http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research. http://www.physorg.com/news176662083.html Chemistry Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:20:01 EST news176662083 A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells. http://www.physorg.com/news175435791.html Biology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:04 EST news175435791 Young animals treated with commonly-prescribed drugs develop behavioral abnormalities in adulthood say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. The drugs tested include those used to treat epilepsy, mood disorders and pain. http://www.physorg.com/news175271238.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:10:02 EST news175271238 As doctors begin to test progesterone for traumatic brain injury at sites across the country, researchers are looking ahead to optimizing the hormone's effectiveness. http://www.physorg.com/news175178201.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:00:01 EST news175178201 New data about amyloid precursor protein, or APP, a protein implicated in development of Alzheimer's disease, suggests it also may have a positive role -- directly affecting learning and memory during brain development. So is APP good or bad? Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say both, and that a balance of APP is critical. http://www.physorg.com/news175105227.html Medicine & Health Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:21:04 EST news175105227 Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. Now an international constellation of research teams, including one at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, has shown that parts of the genetic programs that determine programmed cell death in plants and animals are actually evolutionarily related and moreover function in a similar way. The findings were published in Nature Cell Biology October 11. http://www.physorg.com/news174665603.html Biology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:20:03 EST news174665603 If a little vitamin A is good, more must be better, right? Wrong! New research published online in the FASEB Journal shows that vitamin A plays a crucial role in energy production within cells, explaining why too much or too little has a complex negative effect on our bodies. This is particularly important as combinations of foods, drinks, creams, and nutritional supplements containing added vitamin A make an overdose more possible than ever before. http://www.physorg.com/news174219736.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:10:03 EST news174219736 Understanding the evolution and domestication of maize has been a holy grail for many researchers. As one of the most important crops worldwide and as a crop that appears very different from its wild relatives as a result of domestication, understanding exactly how maize has evolved has many practical benefits and may help to improve crop yields. http://www.physorg.com/news173715396.html Biology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:30:03 EST news173715396 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have put an end to a 10-year debate over which form of a molecular messenger called Fas ligand is responsible for killing cells during programmed cell death (also called apoptosis). http://www.physorg.com/news173538701.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:12:47 EST news173538701 Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have identified novel cleavage sites for the enzyme caspase-3 (an enzyme that proteolytically cleaves target proteins). Using an advanced proteomic technique called N-terminomics, Guy Salvesen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Apoptosis and Cell Death Research program of Burnham's NCI-designated Cancer Center, and colleagues determined the cleavage sites on target proteins and found, contrary to previous understanding, that caspase-3 targets α-helices as well as unstructured loops. In addition, researchers found that caspase-3 and the substrates it binds to co-evolved. http://www.physorg.com/news172766318.html Biology Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:39:46 EST news172766318 A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have developed a safe strategy for reprogramming cells to a pluripotent state without use of viral vectors or genomic insertions. Their studies reveal that these induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are very similar to human embryonic stem cells, yet maintain a "transcriptional signature." In essence, these cells retain some memory of the donor cells they once were. http://www.physorg.com/news172490604.html Biology Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:04:44 EST news172490604 In two separate studies, a major component in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), has been found to help prolong the preservation of both stored blood platelets and cryopreserved skin tissues. http://www.physorg.com/news172145000.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:20:01 EST news172145000 (PhysOrg.com) -- Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered a new role for the bioactive lipid messenger, sphingosine-1-phosphate, or S1P, that is abundant in our blood - a finding that could lead to a new generation of drugs to fight cancer and inflammatory disease. http://www.physorg.com/news171644446.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:01:32 EST news171644446 A major step forward, with important implications for understanding how to reduce the severity of multiple sclerosis, has been made by scientists at the University of Bristol. The results are published online today in PNAS. http://www.physorg.com/news170343854.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:44:39 EST news170343854 Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remain in the body for decades. http://www.physorg.com/news169741163.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:19:51 EST news169741163 Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have uncovered the mechanism behind a promising new approach to cancer treatment: damaging cancer cells' DNA with potent drugs while simultaneously preventing the cells from repairing themselves. http://www.physorg.com/news169725288.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:55:26 EST news169725288 Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong. http://www.physorg.com/news169393112.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:10:02 EST news169393112 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)--a liver cancer--is recognized as one of the most common cancers in the world that disproportionately affects Southeast Asians and Africans. While there are therapies that possibly provide a cure, surgical removal and liver transplantation are invasive and radical options. However, even these approaches only benefit a small proportion of the total number HCC patients. Cryosurgery is a minimally invasive technique of using extreme low temperatures to freeze and kill tumors, improve patient' survival times, and reduce surgical complications. http://www.physorg.com/news169301759.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:40:03 EST news169301759 New research reveals that a simple laboratory assay detects a genetic variation in host response to bacterial infection that is associated with an increased susceptibility for inflammatory disease. The study, published by Cell Press online on August 6th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, also provides fascinating insight into the link between evolution and the ability to ward off pathogens. http://www.physorg.com/news168792564.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:50:01 EST news168792564 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma - a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies. http://www.physorg.com/news168523956.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:40:03 EST news168523956 The role of a protein called XIAP in the regulation of cell death has been identified by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers and has led them to recommend caution when drugs called IAP inhibitors are used to treat cancer patients with underlying liver conditions. http://www.physorg.com/news167488280.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:31:52 EST news167488280 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a new way of killing cancer cells in a breakthrough that could eventually lead to new treatments for a range of different cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news167408029.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:14:27 EST news167408029 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research by a group of Montreal scientists calls into question one of the most basic assumptions of human genetics: that when it comes to DNA, every cell in the body is essentially identical to every other cell. Their results appear in the July issue of the journal Human Mutation. http://www.physorg.com/news166882585.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:30:01 EST news166882585 A study by Nanyang Technological University (NTU)'s Assistant Professor Li Hoi Yeung, Assistant Professor Koh Cheng Gee and their team have made an important contribution to the understanding of the process that cells go through when they die. This process known as 'apoptosis' or programmed cell death, is a normal process in the human body which removes perhaps a million cells a second. http://www.physorg.com/news166786296.html Biology Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:50:02 EST news166786296 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and collaborators have discovered and analyzed several new compounds, collectively called the ''EUK-400 series,'' which could someday be used to prevent radiation-induced injuries to kidneys, lungs, skin, intestinal tract and brains of radiological terrorism victims. The findings, which appear in the June issue of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, describe new agents which can be given orally in pill form, which would more expedient in an emergency situation. http://www.physorg.com/news166441850.html Chemistry Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:51:12 EST news166441850 Scientists at Singapore's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) have made a novel discovery about how the gene, "Fas-apoptosis inhibitory molecule" (FAIM), protects both immune and liver cells from apoptosis, or programmed cell death. http://www.physorg.com/news165825938.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:46:05 EST news165825938 Underneath their smooth surface mitochondria harbor an elaborately folded inner membrane. It holds a multitude of bottleneck like invaginations, which expand into elongated cavities. Now researchers have identified two proteins linked in an antagonistic manner that are relevant for governing inner membrane structure. http://www.physorg.com/news165064938.html Biology Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:22:53 EST news165064938 The immune system's T-cells react to foreign protein fragments and therefore are crucial to combating viruses and bacteria. Errant cells that attack the body's own material are in most cases driven to cell death. Some of these autoreactive T-cells, however, undergo a kind of reeducation to become "regulatory T-cells" that keep other autoreactive T-cells under control. A group led by immunologist Professor Ludger Klein of LMU Munich has now shown that the developmental stage of an autoreactive T-cell is decisive to its ultimate destiny. http://www.physorg.com/news164290757.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:10:02 EST news164290757 Liver disease that results as a consequence of alcohol abuse is a major medical problem worldwide. Ethanol consumption leads to a variety of liver alterations including the accumulation of fat, inflammation of the liver, as well as the presence of scar tissue. However, how these events happen after drinking alcohol are not well understood. It is known that ethanol-related liver alterations involve impairments to the hepatocyte cell in the liver that includes the induction of cell death mechanisms. It has also been shown that as a consequence of ethanol metabolism, oxidative stress is induced in hepatocytes through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the relationship between hepatocellular oxidative stress and the promotion of cell injury is not completely understood. http://www.physorg.com/news164279744.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:50:01 EST news164279744 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto have found a gene that plays a crucial role in the development of rhabdomyosarcoma - the most common childhood sarcoma (soft tissue cancer). The gene is called integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and is unique in that it can act as both a tumour suppressor and a tumour promoter. The study is published in the June issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://www.physorg.com/news162655843.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 May 2009 15:11:19 EST news162655843