SUNDAY - May 13, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Important Finding On Cytomegalovirus Transmission.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus that affects the majority of the world's population, but produces little or no symptoms in healthy individuals. However, it can cause multi-organ disease in newborns or persons who are immuno-compromised such as organ transplant recipients or AIDS patients. The findings in this report reflect one that last year announced the successful elimination of a chronic virus infection in mice by blocking the IL-10 receptor. Both studies lend credibility to the idea that the IL-10 receptor might be used to control persistent viral infections.

Thin People May Be Fat On The Inside, Doctors Warn.
If it really is what's on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble. Some doctors now believe the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas - invisible to the naked eye - could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin. People who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim.

HRS: With iPods, the Beat May Stumble.
The tunes pumped out by iPods may be off beat to patients with pacemakers, whose devices could be subjected to potentially dangerous interference. Among 83 patients with either single or dual-chamber pacemakers, iPods placed on the chest caused over-sensing, telemetry interference, and, in one patient, pacemaker inhibition. iPods, and, presumably other types of MP3 players appear to produce electromagnetic fields that can interfere with pacemaker function, the authors said. Similar effects are known to occur when pacemakers are in proximity to theft-detection systems and airport metal detectors, according to the FDA.

Parents Pass On Genes For Reasoning And Memory.
Sudha Seshadri at Boston University and colleagues assessed the cognitive abilities of 705 healthy adults with standard tests and used MRI scans to measure the volume of their brains. The researchers also scanned 100,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms - small variations in the genome sequence - in participants' DNA for links to mental performance. The strongest links were in the genes SORL, involved in abstract reasoning and the processing of amyloid protein in Alzheimer's disease, and CDH4, which seems to predict brain volume.

Gene Variant May Be Responsible For Human Learning.
The gene, KLK8, makes the protein neuropsin II, which in mice is vital for memory and learning. Bing Su and his colleagues at the Kunming Institute of Zoology in China had earlier demonstrated that neuropsin II is made by humans but not by lesser apes and old-world monkeys. Now they have shown that orang-utans and chimpanzees don't make it either. KLK8 is the first human-specific discovery of a "splice variant" - a gene that is roughly the same in different species but is "cut and pasted" differently when it is expressed, resulting in proteins with new functions. Su's team have shown that KLK8 arose through a single mutation in DNA when a thymine nucleotide was exchanged for an adenine.

Breast Tumour Drug Found Treating Up to 40% of Breast Cancers.
A team from Canada's McGill University were able to block the action of an enzyme which fuels the growth of tumours, Nature Genetics reports. They were able to delay cancer in mice with tumours which also respond to the drug Herceptin, but say other breast tumours may respond too. The enzyme studied by the Montreal team was PTP1B, which appears to "remove the breaks" on cell division, fuelling tumour growth. About 40% of human breast cancers have been shown to have excessively high levels of the enzyme. The researchers found that deleting PTP1B in the mice led to a significant delay in the onset of breast tumours, and prevented the secondary development of tumours in the lungs. They also say that, because the mice studied were HER-2 positive, the study suggests that a combination of Herceptin and a PTP1B-blocker could benefit a significant number of women, although much more research is needed.



SATURDAY - May 12, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Carrots The Secret To A Long Life And Sex Appeal?.
Carotenoids are naturally-occurring yellow and red pigments found in plants. Animals that eat those plants can then use the pigments to make themselves colourful in order to attract mates. But carotenoids are also antioxidants, which improve an animal’s ability to combat oxidative stress and strengthen its immune system. This latest research has found for the first time that males eating more carotenoids were better able to protect their cells from damage and so lived longer - and that females found these long-lived males particularly attractive.

Human Papilloma Virus Linked to Throat Cancer (CME/CE).
The Human papilloma virus (HPV), known to cause a range of anogenital cancers, has also been associated with a dramatically increased risk of some throat cancers, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. A fifteen fold increase. Oral sex is probably the main way the virus is transmitted, researchers said, although mouth-to-mouth transmission by kissing can't be ruled out..

Kaposi's Sarcoma Genetic Targets Identified.
Writing May 11 in PLOS Pathogens, University of Florida scientists are the first to identify human genes actually hijacked by virus wielding minimolecules called microRNAs. Apparently the viral microRNAs silence genes known to influence growth of blood vessels and suppress tumor cells. Scientists believe that with these regulatory genes sidelined, blood vessel growth runs rampant, resulting in the typical markings of Kaposi's sarcoma.

Species Thrive With Sexual Dimorphism - A New Observation.
"Clearly, sexual dimorphism significantly increases the ecological niche occupied by a species," says zoologist Marguerite A. Butler of the University of Hawaii, "but these radiations are studied in terms of one sex only, usually males. So we asked a simple question: If animals are adapting to their environment, but the (number of each) sex are different (in those environments), does the sexual variation add to diversity? The answer is yes." Sexual dimorphism may have an added benefit, that each sex can use different resources and not compete with each other.

UCSF Experts Cautious About Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Virus.
A vaccine which has received international attention since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration last June, targets four HPV types, two of which can cause cervical cancer. Overall, the efficacy of the vaccine reducing pre-cancerous cervical lesions from any HPV type was modest: over 3 years, 3.6 percent of vaccinated women received this diagnosis compared to 4.4 percent of unvaccinated women. Rates of the most severe lesions were not significantly reduced by vaccination. The question is whether targeting only two of at least 15 HPV types known to cause cervical cancer is enough to impede cervical pre-cancer and cancer.

Landmark Study - New Proteins Implicated in Huntington's Dis.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal inherited disease that affects 30,000 Americans annually by laying waste to their nervous system. Four organizations have identified more than 200 new proteins in the fruit fly that bind to normal and mutant forms of the protein that causes HD. The next step is to recreate this research with mammals. Further scientific inquiry is urgent. There is currently no effective treatment or cure for HD, which is typically characterized by involuntary movements and dementia. The disease slowly diminishes a person's ability to move, think and communicate.

Magnetic Computer Sensors May Help Study Biomolecules.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers found that arrays of switches called "spin valves" - commonly used as magnetic sensors in the read heads of high-density disk drives - also show promise as tools for controlled trapping of single biomolecules. To view short video clip of the device in use, see: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/images/spin_valve_array.avi.

Proteins Distinguish Chromosome Ends/Double-Strand Breaks.
Published in Molecular Cell, the paper entitled “A RAP1/TRF2 Complex Inhibits Non-Homologous End Joining at Human Telomeric DNA Ends,” details a biochemical assay for double-strand break repair, defining the minimal requirements for the protection of telomeric DNA at the ends of chromosomes. It has long been understood that chromosome ends are distinct from DNA double-strand breaks and that the cellular machinery that repairs DNA breaks does not act on telomeres. Genomic instability and gross chromosomal rearrangements are a hallmark of cancer cells. By establishing an in vitro assay for chromosome end protection and implicating specific proteins, this study has opened the door to explaining the mechanism by which RAP1/TRF2 inhibits double-strand break repair at chromosome ends.



FRIDAY - May 11, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Surgery in Infants With Epilepsy.
Although surgery is the treatment of choice for seizures that don't respond to drugs, deciding when to operate is difficult. Early surgery might improve developmental outcomes, yet it may also be an unnecessary risk if the seizures later become responsive to drug treatment.

Scientists Sequence the Marsupial Genome.
The genome of the grey, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) has been sequenced by Kerstin Lindblad-Toh and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Broad Institute and Harvard University. The sequence offers interesting insights into the genetics of the immune system and the X chromosome. Opossum-specific genes mostly originate from the expansion and rapid turnover of gene families involved in immunity, sensory perception and detoxification. The study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Aborigines, Europeans Share African Roots.
It seems that Australian Aborigines and Europeans share the same roots - and that both emerged from a wave of African migrations more than 50,000 years ago. Both populations can be traced back to the same founders, according to study co-author Toomas Kivisild of the University of Cambridge. Over the last 10,000 years the archaeological record in Australia has changed significantly with the first appearance of the dingo - a type of dog - and new stone tool industries. However, the distinctiveness of the Aborigine DNA means the population has remained relatively isolated, ruling out the possibility of later influxes into Australia from Asia.

First Discovery Of Genetic ‘Shut Down’ In Healthy Immune Cells.
A fundamental genetic mechanism that shuts down an important gene in healthy immune system cells has been discovered that could one day lead to new therapies against infections, leukemia, and other cancers. Results of a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study on the mechanism, called a somatic stop-codon mutation, are being reported today in the online journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science. Earlier research on the mutated gene suggests the stop-codon mutation might be part of the programmed adaptive response to oxygen deprivation. This mutation and its location is “unusual because it predicts loss-of-function, it targets a classical tumor-suppressor gene, and it occurs in (peripheral blood mononuclear cells),” Bora E. Baysal, MD, PhD wrote, adding that the mutation is present at much higher levels in messenger RNA compared to DNA.

The Motor that Powers Toxoplasmosis Invasion.
Scientists have provided new insight into how the parasite which causes toxoplasmosis invades human cells. Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease, primarily carried by cats. It is transmitted to humans by eating undercooked meat or through contact with cat faeces. Researchers from London and Geneva have determined, for the first time, the atomic structure of a key protein which is released onto the surface of the parasite just before it invades host cells in the human body. They found that the protein known as TgMIC1 binds to certain sugars on the surface of the host cell, assisting the parasite to stick to, and then enter the human cell.

The Encyclopedia of Life Begins.
The Encyclopedia of Life is an collection or "ecosystem" of websites making an unprecedented global effort to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth. The goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. Ultimately, The Encyclopedia of Life hopes to increase human understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity we still have in existence. Sponsors include The Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, Marine Biological Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, and Biodiversity Heritage Library joined together to initiate the project, bringing together species and software experts from across the world.

Scientists Identify Prion's Infectious Secret.
Proteins are the cell's workhorses, and they need to fold into complex and precise shapes to do their jobs. Prions are proteins that start out normally, but then at some point misfold - rather like an origami swan that comes out looking and acting instead like a vulture. In order to glean insights into the mechanics that enable amyloid formation, scientists used peptide arrays-glass slides covered with thousands of tiny protein fragments. Traditionally, these arrays are used for finding binding sites within well-behaved proteins. White Head Institute scientists designed the arrays so that they could observe protein folding and amyloid formation in real time.

THURSDAY - May 10, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Molecule That Destroys Bone Also Protects It.
The component, IL-17, was recognized only in the past 18 months to be a primary cause of bone destruction and inflammation in autoimmune diseases. Therapies that target IL-17 or its cellular receptor currently are being developed. However, a University at Buffalo molecular biologist has discovered that, in contrast to its action in rheumatoid arthritis(RA), IL-17 actually protects bone in the mouth from infections such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, a bacteria that plays a major role in most periodontal disease in humans.

Anthrax Paralyzes Immune Cells With Lethal Toxin.
Anthrax causes flu-like symptoms that can take weeks to develop. But once the first symptoms appear, the disease progresses rapidly and patients often die from shock before they realize they don't have a common cold. The current method of detecting anthrax can take days to complete. Researchers know that anthrax releases a lethal toxin that immobilizes the white blood cells - neutrophils - that normally seek and destroy invading bacteria. Immune cells rely on rod-shaped filaments called actin to propel them toward an infection and University of Florida researchers have found that the toxin prevents actin assembly, leaving neutrophils stuck in the mud.

Promising New Target For Brain Tumor Therapy.
A new study holds promise for the development of vaccines that can work against tumors by using the body's immune system. T cells are white blood cells that play an important role in the body's immune system. Regulatory T cells help maintain immune balance, they are responsible for toning down an immune response after an infection. But in people with brain tumors, cytotoxic T cells are often depleted enabling the tumor cells to grow and spread. Those cytoxic T cells that remain can be overwhelmed by the increased number of regulatory T cells. A drug to target the molecule CTLA-4 - found on both types of T cells - could halt the effects of the bad T cells by making the good T cells more resistant, aiding the immune system to fight the brain tumor.

Wait A Few Minutes Before Clamping The Umbilical Cord.
In the past, a newborns’ umbilical cord was not clamped immediately after birth, allowing blood flow to stop naturally. Known as “late clamping”, this practice was replaced by “early clamping”, or cutting the cord right at birth. A new study has found that the partial pressure of oxygen increased in the umbilical artery of newborn babies who had late clamping, so less oxygen therapy was needed after birth. “Late clamping” did not increase the removal time for the placenta or the mother’s bleeding after delivery - one of the reasons "early clamping" began.

Cataloging the Structural Variations in Human Genetics.
Using DNA from 62 people studied as part of the International HapMap Project, scientists are creating bacterial “libraries” of DNA segments for each person. The ends of the segments are sequenced to uncover any structural variation. Whenever such evidence is found, the entire DNA segment is sequenced to catalog all of the genetic differences between that segment and a reference sequence. The result will be a tool geneticists can use to associate structural variation with particular diseases.

Researchers Identify a Process Enabling Access to Genes.
Access to a gene requires a host of proteins working in tandem to pry open DNA’s protective chromatin shell, a complex of DNA and special packaging proteins called histones. This study focused on understanding the threadlike protein “tails” that hang from histones, specifically modifications which add chemical groups called methyl and ubiquitin to the amino acid lysine at specific histone locations. Setting out to determine whether ubiquitylation and methylation are functionally equivalent as a type of signaling pathway, the researchers found histone ubiquitylation functions “upstream” of lysine H3 methylation. Their results propose that ubiquitylation directly affects nucleosome assembly as RNA polymerase passes through



WEDNESDAY - May 9, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Pregnancy Hormone May Help With Brain Injury.
The School of Medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a trial to assess the safety and potential benefit of administering intravenous progesterone to 100 patients with brain injury. Patients were randomly assigned to receive progesterone or inactive "placebo." Progesterone patients remained in coma longer than placebo patients, the report indicates, but just 13 percent of progesterone-treated patients died within 30 days of injury compared with 30.4 percent of placebo patients.

Massachusetts Floats $1 Bln Stem Cell Research Plan.
Massachusetts' governor proposed on Tuesday to spend $1 billion on biotechnology over 10 years, aiming to fill a federal funding shortfall caused by the Bush administration's opposition to embryonic stem-cell research. Massachusetts has some advantages. It is already a major medical cluster with two world-leading universities, four medical schools, 20 teaching hospitals and over 500 life-science companies.

Hong Kong Invents Pain-Free Device to Measure Blood Sugar.
The size of a mobile phone, a new instrument emits a weaker form of infrared, or near-infrared light, to penetrate the skin of the finger and homes in on the bloodstream where different types of cells in the blood vessels - red blood cells, white blood cells, other compounds, protein, glucose, and cholesterol are read. The instrument selects the one for glucose and tells you its levels.

Embryonic Stem Cells Repair Eyes, Says Advanced Cell Technology
Writing in the journal Nature Methods, a team of scientists say they have found a way to grow and differentiate human embryonic stem cells without using culture. They directed the stem cells into becoming what they believe are hemangioblasts, the blood vessel precursor cells, although other teams will have to replicate this for it to be accepted. They injected the cells into mice with damaged retinas due to diabetes or other eye injury where the cells (labeled green) migrated to the injured site and incorporated and lit-up the entire damaged vasculature.

New Technique Will Produce a Better Chromosome Map.
A new and simple, economical technique for imaging and mapping fruit fly chromosomes will allow scientists to answer fundamental questions about chromosome structure. The approach has relevance across species and is published in the May 6th journal of Nature Methods. The new approach includes two components: the use of mechanical devices to spread and flatten the fruit fly cells, and the application of computer-based image processing to analyze hundreds of examples of the same chromosomes. With so many crisp images to analyze, computer algorithms can accurately calculate the number, shape and location of the chromosome bands.

Exploring the Queen Bee's Longevity.
A study from the University of Illinois sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that account for the reason the queen bee - genetically identical to worker bees - manages to live 10 times longer and never lose her ability to reproduce. The study appears in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research centers on the interplay of three factors: 1.) vitellogenin (Vg), is a yolk protein important to reproduction but also found to contribute to longevity in worker bees, 2.) juvenile hormone, which contributes to growth and maturation, 3.) and insulin-IGF-1 signaling pathway, regulating aging, fertility and other important biological processes in invertebrates and vertebrates.

Single Circadian Clock Regulates Response to Light, Temperature.
Animals biological clocks cycle approximately every 24 hours - these circadian rhythms allow them to align their physiology and behavior to the earth’s rotation. Now new research shows that the same molecular clock is responsible for flies syncing to patterns of temperature. Researchers took adult Drosophila and placed them in a dark environment where the only variable was temperature. After a few days of temperature variability, the scientists then held the temperature steady at about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. When looking at gene activity in the flies’ heads, they found overlap between the genes that oscillate in response to cycles of light and dark, and those that oscillate according to cycles of temperature.



TUESDAY - May 8, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

Surprising Finding May Lead To New Diabetes Treatments.
Diabetes researchers, investigating how the body supplies itself with insulin, discovered to their surprise that adult stem cells, which they expected to play a crucial role in the process, were nowhere to be found. Many researchers had proposed that adult stem cells develop into insulin-producing cells, called beta cells, in the pancreas.

Students Invent Protective Pouch To Enhance Cell Therapy.
Students have invented a device to improve cell therapy for diabetes patients by anchoring transplanted insulin-producing cells inside a major blood vessel. The pouch components are compressed and inserted with catheters snaked into the abdomen through the femoral vein in the leg. The tiny openings in the mesh, allow blood to pass through to nourish the cells and disperse helpful proteins, but are too small to allow microcapsules full of useful proteins to escape.

Migraines During Pregnancy Link To Stroke, Vascular Diseases.
Researchers looking at a national database of nearly 17 million women discharged for pregnancy deliveries from 2000-2003 found a total of 33,956 of the women treated for migraines. Women treated for migraines during pregnancy were 19 times more likely to suffer a stroke, five times more likely to have a heart attack and more than twice as likely to have heart disease, blood clots and other vascular problems.

Conception Date Affects Baby's Future Academic Achievement.
Scientists linked the scores of the students in grades 3 through 10 who took the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) examination with the month in which each student had been conceived. The researchers found that ISTEP scores for math and language were distinctly seasonal with the lowest scores received by children who had been conceived in June through August.

Premie Births Peak With High Pesticides And Nitrates In Water.
The growing premature birth rate in the United States appears to be strongly associated with increased use of pesticides and nitrates, according to work conducted by Paul Winchester, M.D., professor of clinical pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Preterm birth rates peaked when pesticides and nitrates measurements in surface water were highest (April-July) and were lowest when nitrates and pesticides were lowest (Aug -Sept).

Indian Scientists Identify Troublemaker TB Protein.
Writing in the latest issue of the journal Nature Immunology, scientists have identified that the protein ESAT-6 binds itself to a type of white blood cells and disrupts their ability to fight off harmful viruses and bacteria. By knowing what this TB protein can do, scientists hope to cure or better treat TB. The protein may also be harnessed to stop diseases which are caused by inflammation going out of control, such as hay fever, rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis.

Despite Warnings, Most U.S. Babies Watch TV.
About 90 percent of U.S. children under age 2 and as many as 40 percent of infants under three months are regular watchers of television, DVDs and videos, researchers said on Monday. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that children in the United States watch about four hours of television every day. They recommend that children under age 2 should not watch any and older children should watch no more than 2 hours a day of quality programming.


MONDAY - May 7, 2007---------------------------- Previous Week News Alerts / Return to Today's News Alerts

New Vitamin Extends Life In Yeast.
Research, reported in the May 4 issue of Cell, shows how a new vitamin extends lifespan in yeast cells, much like calorie restriction does in animals. It could pave the way for developing supplements to benefit humans. Though aging is not a disease, scientists anticipate applications for conditions associated with aging including neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic syndrome, and elevating good cholesterol.

New Insight Into HIV Infection.
When HIV infects a cell, it carries its DNA into the nucleus of the cell, then the viral DNA mixes with the cell's DNA. The combined DNA produces proteins that make new viruses, which spread to neighboring cells. Various cellular proteins help the virus enter the infected cell's nucleus. A new study shows that by silencing genes that produce one of these proteins, HIV was three times less infectious than when the protein was present.

'Insulator' Helps Silence Genes In Dormant Herpes Virus (HSV-1).
Scientists at The Wistar Institute have discovered a molecular mechanism that keeps HSV-1 activation restricted to a single gene for months or even years. The researchers have identified an "insulator" - a stretch of DNA about 800 base pairs long - that serves as a physical barrier between active and inactive regions of the virus genome. Base pairs are the nucleotides on each side of the rungs that connect the strands of the DNA ladder. The findings, appearing in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, are the first time an insulator has been identified in a virus - and may lead to new strategies to manipulate the virus.

March of Dimes Awards $250K Prize to Stem Cell Research.
Janet Rossant, Ph.D., FRS, FRS(C) and Anne McLaren, DBE, D.Phil, FRS, FRCOG, will share the March of Dimes Prize for their remarkable contributions to science's understanding of the entire cycle of mammalian reproduction and development, using the mouse as a model system. The March of Dimes Prize will be presented here on May 7. This is the first time the March of Dimes Prize will be shared by two women, and brings to four the total number of women who have received this honor in 12 years.

FDA Gives Clearance for Heart Attack Stem Cell Trial.
Australia's adult stem cell company, Mesoblast Limited has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has cleared the Investigational New Drug Submission (IND) of its US-based sister company, Angioblast Systems Inc., to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial of its allogeneic, or 'off-the-shelf', adult stem cells for patients with heart attacks. The Phase 2 clinical trial will be based at the Texas Heart Institute, and will follow a similar protocol to the one used by the same investigators in preclinical studies for the IND submission. These showed that implantation of the company's proprietary allogeneic stem cells by catheter into damaged heart muscle resulted in significant improvement in heart function and reduction in congestive heart failure.

Exercise, Acupuncture Help Women With Pregnancy Pain.
More than two-thirds of pregnant women experience back pain and almost one-fifth report pelvic pain. Women who participated in a variety of intervention programs recognized some relief of back and pelvic pain. In one study of women with both back and pelvic pain, 60 percent who received acupuncture reported less intense pain, compared to 14 percent of women who did not. On average, women who followed through with the pelvic or back pain interventions experienced some pain relief and reported less need for pain medication, physical therapy and posture-support belts.

Dads' Parenting Style Influences Childhood Obesity.
There is no association between the mothers' parenting styles and children's weight, said the study authors from the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. But fathers' parenting styles have a major influence on children's weight, the study revealed after analyzing almost 5,000 children, ages 4-5, and their parents. "Given the importance of the family unit in a child's preschool years, and its influence on their nutrition and physical activity levels, it is timely to look at the parenting roles of both parents and the impact they have on a child's tendency to be overweight or obese" said Melissa Wake, associate professor at CCCH.