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. It's important to finish what you start, say Jeong-Sun Ju and researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. In the December 14, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Ju et al. reveal how a mutant ATPase blocks autophagy partway through to cause a multi-tissue degenerative disease. http://www.physorg.com/news180013508.html Biology Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:45:42 EST news180013508 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that a molecule produced naturally by muscles in response to nerve damage can reduce symptoms and prolong life in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). http://www.physorg.com/news179676993.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:19:34 EST news179676993 Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently offered the sharpest-yet picture of how core biochemical pathways in skeletal muscle cells and fat cells are altered in people who suffer from insulin resistance -- a primary defect in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Taking a systems biology approach, the bioengineers and medical researchers also determined how a common class of drugs for treating insulin resistance -- TZDs -- alter these same core pathways. This led the team to uncover previously unknown effects of TZDs and insights that could lead to improved drug therapies for insulin resistance. http://www.physorg.com/news178200964.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:16:46 EST news178200964 An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is taking the first step in developing a treatment for a rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue turns to bone, immobilizing patients over a lifetime with a second skeleton. http://www.physorg.com/news177258526.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:50:03 EST news177258526 A study appearing in Science Translational Medicine puts scientists one step closer to clinical trials to test a gene delivery strategy to improve muscle mass and function in patients with certain degenerative muscle disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news177186395.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:40:02 EST news177186395 (PhysOrg.com) -- Skeletal muscle plays a critical role in regulating blood sugar levels in the body. But few studies have comprehensively examined how obesity caused by a high-fat diet affects the health of muscle in adolescents who are pre-diabetic. http://www.physorg.com/news174025470.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:40:01 EST news174025470 Your fingers start to burn after picking up a hot plate. Should you drop the plate or save your meal? New research suggests that it is your consciousness that resolves these dilemmas by serving as the brain's Wi-Fi network, mediating competing requests from different parts of the body. Published today in the journal Emotion, the study also explains why we are consciously aware of some conflicting urges but not others. http://www.physorg.com/news173552299.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:59:01 EST news173552299 Recent studies conducted by Dr. Eric Blough and his colleagues at Marshall University have shown that use of the common pain reliever acetaminophen may help prevent age-associated muscle loss and other conditions. http://www.physorg.com/news172944205.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:06:19 EST news172944205 Experts at The University of Nottingham are working on ground-breaking research to determine, for the first time, precisely what damage obesity can inflict on the muscles in our body. http://www.physorg.com/news172317762.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:30:02 EST news172317762 New research with transgenic mice reveals that a therapy directed at the muscle significantly improves disease symptoms of a genetic disorder characterized by destruction of the neurons that control movement. The study, published by Cell Press in the August 13th issue of the journal Neuron, highlights a promising new treatment for this currently incurable and nontreatable neurodegenerative disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news169299168.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:00:01 EST news169299168 Muscular dystrophy, a group of inherited diseases characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, can be caused by mutations in any one of a number of genes. Another gene can now be added to this list, as Yukiko Hayashi and colleagues, at the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan, have now identified mutations in a gene not previously linked to muscular dystrophy as causative of a form of the disease in five nonconsanguineous Japanese patients. http://www.physorg.com/news169150841.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:40:01 EST news169150841 Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually experience significant muscle loss, a symptom traditionally considered to be a secondary complication of the devastating genetic disease. However, a recent study by Dr. Basil Petrof reverses the equation: his results show that muscle atrophy and weakness may be a primary symptom caused by the effects of CFTR gene mutations on the muscle itself. Dr. Petrof's findings will be published on July 31 in Public Library of Science -- Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news168270197.html Medicine & Health Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:00:01 EST news168270197 A research collaboration between Munich-based biophysicists and a structural biologist in Hamburg (Germany) is helping to explain why our muscles, and those of other animals, don't simply fall apart under stress. Their findings may have implications for fields as diverse as medical research and nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news167329628.html Biology Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:40:01 EST news167329628 Between the 1932 and 2008 Olympic Games, world record times of the men's 100m sprint improved by 0.6 seconds. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria have shown that an equivalent improvement can be achieved in mice by feeding them a diet high in a certain type of polyunsaturated fatty acid. Dr. Christopher Turbill will present the research at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165474068.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:01:59 EST news165474068 Scientists working at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Embryology, with colleagues, have overturned previous research that identified critical genes for making muscle stem cells. It turns out that the genes that make muscle stem cells in the embryo are surprisingly not needed in adult muscle stem cells to regenerate muscles after injury. http://www.physorg.com/news165144902.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:35:26 EST news165144902 During desperate times, such as fasting, or muscle wasting that afflicts cancer or AIDS patients, the body cannibalizes itself, atrophying and breaking down skeletal muscle proteins to liberate amino acids. In a new study published online June 8 and in the June 15, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Shenhav Cohen, Alfred Goldberg, and colleagues show that muscle atrophy is a more ordered process than was previously thought. These researchers find evidence that enzyme MuRF1 selectively degrades the thick filaments in muscle, while bypassing the thin filaments. http://www.physorg.com/news163677022.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:50:57 EST news163677022 Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa have discovered a powerful new way to stimulate muscle regeneration, paving the way for new treatments for debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy. http://www.physorg.com/news163343157.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:06:21 EST news163343157 A heart muscle protein can replace its missing skeletal muscle counterpart to give mice with myopathy a long and active life, show Nowak et al. The findings will be published online on Monday, May 25, 2009 and will appear in the June 1, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news162465042.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 10:17:20 EST news162465042 In a world first, West Australian scientists have cured mice of a devastating muscle disease that causes a Floppy Baby Syndrome - a breakthrough that could ultimately help thousands of families across the globe. http://www.physorg.com/news162464669.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 10:04:49 EST news162464669 A potential vaccine for Alzheimer's disease also has been shown in mice to slow the weakening of muscles associated with inclusion body myositis, a disorder that affects the elderly. http://www.physorg.com/news161439371.html Medicine & Health Wed, 13 May 2009 13:16:42 EST news161439371 Moderate calorie restriction causes temporal changes in the liver and skeletal muscle metabolism, whereas moderate weight loss affects muscle, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. In addition, researchers found that short-term calorie restriction (CR) with a low-carbohydrate diet caused a greater change in liver fat content and metabolic function than short-term CR with a high-carbohydrate diet. http://www.physorg.com/news160675334.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 17:02:42 EST news160675334 Skeletal muscle disease and vision deficits might seem unrelated, but a frog model of muscular dystrophy shows it is not such a leap. http://www.physorg.com/news159515221.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:47:31 EST news159515221 A new study in the The Journal of Applied Physiology, suggests that astronauts need to modify their workouts to avoid extensive muscle loss during missions onboard the International Space Station (ISS). http://www.physorg.com/news157894348.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:34:00 EST news157894348 Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut have pinpointed the source of immature cells that spur misplaced bone growth. Unexpectedly, the major repository of bone-forming cells originates in blood vessels deep within skeletal muscle and other connective tissues, not from muscle stem cells themselves. The work also shows that cells important in the inflammatory response to injury trigger skeleton-stimulating proteins to transform muscle tissue into bone. http://www.physorg.com/news155315646.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:14:38 EST news155315646 is no cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that causes the weakening of muscles and is the leading genetic cause of infant death, but University of Missouri researchers have discovered a new therapeutic target that improves deteriorating skeletal muscle tissue caused by SMA. The new therapy enhanced muscle strength, improved gross motor skills and increased the lifespan in a SMA model. http://www.physorg.com/news150556755.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:19:15 EST news150556755 By injecting purified stem cells isolated from adult skeletal muscle, researchers have shown they can restore healthy muscle and improve muscle function in mice with a form of muscular dystrophy. Those muscle-building stem cells were derived from a larger pool of so-called satellite cells that normally associate with mature muscle fibers and play a role in muscle growth and repair. http://www.physorg.com/news134915195.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:26:35 EST news134915195