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In humans and other mammals, the female reproductive cells – the eggs or oocytes – need nourishment in order to grow and remain fertile. It is known that the egg gets its food from little arm-like feeding tubes (called filopodia) that jut out from tiny cells surrounding the egg and […]

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness around the world. It is hard to treat and even approved methods are not very effective. For example, drops can deliver some medication to the eye, but they have one significant drawback – only around 5 % of the liquid stays […]

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed a mathematical model that has the potential to improve the performance of endovascular aneurysm sealing (EVAS), which is an innovative procedure to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). AAA is a swelling of part of the aorta inside the abdomen caused by a […]

  Harvard Medical School researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have shown that mifepristone, a drug currently FDA-approved for chemical abortion, prevents the growth of vestibular schwannoma (also known as acoustic neuroma) cells. This sometimes-lethal intracranial tumor typically causes hearing loss and tinnitus. The findings, published online in Scientific Reports, suggest that […]

People with the rare disease called primary progressive aphasia may recruit intact brain areas for help with language, according to a new UA-led study. People with a rare dementia that initially attacks the language center of the brain recruit other areas of the brain to decipher sentences, according to new […]

Researchers are now able to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to form a model of human adult-like cardiac muscle by introducing electric and mechanical stimulation at an early stage. Since this muscle is similar to the adult heart, it could serve as a better model for testing the effects […]

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have uncovered molecular characteristics that link the genomic profiles of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five areas of the body and that set these SCCs apart from other cancers. Using a robust dataset of SCCs from the head and neck, lung, esophagus, […]

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have completed a detailed genomic analysis, known as the PanCancer Atlas, on a data set of molecular and clinical information from over 10,000 tumors representing 33 types of cancer. “This project is the culmination of more than a decade of groundbreaking work,” […]

Transmissible cancers are incredibly rare in nature, yet have arisen in Tasmanian devils on at least two separate occasions. New research from the University of Cambridge identifies key anti-cancer drugs which could be trialled as a treatment for these diseases, which are threatening Tasmanian devils with extinction. The research also […]

Cancer lurking in tissue could be more easily found when looking through a butterfly’s eye. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a surgical camera inspired by the eye of the morpho butterfly. The camera, connected to the goggles a surgeon […]

Conflict, a death in the family, financial hardship and serious medical crises are all associated with accelerated physical aging. In a new study, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that such negative fateful life events — or FLEs — appear to also specifically accelerate […]

Currently, the main treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are drugs that increase levels of acetylcholine in the brain. The University of Bristol paper, published in Cell Reports, describes the role two main types of nicotinic receptor (α7 and α4β2 receptors) play in long-term memory retrieval and encoding – and the impact of […]

University of Queensland researchers have developed a vaccine delivery technology that enables treatment to be tailored precisely for different cancers. UQ’s Professor Ranjeny Thomas said the technology had the potential to improve the precision of cancer immunotherapy, leading to better cancer outcomes and reduce harmful side-effects. “Flexible cancer vaccines are […]

From the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Johannesburg, the researchers argue that for some people a reduced level of kidney function is not necessarily a disease, but a normal and asymptomatic sign of ageing, given the clear link between decreasing kidney health and increasing age. Since 2002, the different stages of CKD […]

Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics (CCIPD) is leading a partnership working toward the first clinical trials to determine the aggressiveness of—and appropriate treatment for—certain head and neck cancers. Head and neck cancers (squamous cell carcinomas or HNSCC) represent more than a half-million cases and 300,000 deaths […]

People are born with some conditions even though diagnosis doesn‘t come immediately. Scientists from the University of Queensland have developed a method to identify infants who will grow to develop type 1 diabetes. This will lead to better ways to conduct screenings in order to identify children at the highest […]

Scientists have designed a new drug compound that dials down inflammation, suggesting possible future uses against autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. The new inhibitor is more selective than other compounds designed to target the same inflammatory pathway, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. […]

Years before people start showing characteristic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, sticky plaques begin forming in their brains, damaging nearby cells. For decades, doctors have sought ways to clear out these plaques as a way to prevent or treat the disease. The sticky clumps, known as amyloid plaques, are composed primarily […]

For a stem cell, the future is wide open. It can divide infinitely to create more stem cells, or it can grow up into other kinds of cells, taking its place in the heart, brain, or other organs. But the stem cell loses something during that maturation: its remarkable ability […]

One family of genes allows cells to adapt to daily changes in environmental conditions by adjusting their internal “body clock,” the circadian clock responsible for regular sleep-wake cycles. The new discovery by University of Tokyo scientists reveals for the first time that circadian regulation may be directly connected to cellular […]

UC San Francisco scientists have uncovered a common genetic driver of aggressive meningiomas, which could help clinicians detect such dangerous cancers earlier and lead to new therapies aimed at curing these difficult-to-treat tumors. Meningiomas are tumors that grow from the layer of tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord […]

New research utilizing UC San Francisco’s cutting-edge cryo-electron microscopy facility has revealed atomic-scale details about the workings of an experimental drug that boosts learning and memory and restores function following concussion in mice. In a study published in Science, UCSF biochemist Peter Walter, PhD, and structural biologist Adam Frost, MD, PhD, showed that […]

Arthropods are among the most successful animals on the planet. They inhabit the sea (horseshoe crabs), the sky (fruit flies), and the earth (scorpions) in vast numbers and are defined by their exoskeleton exteriors and segmented legs and bodies. These adaptable, modular parts may help explain why these animals are […]

Few older adults use medical marijuana, a new national poll finds, but the majority support its use if a doctor recommends it, and might talk to their own doctor about it if they developed a serious health condition. Four out five of poll respondents between the ages of 50 and […]

hysicians and researchers at the USC Roski Eye Institute have collaborated with other California institutions to show that a first-in-kind stem cell-based retinal implant is feasible for use in people with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration. The results of their phase I/IIa study, which was funded in part by the California Institute for […]

Genetic sequencing of tumor DNA may be simpler and better than the multiple tests now used to check for Lynch syndrome in colorectal cancer patients. An up-front tumor sequencing test also could simultaneously provide additional data that might help guide treatment. These are the conclusions of a study published in […]

Drugs with high-risk anticholinergic properties can lead to risks of developing serious adverse events, such as cognitive impairment, falls, dementia, and even mortality in older adults. Yet, relatively little is known about prescribing trends of high-risk anticholinergic medications in the United States of America. Researchers in the University of Minnesota College […]

Each day, normal human cell tissues express a protein known as p53 that wages war against potential malignancies. However, between 30 and 40 percent of human breast cancers express a defective (mutant) form of p53 that helps cancer cells proliferate and grow. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that […]

One way to fight diseases including HIV infection and autoimmune disorders could involve changing how a naturally occurring enzyme called SAMHD1 works to influence the immune system, new research suggests. The study, led by researchers from The Ohio State University, details how the enzyme influences proteins that stimulate the immune […]

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are powerful weapons our body’s immune systems count on to fight infection and combat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Finding ways to spark these potent cells into action could lead to more effective cancer treatments and vaccines. While several chemical compounds have […]