American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for November 2003 (second issue)
...ith or without a common inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose called rhinitis. German researchers s... (Rhinitis is a common inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose, usually associated with nasal discharge.) Neither study found any association between ...Survival improves in clinical trial for severe birth defect, with or without fetal surgery
...gh-frequency ventilation and ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation). Later, pediatric surgeons repair the hole in the baby's diaphragm and return the organs to their proper places. Co-authors with Harrison and Hawgood in the NEJM study are: Roberta L. Keller, MD, Joseph A. Kitterman, MD, Per L. Sandber...Direct link found between chronic inflammation, colon cancer
...and these free radicals can damage cells the cell membrane and the DNA," Marnett said. The researchers examined a type of DNA damage caused by malondialdehye (MDA), a product of COX-2. The question they wanted to answer was whether the DNA damage would stop with the damaged cell or whether it would caus...Scientist gets award for sending people to sleep
...a postdoctoral research fellow studying functional membrane proteins in the cells lining the small intestine. He has since applied these discoveries to investigations of related proteins which were possible targets for anaesthetic drugs. His basic research has directly resulted in clinical advances in patient...Hopkins' Peter Agre receives 2003 Nobel Prize in chemistry
...ntist who determined the spatial structure of cell membrane channels that control passage of salts. The discovery of the water channel, dubbed "water pore" or aquaporin, ushered in a golden age of biochemical, physiological and genetic studies of these proteins in bacteria, plants and mammals, and fundamental...American Thoracic Society journal news tips for October 2003 (first issue)
...led by the investigators are comprised of basement membrane thickening, plus an increase in eosinophils, which...ut the presence of both thickening of the basement membrane and airway eosinophilia in children with mild asthma suggest that airway remodeling processes begin ...New insight into heart failure suggests novel drug target
...eptors -- protein switches that nestle in the cell membrane -- control the heart's ability to pump blood to the tissues of the body in response to such environmental situations as exercise or stress. In heart failure patients, chronic stress leads to an excess of adrenaline, thereby over-stimulating beta-adre...Sandia nanolaser may help extend life-spans by rapidly analyzing possible neuroprotectant drugs
...actions in the body open a large pore in the inner membrane in that cell's mitochondria. The pore enables release of a protein called cytochrome C that kills the cell. Meanwhile, the mitochondrion itself swells and explodes. One way to stop this suicidal process would be to find a chemical that would shield t......le cells, the distribution of ions across the cell membrane generates an electric potential. The waves of elec...ls to contract, are generated when channels in the membrane open, allowing ions to flow across the membrane and depolarise the cells. Flooding the heart with po...American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for September 2003 (second issue)
...s are heat stable toxins associated with the outer membrane of certain gram negative bacteria.) Endotoxins serve as a prototypical trigger of innate immunity by interacting with toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) to recruit and activate the cellular materials necessary for an appropriate adaptive response by the bo...Innovative Canadian companies receive funding to improve air quality
...petrochemical plants. This process, based on a new membrane technology, offers a viable alternative to the hig...hnology at NOVA Chemicals, explains, "We know that membrane separation technology works in a laboratory setting. What we're trying to answer through this study,...New advance in fuel cell technology may help power medical implants
...ned with positive ions crossing the ion-conducting membrane and oxygen. Conventional fuel cells run on either ... Brown fuel cells do not require an ion-conducting membrane or selective catalysts at the electrodes to separate the fuel-containing fluids two thorny technolo...Morphine-like painkiller appears to be less addictive
...ineffective: the blood-brain barrier, a biological membrane that blocks toxins from entering the brain. "Unfortunately, the blood-brain barrier stops most small peptides, including the enkephalins, from entering the brain," Polt says. After years of experimentation, Polt and his associates recently discovere...Allentown chemist wins national award for plastic polymer inventions
... a moldable compound for orthopedic splints and in membrane separations of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. He will receive the 2003 Award in Applied Polymer Science from the American Chemical Society at its national meeting in New Orleans. "The invention I'm proudest of is an orthopedic splint compound," s...Genetics of familial atrial fibrillation revealed, Science researchers report
...t is, the inflow or outflow of ions through a cell membrane impacts how a heart beats--steadily and predictably in a healthy individual, or occasionally rapidly and unpredictably in AF patients. "The mutation in KCNQ1 causes a marked enhancement of its function, tips the normal balance of the process, and r...New drug linked to fewer deaths among kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis
...fluid from the bloodstream by passing it through a membrane in an artificial kidney machine. Although regular hemodialysis treatment helps maintain life, studies show it provides about a tenth of the cleaning function of normal kidneys. Moreover, those on the treatment run an increased risk of cardiovascular...'Control valve' within heart cells could protect body during heart attacks
...sium channel), resides in the mitochondria's inner membrane and allows potassium ions to flow, especially when...ound the channel protein in purified mitochondrial membrane preparations. Finally, researchers at the Otsuka Maryland Research Institute tested whether an open...Researchers discover 'doorways' into brain cells
... the constant cycling of receptors to and from the membrane surface. The balance of this cycling is the princi...Ehlers. "Before, it had been thought that the cell membrane might be like one big curtain that substances could move through at any point." In their studies, E...Mild injury may render brain cells vulnerable to immune system attack
... from the early activation pathway to the terminal membrane attack pathway, and transform a protective effect ...wed that the damage was specifically caused by the membrane attack pathway of complement and not by the early activation pathway. And, they found that the gluta...American Thoracic Society journal news tips for October (first issue)
... house dust, are cell wall components of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. They are known to have both strong immuno-stimulatory and pro-inflammatoryproperties.) The investigators found that exposure to higher levels of house dust endotoxin in particular decreases the risk of more severe sensiti...