression with galeterone (TOK-001), a small-molecule oral drug, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-early-clinical-galeterone-safe-effective.html Cancer Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:57:35 EST news252478648 How and when our blood clots is one of those incredibly complex and important processes in our body that we rarely think about. If your blood doesn't clot and you cut yourself, you could bleed to death, if your blood clots too much, you could be in line for a heart attack or stroke. Dr. Hans Vogel, a professor at the University of Calgary, has thought a lot about blot clotting and recently published research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that helps to better understand the clotting process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mystery-blood-clotting.html Medical research Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:36:38 EST news251368588 Researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Columbia University have discovered that the most common receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the lens of the eye, a finding that may help explain links between cataracts, epilepsy and use of a number of widely prescribed antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs. The research appears online in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-common-brain-receptor-eyes-link.html Medical research Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:15:13 EST news246957306 Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered two proteins that are essential for the fusion of muscle cells to build muscle fibres. Their discovery might help us better understand and treat illnesses such as muscle-wasting disorders and diseases of bone over-growth, in which cellular fusion is an important feature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-jamb-jamc-essential-proteins-fusion.html Medical research Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:00:11 EST news243005647 Iron overload is a common condition affecting millions of people worldwide. Excess iron in the body is toxic, and deposits can cause damage to the liver, heart and other organs. Current treatments, researchers say, are not ideal and have significant side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-scientists-experimental-treatment-iron-overload-diseases.html Medical research Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:44:12 EST news239370231 Researchers at Rutgers and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have determined the structure of a protein that is the first line of defense in fighting viral infections including influenza, hepatitis C, West Nile, rabies, and measles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-unprecedented-insight-viral-infections.html Medical research Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:46:30 EST news236533554 A drug now prescribed for cardiovascular problems could become a new tool in physicians' arsenals to attack certain types of leukemia that so far have evaded effective treatments, researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-cardiovascular-drug-treatment-difficult-leukemia.html Cancer Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:24:46 EST news235049078 (Medical Xpress) -- Mutations to a gene called p53 have been linked to half of all cancers, leading to tumor growth and the spread of cancerous cells. Now, a Cornell-led study identifies for the first time the mechanisms by which p53 controls cell movement and invasion into other areas of the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-gene-role-early-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:46:51 EST news233394379 A biochemical pathway long associated with diarrhea and intestinal function may provide a new therapeutic target for treating ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) other neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a team of scientists from China and the United States reporting Aug. 11 in Science. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-intestinal-protein-role-adhd-neurological.html Attention deficit disorders Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:00:01 EST news232286782 In a recent issue of Cancer Research, Daniel J. Powell, Jr., PhD, a research assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed for the first time that engineered human T cells can eradicate deadly human ovarian cancer in immune-deficient mice. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal reproductive cancer for women, with one-fifth of women diagnosed with advanced disease surviving five years. Nearly all ovarian cancers (90%) are characterized by their expression of a distinct cell-surface protein called alpha-folate receptor, which can be a target for engineered T cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-effective-approach.html Cancer Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:50:01 EST news232018837 About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. Most of these patients respond well to two novel agents being studied in clinical trials that inhibit the gene, with remarkable responses that are, unfortunately, almost always limited in duration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-combo-therapies-drug-resistance-melanoma.html Cancer Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:27:53 EST news231496019 Hong Kong researchers have found that men are more likely to develop liver cancer due to a type of gene which is linked to male sex hormones. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-liver-cancer-linked-male-sex.html Cancer Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:42:52 EST news230373760 Pheromone preference, and the initiation of a complex programmed sexual behavior, is determined by the specificity of a single sex pheromone receptor protein expressed in a population of olfactory receptor neurons in the silkmoth (Bombyx mori). The study, which will be published on June 30th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, provides the first direct proof of the long-held belief that the control of sexual behavior in male moths originates in the chemical specificity of the pheromone receptor proteins expressed in pheromone receptor neurons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-reproductive-behavior-silkmoth-pheromone-receptor.html Genetics Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:42:27 EST news228674525 Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified an enzyme that appears to be a significant regulator of breast cancer development. Called PTPN23, the enzyme is a member of a family called protein tyrosine phosphatases, or PTPs, that plays a fundamental role in switching cell signaling on and off. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-enzyme-important-aggressive-breast-cancer.html Genetics Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:37:13 EST news228659818 A natural product called DLPC (dilauroyl phosphatidylcholine) increases sensitivity to insulin and reduces fatty liver in mice, leading Baylor College of Medicine researchers to believe it may provide a treatment for prediabetic patients. DLPC is an unusual phospholipid and a trace component of the dietary supplement lecithin. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-lecithin-component-fatty-liver-insulin.html Medical research Wed, 25 May 2011 13:00:07 EST news225546729