Alzheimer’s disease is widely believed to be caused by the gradual accumulation in the brain of amyloid-beta peptide which is toxic to nerve cells. Amyloid beta peptide is formed from a protein known as APP, which is found in three forms. Most resea…
CHAPEL HILL — An imbalance of salt and water in patients with cystic fibrosis makes their lungs clog up with sticky mucus that is prone to infection. The cause of the offending imbalance is a well-known genetic error, one that blocks the molecular…
JUPITER, FL, November 9, 2010 — For Immediate Release — Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified for the first time a novel mechanism that regulates circadian rhythm, the master clock that controls the…
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — When a foreign object such as a catheter enters the body, bacteria may not only invade it but also organize into a slick coating — a biofilm — that is highly resistant to antibiotics. Like sophisticated…
Researchers suspect that a protein superstructure called amyloid beta is responsible for much of the neural damage of Alzheimer’s disease.
A new study at the University of California, San Diego, shows that amyloid beta disrupts one of the br…
Chapel Hill, NC — One of the most frustrating problems faced by doctors who treat pancreatic cancer is the lack of effective therapeutic options. More than 38,000 people in the United States die of the disease each year, and new drugs and treatme…
A study by the team headed by Lluís Ribas de Pouplana, ICREA professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), has been chosen as “Paper of the week” in the December issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, which is a…
While most commonly associated with mononucleosis, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been linked to many diseases that affect people long after the initial infection takes place, including some forms of cancer. In the current issue of the Journal of Biol…
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Scientists have found that a synthetic molecule they designed can block activation of a gene in liver cancer cells, halting a process that allows some of those cancer cells to survive chemotherapy.
Without the interference of t…
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The most toxic free radical appears responsible for much of the lung damage that can result from oxygen therapy in the critically ill or injured, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.
Within just a few days, ventilators…
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, has identified misfolding and other molecular anomalies in a key brain protein associated with autism spectrum disorders.
Palmer Taylor, associate …
For most people, wisdom teeth are not much more than an annoyance that eventually needs to be removed. However, a new study appearing in the September 17 Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that wisdom teeth contain a valuable reservoir of…