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. Agios Pharmaceuticals today announced that its scientists have established, for the first time, that the mutated IDH1 gene has a novel enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. This breakthrough discovery shows that the mutated form of IDH1 produces a metabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), which may contribute to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas, the most common type of brain cancers. This discovery appears to reverse the previously held belief that IDH1 was non functional for cancer-causing activity. It is also one of the first reported instances where a metabolic enzyme such as IDH1 is shown to play a role in cancer formation, in this case through altered metabolic activity. http://www.physorg.com/news178121436.html Medicine & Health Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:11:45 EST news178121436 (PhysOrg.com) -- New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. http://www.physorg.com/news177059550.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:50:02 EST news177059550 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the binding pockets of enzymes their natural binding partners fit exactly. The principle by which many pharmacological agents work also relies on the fact that these substances fit exactly into the pockets of specific enzymes. Not only the chemical properties but also the shape of the pocket determines if a molecule fits or not. http://www.physorg.com/news176020509.html Chemistry Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:35:59 EST news176020509 Scars can serve as double-edged swords in spinal cord injuries -saving a victim's life, but sealing his or her fate as a paraplegic or quadriplegic. The scar forms a wall around the wound, preventing the injury from spreading, but limiting opportunities for neural regeneration. Cells in the scar release molecules that keep severed nerve fibers from passing the damaged tissue, so they cannot connect with their original targets to restore motor and sensory function. http://www.physorg.com/news174837603.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:30:01 EST news174837603 Buying Huggies at Target the other evening -- size N, for newborn -- I noticed that the back of the receipt was printed with a coupon for infant formula. Cash registers are so clever these days. Target, I've been told, is among a small number of big retailers that have invested millions of dollars to develop technology internally that tries to understand their customers' needs. But most big companies are still pretty clueless. http://www.physorg.com/news174764236.html Technology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:50:03 EST news174764236 once believed to bear fruit that ripened into a living baby sheep - produces substances that show promise in laboratory experiments as new treatments for osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. That's the conclusion of a new study in ACS' monthly Journal of Natural Products. http://www.physorg.com/news174741248.html Chemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:40:02 EST news174741248 Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a childhood cancer thought to originate from skeletal muscle. In patients whose disease has spread (metastasized) from the initial tumor site the chance of long-term survival is poor. Hopes for a therapy for such patients are not high, as little is known about the factors that control tumor progression and metastasis. http://www.physorg.com/news173987382.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:50:02 EST news173987382 A Henry Ford Hospital study has identified 231 new genes associated with head and neck cancer, one of the most deadly cancers responsible for 2.1 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news173882707.html Medicine & Health Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news173882707 When I think of Silicon Valley companies I admire, Cisco Systems is usually one of the first that comes to mind. http://www.physorg.com/news173558298.html Technology Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:00:01 EST news173558298 Research led by Dr. Jay Kolls, Professor and Chairman of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has identified a therapeutic target for acute lung injury resulting in acute respiratory distress syndrome, a highly fatal complication of influenza infection. http://www.physorg.com/news173448577.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:10:31 EST news173448577 Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers are one step closer to finding new ways to treat Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow disease that strikes up to 15,000 people each year in the United States, and that sometimes results in acute myeloid leukemia. Researchers found that the gene RhoB is important to the disease's progression and could prove to be a therapeutic target for late-stage MDS. http://www.physorg.com/news173368197.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:01 EST news173368197 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 Until now, the mode of action of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) cancer drugs, used to relieve bone pain and to prevent skeletal complications in bone metastasis, has been almost entirely unknown. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology have used 'barcoded' yeast mutants to identify new biological processes involved in the cellular response to N-BPs, opening up opportunities for the development of new anticancer drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news171743837.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:38:01 EST news171743837 (PhysOrg.com) -- A chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has demonstrated a relatively simple, inexpensive method for detecting and measuring elusive hazards such as concealed explosives and toxins, invisible spoilage in food or pesticides distributed in soil by wind and rain. The prototype method is more sensitive than conventional techniques for detecting traces of these materials, which are polar -like water molecules, having distinct electrically positive and negative ends -and do not readily evaporate. http://www.physorg.com/news171649873.html Chemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:50:02 EST news171649873 Computational biologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have shown that proteins have an intrinsic ability to change shape, and this is required for their biological activity. This shape-changing also allows the small molecules that are attracted to a given protein to select the structure that permits the best binding. That premise could help in drug discovery and in designing compounds that will have the most impact on protein function to better treat a host of diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news169904936.html Chemistry Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:17:09 EST news169904936 New research led by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found a drug target that suggests a potent way to kill colon cancers that resist current drugs aimed at blocking a molecule found on the surface of cells. http://www.physorg.com/news169751933.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:10:02 EST news169751933 (PhysOrg.com) -- When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees. http://www.physorg.com/news169150957.html Nanotechnology Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:23:02 EST news169150957 It's well known that the protein calmodulin specifically targets and steers the activities of hundreds of other proteins - mostly kinases - in our cells, thus playing a role in physiologically important processes ranging from gene transcription to nerve growth and muscle contraction But just how it distinguishes between target proteins is not well understood. Methods developed by biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM, Germany) have enabled them to manipulate and observe calmodulin in action, on the single-molecule scale. http://www.physorg.com/news169137245.html Chemistry Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:20:02 EST news169137245 Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine identified a novel link between ITCH, a gene known to regulate inflammation in the body and NOD2, a gene which causes the majority of genetic Crohn's Disease diagnoses. ITCH, when malfunctioning, causes widespread inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, gastritis, uncontrolled skin inflammation, and pulmonary pneumonitis. http://www.physorg.com/news166360829.html Medicine & Health Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:30:02 EST news166360829 Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) investigators have identified a gene that could be an important therapeutic target in the treatment of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Currently, patients with these cancers have few treatment options. http://www.physorg.com/news166288338.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:12:42 EST news166288338 Members of a USC-led research team say they've made a big improvement in a new breed of electronic detectors for viruses and other biological materials - one that may be a valuable addition to the battle against epidemics. http://www.physorg.com/news162814488.html Nanotechnology Fri, 29 May 2009 11:15:18 EST news162814488 Corrupt lifestyles and vices go hand in hand; each feeds the other. But even the worst miscreant needs customary societal amenities to get by. It's the same with cancer cells. While they rely on vices in the form of genetic mutations to wreak havoc, they must sustain their activity, and that requires equal parts vice and virtue. http://www.physorg.com/news162736489.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 13:35:25 EST news162736489 UCSF scientists have created a method of quickly identifying large numbers of the genetic material known as short hairpin RNA - also called shRNA - that turns genes on and off. http://www.physorg.com/news161946389.html Biology Tue, 19 May 2009 10:07:04 EST news161946389 (PhysOrg.com) -- Diagnosis and treatment in one go: Korean researchers led by Tae Gwan Park and Jinwoo Cheon have developed the basis for a four-in-one agent that can detect, target, and disable tumor cells while also making them macroscopically and microscopically visible. http://www.physorg.com/news160820306.html Chemistry Wed, 06 May 2009 09:19:25 EST news160820306 Inhibiting the "drug efflux pumps" in bacteria, which function as their defence mechanisms against antibiotics, can mask the effect of mutations that have led to resistance in the form of low-affinity drug binding to target molecules in the cell. This is shown by researchers at Uppsala University in a new study that can provide clues to how the development of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria can be delayed. http://www.physorg.com/news160752967.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 14:36:31 EST news160752967 Gene therapy is the introduction of genetic material into a patient's cells resulting in a cure or a therapeutic effect. In recent years, it has been shown that gene therapy is a promising technology to treat or even cure several fatal diseases for which there is no attractive alternative therapy. http://www.physorg.com/news160593465.html Medicine & Health Sun, 03 May 2009 18:18:03 EST news160593465 Ultraviolet light is a proven treatment for psoriasis, one of humanity`s oldest known diseases. Sunshine can also beat back the chronic autoimmune disorder of the skin. But explaining light`s therapeutic effects has been difficult. `We know it works, but we want to know how,` says Michelle Lowes, an assistant professor of clinical investigation in the Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology at Rockefeller University. `Does it target the pathways that we think are important in the disease?` http://www.physorg.com/news160233886.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:25:34 EST news160233886 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stress can be adaptive. It can make you sharper, help you focus and it can even improve your performance. But too much of it can tax cells to the point where they can no longer cope and slowly self-destruct. Scientists at Rockefeller University now show that when the protein-making factory of the cell is exposed to moderate stress, neurons in the fruit fly retina and other cells not only resist death but also shore up their defenses against damaging free radicals and ultraviolet radiation. http://www.physorg.com/news160159407.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:43:48 EST news160159407 Some 25 years after the AIDS epidemic spawned a worldwide search for an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), progress in the field seems to have effectively become stalled. The reason? According to new findings from a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), it's at least partly due to the fact that our body's natural HIV antibodies simply don't have a long enough reach to effectively neutralize the viruses they are meant to target. http://www.physorg.com/news159630488.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:49:15 EST news159630488 When we look at a scene in front of us, we need to focus on the important items and be able to ignore distracting elements. Studies have suggested that inhibition of return (in which our attention is less likely to return to objects we've already viewed) helps make visual search more efficient - when searching a scene to find an object, we have a bias toward inspecting new regions of a scene, and we avoid looking for the object in already searched areas. Psychologists Michael D. Dodd from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Stefan Van der Stigchel of Utrecht University, and Andrew Hollingworth from the University of Iowa examined if inhibition of return is specific for visual search or if it applies more generally in visual behavior. http://www.physorg.com/news158943465.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:58:25 EST news158943465