Genetic "Short Circuit" Leads To Cleft Palate
... of lights. The clefting-susceptible mice have an overactive gene, comparable to a bulb that burns hot but still is able to complete the circuit and light up the other bulbs in the string. In these mice, the gene alters the normal activity of the other molecules in the circuit, but the palate still forms, alt...Natural Childbirth Could Play A Role In Brain Development
...le toschizophrenia, which is thought to involve an overactive dopamine system and hasa statistical link with birth complications. But no one knows why a Caesareanbirth might increase the risk of developing the illness. Boksa thinks theabsence of hormonal surges when a baby is born naturally may play a role,beca...A few gut parasites could do you the world of good
...itis andCrohn's disease-appears to be caused by an overactive immune system. Symptomsinclude diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bowel obstruction and bleeding. Weinstock noticed that the rise in inflammatory bowel disease waspreceded by a decline in intestinal worm infections. Seventy years ago, he says,40 per ...Purdue researcher finds genetic link to calcium regulation in cells
...tudy suggests that this degeneration was caused by overactive TRP channels, which allowed calcium ions to accumulate in the cells, thus killing them. In a second group of flies, Pak disrupted the inaF gene so that it could not produce the INAF protein. In addition to not producing the INAF protein, the flie...Parathyroid tumors can be removed safely in outpatient procedure
...nt with hyperparathyroidism and is absorbed by the overactive gland. A gamma cameraplaced over the patient's neck picks up the location of the overactive gland. The scan paints anaccurate picture in about 90 percent of patients. Then, using the scan as......e inhibitors that could treat cancer by dampening overactive enzyme activity often involved in uncontrolled tumor growth, Shokat says. Shokat is confident that mutant kinases in animals will prove useful for screening such drugs. "In our experiments, we essentially identify potential drugs to inhibit ki...Antibiotics, yogurt seen as potential treatment for common liver disorder
...that fatty liver disease (FLD) may be caused by an overactive inner "distillery" in the obese that produces excessive amounts of alcohol. "Obesity-related FLD is already a serious public health problem in industrialized nations and will most likely become more prevalent as the epidemic of obesity continues," sa......nerve cell receptors that receive glutamate become overactive and thus receive too much glutamate - as occurs following stroke and in such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's disease -- brain damage occurs. Much research is aimed at treating this so-called excito-toxicity by blocking the glutamate re...Novel route to lupus-like disease in mice
...nd does not appear to be associated with similarly overactive lymphocytes," Marth said. "Patients may live many years with the disease and some do rather well, but the disease waxes and wanes. And in human lupus, intrinsic defects in the immune system, such as the presence of dysfunctional lymphocytes, do not a......feedback loop, alters the electrical charge of the overactive nerve cells, making them less responsive to the firing of neighboring cells. Exactly how this works is still unclear and being investigated. Bruce Gluckman, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and Steven Schiff, M.D., Krasnow Pr...Untangling the matrix of risk factors for alcoholism
...in behavior; this one makes sense. It suggests an overactive transporter gene which could result in a deficiency of serotonergic synaptic functioning. This is another strong piece of evidence in this evolving story. However," he added, "there remain gaps in our knowledge. We continue to be in a state much l......ales are at greater risk of illnesses caused by an overactive immune system, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, diabetes ulcerative colitis, and arthritis. Why men and women respond differently to infections caused by viruses or other parasites remains a mystery. How the immune system adopts certain strat...Scientists using gene chips identify a unique form of leukemia
... with conventional ALL, while about 200 genes were overactive compared to ALL. Thus, MLL shows a dramatically di...CML, led to the development of a drug to block the overactive enzyme. That drug, Gleevec, has been markedly successful and with few side effects in treating CML....Thyroid disease raises risk for birth defects
...New Orleans, showed that babies born to women with overactive or underactive thyroid also were at increased risk... 101 women (64 with hypothyroidism and 50 with the overactive version, hyperthyroidism) who gave birth at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between December 1994 and Jun...Leading lab expert to update medical community on diagnostic testing for thyroid function
...hyroid dysfunction, and is far more common than an overactive thyroid. Large population studies have shown that as many as one woman in ten over the age of 65 has evidence of the earliest stages of hypothyroidism. The diagnosis of hypothyroidism relies heavily upon laboratory tests because of the lack of speci...First drug developed for widespread use against botulism
...on would block accepted treatments for a number of overactive muscle conditions, including dystonias, which respond to the toxin when administered in very small doses. "This approach has allowed us to develop a drug consisting of only a few antibodies which neutralizes toxin better than the most potent natural ...Scientists identify a new kind of genetic problem in muscular dystrophy
...at NINDS. The researchers do not know which of the overactive chromosome 4 genes is responsible for the symptoms of FSHD. One of the genes they considered, called ANT1, triggers cell death when it is too active. Therefore it may be responsible for the progressive loss of muscle cells in this disorder. Howeve...Scientists unlock secret behind cause of chronic lung disease
...s lung diseases, however, these macrophages become overactive triggering a cascade of events that destroy the lung and lead to an often slow and distressing death. The Hck enzyme is normally locked in an inactive state. In the presence of foreign bodies or disease, the Hck enzyme unlocks and becomes active. T...One gene, two important proteins
...that a human STAT protein, called STAT3 - which is overactive in various human tumors - can by itself turn normal cells into cancerous ones. The finding marked STAT3 as an official "oncogene" and solidified the notion that drugs designed to block the action of STATs may prove beneficial to cancer patients. Two ...Pregnancy hormone estriol shows promise as multiple sclerosis treatment in first human trials
...r. Symptoms develop when the immune system becomes overactive and attacks neurons, or brain cells, by stripping away a conductive coating. Once the coating is stripped away, the neurons don't conduct the brain's electrical signals as well. The early phase of the disease, or relapsing remitting MS, is characteri...