Main Page Cancer Blog Cancer Articles What Media Resources
Back to the main page
Archives Of What Media Blog
Subscribe To Archives Of What Media Blog RSS Feed 
High-Fat Copper-Rich Diets
Although copper, zinc and iron are essential for brain development and function, an imbalance of these metals may play a role in the development of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have also linked fat intake, especially that of saturated and trans fats, to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cognitive difficulties, according to background information in the article. One recent animal study found that the consumption of copper in drinking water could amplify the degenerative effects of a high-fat diet on rabbit brains.
Martha Clare Morris, Sc.D., associated professor at the Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center, and her colleagues assessed the connection between dietary fat and dietary copper intake in 3,718 Chicago residents age 65 years and older. Participants underwent cognitive testing at the beginning of the study, after three years and after six years. An average of one year after the study began, they filled out a questionnaire about their diets. The dietary recommended allowance of copper for adults is.9 milligrams per day. Organ meats, such as liver, and shellfish are the foods with the highest copper levels, followed by nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, potatoes, chocolate and some fruits. Copper pipes may also add trace amounts of the metal to drinking water.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
West Nile Virus Antibody Binding Site
"Science doesn't yet fully understand exactly how neutralizing antibodies work," said Michael Rossmann, the Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences in Purdue's College of Science. "This work has shown precisely where the antibody binds to the virus, and we now have a theory for how it interacts with the virus to disarm it. Perhaps we are starting to understand why this particular antibody can inhibit the infectivity of the virus, which is important to understand if a vaccine is going to be developed".
Purdue worked with scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
West Nile belongs to a family of viruses known as flaviviruses, which includes many dangerous insect-borne disease-causing viruses. The antibody attaches to a protein called an E protein, for envelope protein, which makes up the virus's outer shell. There are 180 copies of E proteins symmetrically arranged in 60 sets of three, forming a geometric shape called an icosahedron, which is made up of triangular facets.
The researchers, however, were surprised to discover that this antibody recognizes only two of the E proteins in each set of three, said Bärbel Kaufmann, a postdoctoral research associate working in the Rossmann lab.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Microbe center plumbs depths of ocean life
The Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) will facilitate collaborations among the previously separate disciplines of oceanography, microbiology, ecology and genomics. These new alliances will enable a deeper understanding of the seas, including their potential response to global environmental variability and climate change.
C-MORE, which will receive approximately $19 million from the National Science Foundation over the first five years, is based at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Participating institutions in addition to MIT and UH Manoa are the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oregon State University, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the Hawaii Department of Education.
"A central objective of C-MORE will be to increase understanding about how biological diversity detected at the genome level expresses itself at the ecosystem function level, and then to transfer this knowledge to policymakers to assist them in their decision-making process," said MIT Professor Edward DeLong, C-MORE associate director for research.
"Marine microorganisms are invisible to the naked eye, but their presence enables all multicellular life to exist, including human populations," said DeLong, who holds appointments in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Biological Engineering Division. "Novel methods in molecular biology combined with satellite- and sea-based remote sensing technologies provide an unprecedented opportunity to study microorganisms across broad spatial scales ranging from genes to entire ocean basins".........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Almost Half Of Kids With ADHD Not Treated
A large number of children who could benefit from ADHD medications don't get them.
"What we found was somewhat surprising," says Richard D. Todd, M.D., Ph.D., the Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and professor of genetics. "Only about 58 percent of boys and about 45 percent of girls who had a diagnosis of full-scale ADHD got any medicine at all".
Much has been written about the increasing number of children taking drugs for ADHD. One study found that the percentage of elementary school children taking medicine for ADHD more than tripled, rising from 0.6 percent in 1975 to 3 percent by 1987. Another study reported that the number of adolescents taking ADHD drugs increased 2.5 fold between 1990 and 1995. And many reports have noted a rapid increase in the U.S. manufacture of the stimulant drug methylphenidate - usually sold under the brand names Ritalin or Concerta.
The researchers studied 1,610 twins between the ages of 7 and 17. Of those, 359 met full criteria for ADHD: 302 boys and 57 girls. The total number of boys in the sample was 1,006, and 604 girls were included.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Life and death in the hippocampus
As per a research findings published in a forthcoming issue of Nature, scientists in the lab of Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory and the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, identify a subunit of the NMDA receptor, a protein complex that transduces signals sent by neighboring cells, as the cells' life-saving equipment that allows them to integrate into the existing brain circuitry.
The NMDA receptor is activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate, a chemical released by neurons in order to transmit information to neighboring cells. Whenever the receptor picks up a glutamate signal it is stimulated and relays the signal. But for newborn neurons that signal means something else entirely -- survival.
"When we removed the NMDA receptor, that is when cells make connections in response to glutamate in the environment, the newborn neurons withered and died at a specific stage of their maturation," explains Gage. " The NMDA receptor modulates synapse formation and determines what pattern of input activity new neurons receive, which in turn determines survival or death".........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Cause Of Neurodegenerative Disease
The new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator Susan L. Ackerman and his colleagues at The Jackson Laboratory point to a novel mechanism behind the buildup of the toxic sludge that accumulates in neurons. Scientists have long known that neurodegenerative disorders can be caused by the gradual yet persistent accumulation of misfolded proteins in neurons that eventually triggers cell death. But this new mechanism points to errors in executing the genetic instructions, which are distinct from known causes of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.
HHMI investigator Susan L. Ackerman and her colleagues reported their findings in an August 13, 2006, advance online publication of the journal Nature. Ackerman's group collaborated on the studies with co-author Paul Schimmel at The Scripps Research Institute.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Guidelines For Treatment Of Adult HIV Infection
Scott M. Hammer, M.D., of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, presented the recommendations of the report today at a JAMA media briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.
In the last 25 years, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has grown to pandemic proportions, resulting in 25 million deaths worldwide and an estimated 40 million persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as per background information in the article. Guidelines for antiretroviral treatment are important for clinicians worldwide given the complexity of the field and the varied clinical situations in which these agents are used.
To provide physicians and other HIV clinicians with current recommendations for the use of antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected adults in circumstances for which there is relatively unrestricted access to drugs and monitoring tools, the International AIDS SocietyUSA (IAS-USA) panel has updated its recommendations as warranted by new developments in the field. The 16-member noncompensated panel was appointed, based on expertise in HIV research and patient care internationally. Data published or presented at selected scientific conferences since mid-2004 through May 2006 were identified and evaluated by all members of the panel. The scientists identified 181 citations regarding antiretroviral agent trials that were considered potentially relevant.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Discovery Of Novel Genomic Disorders
Working with colleagues in the UK and US, the scientists screened 290 children with mental retardation and identified several abnormal genetic events. The scientists were able to pinpoint the region of the specific deletion using NimbleGen's high-resolution CGH microarrays. "The ability of NimbleGen to rapidly generate custom-designed, high-density oligo arrays targeted to the specific chromosomal regions we were interested in provided us the key data in our study," stated Dr. Andrew Sharp, Senior Fellow and Rosetta Fellow of the University of Washington and first author on the paper. "Having these tools in hand gave us, in a single experiment, what would otherwise have taken months of work using conventional methods, and allowed unprecedented insight into the underlying biology and mechanism of genomic disease".
The deletion on chromosome 17 was seen in multiple children. Based on current data, this deletion potentially accounts for ~1% of cases of mental retardation, making it one of the most common genetic causes of mental retardation. The deletion, encompassing several genes, is linked to a region of DNA that is usually reversed (or inverted) in one in five people of European descent. Intriguingly, this deletion seems to occur preferentially among children of individuals who carry the inversion.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Adult Cells To Embryonic Stem Cells
The cells--which the researchers designate "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS)--exhibit the physical, growth, and genetic characteristics typical of embryonic stem cells, they reported. "Pluripotent" refers to the ability to differentiate into most other cell types.
"Human embryonic stem cells might be used to treat a host of diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and diabetes," said Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan. "However, there are ethical difficulties regarding the use of human embryos, as well as the problem of tissue rejection following transplantation into patients".
Those problems could be circumvented if pluripotent cells could be obtained directly from the patients' own cells.
"We have demonstrated that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from fibroblast cultures by the addition of only a few defined factors," Yamanaka said. Fibroblasts make up structural fibers found in connective tissue.
Embryonic stem cells are derived from inner cells of the mammalian blastocyst, a ball of cells that develops after fertilization and goes on to form a developing embryo. Cells from other parts of the body can also be "reprogrammed" by transferring their nuclear contents into egg cell precursors called oocytes or by fusion with embryonic stem cells, earlier studies showed.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Routine Screening Not Always Beneficial
"Eventhough there are tests to find out whether a child with Down syndrome has celiac disease before the child develops symptoms, early therapy does not appear to improve the child's quality of life or improve outcomes from one of the long-term consequences of celiac disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," said Nancy Swigonski, M.D., M.P.H., the study's first author and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and affiliated scientist of the Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Individuals with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Untreated celiac disease is thought to increase the risk of intestinal lymphoma.........
Posted by: Jenn Permalink Source
Older Blog Entries