Curing Death by Curing Aging Archives Page 16

New Genetic Research Could be Key to Uncovering a Deadly Form of Heart Disease (3/9/2008)

The devastating heart condition known as left main coronary artery disease is the worst form of heart disease and develops silently. Victims often experience no symptoms before sudden death. But new genetic research led by scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Duke University could lead to a simple blood test to detect the abnormality in those people most at risk. ...> Full Article

Scientists seek to disarm TB's 'molecular weapon' (3/9/2008)

Researchers seek to gain edge in war against ancient foe ...> Full Article

Researchers find potential cancer drug (3/9/2008)

Small-molecule drug selectively kills tumor cells by activating p53 protein ...> Full Article

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Mutations Yield New Therapy Clues (3/8/2008)

DNA mutations found in a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that has a poor prognosis has led researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues to a better understanding of how the cancer develops and how it might be treated. ...> Full Article

In Novel Strategy Against AIDS, Einstein Researchers Genetically Engineer Immune Cells Into Potent Weapons for Battling HIV Infection (3/8/2008)

By outfitting immune-system killer cells with a new pair of genes, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University transformed them into potent weapons that destroy cells infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Their novel strategy of genetically engineering immune cells to redirect their infection-fighting ability toward killing HIV-infected cells could lead to an entirely new approach for combating AIDS and other viral diseases. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify new genetic marker for breast cancer (3/7/2008)

An international group of investigators led by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and the National Cancer Institute has identified a new genetic marker of risk for breast cancer. Women with this DNA variation are at a 1.4 times greater risk of developing breast cancer compared to those without the variation. The findings are to be published online on March 3, 2008 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article

Partnership could help boost Artemisinin supply and treat up to 200 million malaria patients each year (3/7/2008)

The Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), the US-based nonprofit pharmaceutical company, together with synthetic biology innovator Amyris Biotechnologies, and leading pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis today announced they have entered into an agreement for the development of semisynthetic artemisinin, a key ingredient i first-line malaria treatments. This partnership will build on technology originated by Professor Jay Keasling at the University of California, Berkeley ...> Full Article

Scientists discover how cigarette smoke causes cancer (3/6/2008)

Everyone has known for decades that that smoking can kill, but until now no one really understood how cigarette smoke causes healthy lung cells to become cancerous. In a new research report published in the March 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal, researchers from the University of California, Davis, show that hydrogen peroxide (or similar oxidants) in cigarette smoke is the culprit. ...> Full Article

Researchers find key step in programmed cell death (3/6/2008)

The discovery provides insight into how certain proteins, including Hax1, work and how they control the process of apoptosis ...> Full Article

HPV Vaccine for Men? (3/6/2008)

New vaccine used to prevent sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) in women and girls could play the same role in men and boys ...> Full Article

Family Of Liver Cancer Genes Discovered (3/6/2008)

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Stony Brook University Medical Center has identified a family of genes linked to the development of liver cancer. Principal Investigator Wadie F. Bahou, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Genetics, and colleagues discovered in a mouse model that the loss of one specific gene (Iqgap2) in this family causes Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They also found that when another member of the gene family (Iqgap1) is turned on, a more aggressive form of the disease occurs. ...> Full Article

Gene Expression Differences Between Europeans And Africans Affect Response To Drugs, Infections (3/6/2008)

Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Expression Research Laboratory at Affymetrix Inc. of Santa Clara, CA. ...> Full Article

Protein protects lung cancer cells from efforts to fix or kill them (3/5/2008)

A protein that helps lung cancer cells thrive appears to do so by blocking healthy cells' ability to fix themselves when radiation or chemicals such as nicotine damage their DNA, according to a University of Florida study to be published Friday (Feb. 29) in the journal Molecular Cell. ...> Full Article

Thalidomide Shows Promise For Treatment Of Recurrent Ovarian Cancer, Study Suggests (3/5/2008)

Thalidomide, a drug blamed in the 1950s for causing birth defects, is now showing promise as a safe and effective treatment for women with recurrent ovarian cancer, according to a study led by a University of Minnesota Cancer Center researcher. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover gene that blocks HIV (3/5/2008)

A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and in turn prevent the onset of AIDS. ...> Full Article

Protein in embryonic stem cells control malignant tumor cells (3/5/2008)

A protein that governs development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) also inhibits the growth and spread of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, Northwestern University researchers have discovered. Metastatic melanoma, which develops from the transformation of skin pigment cells or melanocytes, has a death rate of more than 80 percent and a median survival of less than 7.5 months. ...> Full Article

Blueberry and green tea containing supplement protects against stroke damage (3/5/2008)

A unique dietary supplement called NutraStem® has been shown to have beneficial effects following experimental stroke. A nutritional supplement product, NutraStem also known as NT-020, is a proprietary formulation of blueberry, green tea, vitamin D3 and carnosine extracts- a combination of nutritional ingredients thought to be potent in protecting against brain damage. ...> Full Article

Extract of broccoli sprouts may protect against bladder cancer (3/4/2008)

A concentrated extract of freeze dried broccoli sprouts cut development of bladder tumors in an animal model by more than half ...> Full Article

New blood marker may predict prostate cancer spread (3/4/2008)

Information could lead to more accurate prediction of cancer metastasis thereby improving patient management. ...> Full Article

HIV breakthrough: Researchers identify protein that fights immunodeficiency (3/4/2008)

A Canada-U.S. research team has solved a major genetic mystery: How a protein in some people's DNA guards them against killer immune diseases such as HIV. In an advance online edition of Nature Medicine, the scientists explain how the protein, FOX03a, shields against viral attacks and how the discovery will help in the development of a HIV vaccine. ...> Full Article

Tumor Vaccines Developed by Researchers (3/4/2008)

A new study reveals how Keck School researchers have discovered a new molecular player that will help create a better vaccination against tumors. ...> Full Article

Red Meat Consumption Linked to Colorectal Cancer (3/4/2008)

For most Americans, meals tend to center around meat. To significantly decrease a person's risks of developing colorectal cancer, experts at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center suggest a new approach to meal planning that focuses more on fruit and vegetable dishes. ...> Full Article

Enzyme reinforces tumor-causing role of the nuclear coactivator SRC-3 (3/3/2008)

High levels of the enzyme atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) increases the activity of the cancer-associated protein steroid receptor coactivator-3 (SRC-3) in cancer cells that depend on estrogen to promote their growth, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Molecular Cell. ...> Full Article

Researchers Pursue Multiple Approaches to Preventing and Treating Type 1 Diabetes (3/3/2008)

Type 1 diabetes, formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes, juvenile diabetes or childhood-onset diabetes, affects 1 to 2 million people in the U.S. and millions more worldwide. In this country, it is second only to asthma as the most common chronic disease in children. However, it may begin at any age, when for yet-unknown reasons, a person's immune system mistakenly attacks beta cells that produce insulin. Patients with this type of diabetes are dependent for life on insulin injections or insulin medications. ...> Full Article

Blocking Growth Protein Kills Prostate Cancer Cells, Inhibits Tumor Growth (3/3/2008)

Researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have shown that they can effectively kill prostate cancer cells in both the laboratory and in experimental animal models by blocking a signaling protein that is key to the cancer's growth. The work proves that the protein, Stat5, is both vital to prostate cancer cell maintenance and that it is a viable target for drug therapy. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Possible Target to Treat Deadly Bloodstream Infections (3/3/2008)

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections. ...> Full Article

Combination Vaccine Protects Monkeys from Ebola and Marburg Viruses (3/3/2008)

An experimental, combination vaccine against Ebola and Marburg viruses using virus-like particles (VLPs) provides complete protection against infection in monkeys. Researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) report their results today (Feb. 26) at the 2008 ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore, MD. ...> Full Article

New Drug Targets for Preventing Cell Death (3/3/2008)

A new compound that blocks an early step in cell death could lead to a novel class of drugs for treating heart attacks and stroke. ...> Full Article

Technology enables researchers to 'see' native virus structure at near-atomic levels (3/2/2008)

Using a cryo-electron microscope and a large collection of computers, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and their colleagues succeeded in seeing the three-dimensional structure of an entire bacterial virus shell at 4.5 Å resolution, or 100 millionth of a centimeter. ...> Full Article

Cancer-related protein may play key role in Alzheimer's disease (3/2/2008)

The findings may provide another piece of the puzzle in figuring out how tau proteins can poison nerve cells in the brain. ...> Full Article