JCI table of contents -- July 26, 2007
...ult from the bodys immune system attacking its own tissues or self antigens. Therefore, researchers have long desired to understand how a state of immune tolerance (the inability to mount an immune response against an antigen) may be forcibly induced as a therapeutic approach to treating autoimmune disease. ...U-M researchers identify gene involved in breast cancer
... the cancer sample: about 80 percent of the cancer tissues studied did not express the gene at all. In addition, the researchers found FOXP3 to be a repressor of HER-2, a protein that typically marks a more aggressive form of breast cancer. The researchers believe FOXP3 suppresses the HER-2 gene. HER-2 ca...U-M team identifies gene that regulates blood-forming fetal stem cells
...erative diseases. Stem cells generate all of the tissues in the developing human body and later in life provide replacement cells when adult tissues are damaged or wear out. Stem cells that form blood and immune-system cells are called hematopoietic...Call for EU to launch major project to map out all our proteins
...lve disruption to regulatory processes in cells or tissues with associated changes in the abundance of proteins and their interactions, Aebersold pointed out. The idea would be that if we could map out the whole proteome, we could develop a toolbox structure enabling assays (for detecting proteins) to be don...University of Leeds strengthens China links in membrane and neurobiology
..., which play critical roles in the brain and other tissues and contribute to chronic pain, cardiovascular and other diseases. Studies are also being carried out on the structures of membrane transporters and receptors, which potentially represent targets for novel antibacterial, antiparasite and antidiabetic...UB scientist discovers novel iron-copper alliance
...rption of dietary iron, which is deposited in body tissues and organs, where it may become toxic. ACD is a blood disorder caused by low body iron levels resulting from any medical condition that affects the production and lifespan of red blood cells, such as chronic infection, chronic immune activation resu...'Preconditioning' helps protect brain's blood vessels from stroke
...in the blood called nitric oxide (NO). Injuries to tissues -- such as the ischemia that occurs in stroke -- activate certain enzymes that produce NO. This process also produces destructive, oxidative byproducts called free radicals. According to the new study, NO combines with these free radicals to produ...New clue into how diet and exercise enhance longevity
...et, exercise and lower weight keep your peripheral tissues sensitive to insulin. That reduces the amount and duration of insulin secretion needed to keep your glucose under control when you eat. Therefore, the brain is exposed to less insulin. Since insulin turns on Irs2 in the brain, that means lower Irs2 a...Purdue-IU researchers explore new method for early disease diagnosis
...lecules, or metabolites, which occur in fluids and tissues in the body. The presence of a particular metabolite, grouping of metabolites or ratio of metabolites can indicate a response to biological stress or a specific disease state. "The metabolic profile in biofluids, such as blood and urine, provides a...Co-operation between GSF and clinic improves outlook for sarcoma patients
...ancer therapy. From the beginning, tumours of soft tissues and bones, which start from the connective tissue and are called sarcomas, were taken as examples. The scientists were especially interested together with related biological research - in the question whether certain sarcomas could be better treated...How plants learned to respond to changing environments
...ears ago, were the first plants to evolve vascular tissues - specialized tissues for transporting water and nutrients through the plant. This group of plants also have the genes in...'Virtual' mouse brains now available online
...-by-side brain images begin revolving as overlying tissues dissolve into computer-rendered transparency. What remains visible, seemingly floating over the bases of the animals' skulls, are two color-coded brain structures -- the ventricles and hippocampus -- showing different volumes resulting from specific...Scientists follow familiar TRAIL to new cancer therapy
...cancers. Potency and lack of toxicity to normal tissues make activation of TNF-a-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) death receptor signaling an attractive and exciting target for cancer therapy, and it is currently being tested in clinical trials. However, most cancer cells have defects in their ab...Sea anemone genome provides new view of our multi-celled ancestors
...y "true animals") and are characterized by defined tissues and distinct embryonic layers. "Anything the sea...he added, because eumetazoans are characterized by tissues and organs in which cells must cluster and communicate, whereas single cells generally need to inter...New imaging method clarifies nutrient cycle
...imentally by this technique. For example, how do tissues react upon implantation of a metastasizing tumor cell, and what does the tumor cell synthesize in order to make implantation possible" ...Variant CJD -- Prion amplification breakthrough brings new insights and hopes for a blood test
...is method has the potential to be applied on other tissues and fluids, including blood. The prion amplification is dependent on genetic factors, similar to those influencing susceptibility to variant CJD. Background Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) seems to result from conversion of a normal protein in ...American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 27/July 3, 2007
...hat can be injected into the body to make diseased tissues even more visible during the imaging session. Th...cessfully enhanced the LOIS images, revealing deep tissues that cannot be visualized with other imaging techniques.That deep insight, combined with the ability...Manganese levels increase in scrapie-infected sheep before clinical symptoms develop
...ese from the body, release of manganese from other tissues or increased absorption of manganese from the environment. Currently there is insufficient evidence to favour any of these three theories....New approach to pulmonary hypertension shows promise
...ng element of pulmonary hypertension in both human tissues and animal models. When it is working properly, NFAT co-ordinates several cellular functions by regulating the expression of multiple genes. It is normally activated in important health-maintaining functions, such as the regulation of immune cells ......ys to engineer nanomaterials for use as artificial tissues that could replace diseased kidneys and livers, and even repair nerve damage. In addition, although the research is still exploratory, scientists are beginning to build nanostructures that mimic complex biomolecules. Some of these engineered struc...