General – Page 229 – Innovita Research
July 2, 2019

Researchers unlock mysteries of complex microRNA oncogenes

MicroRNAs are tiny molecules of nucleic acid that control gene expression, acting like a dimmer switch to tone down gene output at key positions in the network of information that governs a cell’s function. MicroRNAs are important for the day-to-day inner working of cells and especially important during development. They […]
July 2, 2019

Boosting the cancer-destroying ability of killer T-cells

The team of researchers discovered that increasing the amount of the molecule L-selectin on T-cells can vastly improve their ability to fight solid tumours. Professor Ann Ager, from Cardiff University’s Systems Immunity Research Institute, said: “These results mean that immunotherapy could be used to fight most cancers. This is great […]
July 2, 2019

Moments of Clarity, Glimmers of Hope

It happens unexpectedly: a person long thought lost to the ravages of dementia, unable to recall the events of their lives or even recognize those closest to them, will suddenly wake up and exhibit surprisingly normal behavior, only to pass away shortly thereafter. This phenomenon, which experts refer to as […]
July 2, 2019

Does Anesthesia, Invasive Surgery Increase Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Risk?

A recent Multiple Sclerosis Journal study that included data from 281 patients and 609 surgeries suggests post-operative MS relapse risk does not significantly differ from pre-operative relapse risk. No prior studies have systematically investigated the influence of surgery or anesthesia administration on relapse risk, but it’s a large concern in clinical practice. This […]
July 1, 2019

Protein-linked sugars are crucial for the uptake of proteins linked to Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 6 million people worldwide, is caused by the buildup of alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain. The biological function of alpha-synuclein is still not well understood, but because of its role in neurodegenerative diseases, researchers are actively studying this protein to understand […]
July 1, 2019

New research raises possibility of better anti-obesity drugs

Effective weight-loss strategies call for eating less food, burning more calories — or ideally, both. But for the more than 90 million Americans who suffer from obesity, a disease that contributes to conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer, behavioral change is hard to accomplish or not effective enough, which […]
July 1, 2019

Pigs help scientists understand human brain

For the first time, researchers in the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center have used an imaging method normally reserved for humans to analyze brain activity in live agricultural swine models, and they have discovered that pig brains are even better platforms than previously thought for the study of human neurological […]
June 30, 2019

Confining cell-killing treatments to tumors

Cytokines, small proteins released by immune cells to communicate with each other, have for some time been investigated as a potential cancer treatment. However, despite their known potency and potential for use alongside other immunotherapies, cytokines have yet to be successfully developed into an effective cancer therapy. That is because […]
June 28, 2019

When a Rare Mutation Causes a Rare Disease: Jacob’s Story

For some parents, a physician’s advice to “just take him home and love him,” presumably letting nature take it’s most likely course, is just not acceptable. This blog has championed many such parents, who serve as catalysts for others. New to rare disease territory is Orah Lasko, whose toddler Jacob not […]
June 28, 2019

Music helps hearing-impaired children to learn language skills

Music really is a universal language. All people regardless of their age and socioeconomic status can enjoy some music. And in some cases it is actually very useful. Scientists from the University of Helsinki say that music helps improving the spoken language of the hear­ing-im­paired. That is why Finnish scientists […]
June 28, 2019

Scleroderma Support: Patients Find Help Online

Scleroderma is a rare autoimmune disease, affecting about 300,000 Americans, but for those it affects it can be challenging to manage. The disease is associated with chronic inflammation and fibrosis in the connective tissues and visibly results in hardening and tightening of the skin, among other symptoms. Depending on the severity, patients […]
June 28, 2019

Researchers reveal how protein mutation is involved in rare brain development disorder

Rearing its head in infancy, Christianson Syndrome is a rare disorder whose symptoms include intellectual disability, seizures and difficulty standing or walking. Although it is becoming increasingly diagnosed, with little being known about the neural mechanism behind the disease, therapeutic options for patients remain limited. Now, researchers at McGill University […]
June 28, 2019

New basic understanding of how lung cancer spreads

Lung cancer cells use antioxidants, endogenous or dietary, to spread in the body by activating a protein called BACH1 and increasing the uptake and use of sugar, Swedish and American researchers report in two independent studies. The studies, which are published in the eminent scientific journal Cell, pave the way […]
June 28, 2019

Turtle study shows hearts can be programmed to survive without Oxygen

University of Manchester and University of North Texas scientists are the first to show that an embryonic living heart can be programmed to survive the effects of a low oxygen environment in later life. The BBSRC funded study of juvenile Common Snapping Turtles for the first time explains the heart’s […]
June 28, 2019

Parkinson‘s Disease may have its Origins in the Gut, New Study Suggests

According to a series of experiments performed on mice at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that the neuro-toxic protein alpha-synuclean (or α-syn), thought to be involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease, originates among cells in the gut and then makes its way to the brain via the vagus nerve. “These […]
June 27, 2019

New knowledge on the development of asthma

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have studied which genes are expressed in overactive immune cells in mice with asthma-like inflammation of the airways. Their results, which are published in the journal Immunity, suggest that the synthesis and breakdown of fats plays an important part in the process. The job of the […]
June 27, 2019

Target found to arrest cancer growth

Adelaide researchers are homing in on a new treatment target for the aggressive blood cancer multiple myeloma. The University of Adelaide’s SAHMRI-based Myeloma Research Laboratory’s studies, published in Neoplasia, demonstrated for the first time the importance of white blood cells called macrophages for the disease’s ability to establish and proliferate. Lead author and PhD […]
June 27, 2019

Newly Defined Cancer Driver is Fast, Furious and Loud

The Fast and the Furious movie franchise meets the Fast N’ Loud television series to define an oncogene that drives 35% of prostate cancers. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Centerfinds that the gene FOXA1 overrides normal biology in three different ways to drive prostate […]
June 27, 2019

Learning from experience is all in the timing

As animals explore their environment, they learn to master it. By discovering what sounds tend to precede predatorial attack, for example, or what smells predict dinner, they develop a kind of biological clairvoyance—a way to anticipate what’s coming next, based on what has already transpired. Now, Rockefeller scientists have found […]
June 27, 2019

Buffalo startup advances the science of diagnosing autoimmune disease

Autoimmunity, in which a person’s own immune system attacks healthy cells, affects millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. Lupus, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis and many other diseases all fall under this category. From its offices and labs in Buffalo, Aesku.NY, a life sciences startup, is developing […]
June 27, 2019

Scientists found a promising new target for multiple myeloma treatment

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. It is a very complicated type of cancer, which initially doesn’t exhibit any symptom, making diagnosis a lot harder. After some time myeloma announces about itself with bone pain, bleeding, frequent infections, and anemia. The 5-year survival rate is just around 35% […]
June 27, 2019

Researchers reach milestone in use of nanoparticles to kill cancer with heat

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed an improved technique for using magnetic nanoclusters to kill hard-to-reach tumors. Magnetic nanoparticles – tiny pieces of matter as small as one-billionth of a meter – have shown anti-cancer promise for tumors easily accessible by syringe, allowing the particles to be injected directly […]
June 27, 2019

Yale scientists discover molecular key to how cancer spreads

Yale researchers have discovered how metastasis, the spread of cancer cells throughout the body, is triggered on the molecular level, and have developed a tool with the potential to detect those triggers in patients with certain cancers. The discovery could lead to new ways for treating cancer. The study was […]
June 26, 2019

Mice with a human immune system help research into cancer and infections

Researchers from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have succeeded in using mice with a transplanted human immune system to study functions in the immune system which are otherwise particularly difficult to study. The method could turn out to be important in further research into e.g. cancer, HIV and autoimmune […]
June 26, 2019

By Cannibalizing Nearby Stromal Stem Cells, Some Breast Cancer Cells Gain Invasion Advantage

It’s a you-are-what-you-eat story starring breast cancer cells. Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and U-M College of Engineering have found that breast cancer cells that swallow up nearby stem cells take on some of their properties, enhancing their ability to invade other tissues throughout the body and seed secondary tumors, […]
June 26, 2019

Genetic imbalance in immune system linked to biliary tract cancer

Patients with biliary tract cancer have altered genetic architecture in some immune system receptor systems. This has been shown by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology. It is hoped that the discovery will lead to new effective immunotherapy for these difficult […]