Gene for immune deficiency syndromes found
...strointestinal lining, known as APRIL and BAFF, to trigger the signal for B cells to mature. Geha believes that additional cases of immune deficiency result from mutations in the APRIL and BAFF genes, and plans to verify this in further studies....Melbourne scientists part of Gates Foundation US $21 million hunt for malaria therapy
...e the first to be tested to determine whether they trigger immunity in volunteers. According to Professor Cowman, these genetically altered parasites are expected to be tested by the US Army within 3 to 4 years at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Another researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute ...Learning how leukemia comes to life
...ort that AML1-ETO cooperates with FLT3 to potently trigger rapid and aggressive acute leukemia in mice. This data directly support a pathogenetic model of acute leukemia, which stipulates that an activating mutation in a signal transduction pathway and a mutation in a transcription factor are required for le...UCSB among team awarded $12.5 million to develop nanoscale systems for early diagnosis
... California, Berkeley, will be developing a way to trigger a breakdown of the nanoparticles after a payload, such as a drug or antiviral agent, is delivered directly to a diseased zone. Targeted nanoparticles will search out arteries that are under stress or are diseased. The nanoscale designs are based on t...UCSB chosen for two NIH Program of Excellence (PEN) in nanotechnology grants
...ic agents. A major goal will be to develop ways to trigger a breakdown of the nanoparticles after a payload, such as a drug or antiviral agent, is delivered to a diseased zone. Targeted nanoparticles will search out arteries that are und er stress or are diseased.The group coordinated by The Burnham Institut...Bitter or sweet? The same taste bud can tell the difference
... signal than CCK did, suggesting that the peptides trigger completely different responses in individual cells," Herness said. The researchers also stained some of the cells in order to see whether or not both peptides were present. This procedure uses fluorescent light to let researchers actually see the pep...Scientists discover more about how cancer cells form and grow
...ut the body. He speculates that inflammation could trigger that pathway, and wants to look at the potential for controlling inflammation to stop tumor development. "Head and neck cancer is under studied," Wang said. "The five-year survival rate hasn't improved in decades. We want to change that."...New lead reported in tumor angiogenesis
...o the well-known strategy of secreting proteins to trigger angiogenesis, tumor cells also physically attach to a protein displayed on the surfaces of cells that line the walls of our blood vessels. This physical interaction, like a finger pushing a button, sends a signal within these cells to grow and sprou...Hormonal signaling in the brain: radical shift in understanding information processing
...of these peptides, when released within the brain, trigger coherent, specific, complex behaviors, including sexual and social behaviors. Increasingly we are recognizing that peptide signals play a key role in information processing that is quite unlike the role played by conventional neurotransmitters." Ludw...Study reveals trigger for insulin resistance in liver, potential drug targets
... Metabolism, researchers report the discovery of a trigger for insulin resistance in the liver. Hepatic insul...licate diacylglycerol in the liver as an important trigger in causing fat-induced hepatic insulin resistance," Shulman said. "These data also suggest that mtGP...Multi-species genome comparison sheds new light on evolutionary processes, cancer mutations
...een near breakage hotspots may activate genes that trigger cancer and/or inactivate genes that normally suppress cancer. However, they emphasize that far more work remains to be done to clarify the relationship between cancer and the breakage hotspots. One thing researchers have determined is that the region...Scientists at Galileo Pharmaceuticals confirm inflammatory response linked to glucose levels
...of inflammatory mediators called leukotrienes, and trigger the progression of several diseases mediated by inflammation. Two key members of the lipoxygenase pathway, 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) have been indicated in a number of diseases states including asthma, arthritis, atherosclero...Toxins drove evolution of human taste sense, global study reveals
...y taste. Taste receptors are protein switches that trigger signals to the brain's taste-processing centers in response to particular foods or other chemicals. In humans, 25 genes are responsible for encoding receptors that detect bitter flavors. The current study provides the second report in humans that dif...New method shows it is possible to grow bone for grafts within a patient's body
...the material because it contained calcium, a known trigger for bone growth. Their major concern was that the bioreactor would fill with scar tissue instead of bone, but that didn't happen. Instead, it filled with bone that is indistinguishable from the original bone. The scientists intend to proceed with the...Carbon monoxide: Poison gas or anti-inflammatory drug?
...n airways, it generates a flood of leukocytes that trigger an inflammatory response. Expression of iNOS also increases during lung transplant rejection. "We think that Hmox and carbon monoxide are the body's way of trying to limit tissue inflammation and injury induced by iNOS and nitric oxide during transpl...Discovery of new dopamine action may yield alternative psychiatric drugs
...hat one neuron launches at receptors on another to trigger a nerve impulse in the receiving neuron. Receptors are protein switches on the surfaces of neurons that recognize neurotransmitters and translate their signals into a cellular response. Dopamine exerts its functions in the brain by binding to two bro...Parasites trigger healthy eating in caterpillars
Some parasites trigger their own destruction by altering their hosts' behavior, researchers at The University of Arizona and Wesleyan University report in Nature . Many parasites have developed mechanisms that suppress their hosts' ability to fight them off or even change...Immune system's distress signal tells bacteria when to strike back
...e elevated cytokines the chemical messengers that trigger an immune response in the bowel. "These could signal the bug," said Alverdy, "then the bug strikes back and then the inflammation process snowballs." Because the bacteria in this case are "normal flora," people with no real infection develop a chr...New factor implicated in allergy and asthma attacks
...nsitive to their effects, these tiny particles can trigger severe inflammation of the respiratory passages, producing uncontrollable sneezing, coughing, or extreme shortness of breath -- symptoms agonizingly familiar to those who suffer from allergy and asthma attacks. Scientists have long assumed that they...Amphetamine-related drugs ameliorate symptoms of Parkinson's
...s ecstasy. It has been shown that amphetamines can trigger release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine and cause sudden bursts in neurotransmission, leading to a feeling of alertness, increased muscular activity, and reduced fatigue. This study, however, shows that treating m...