Researchers at A*STAR’s Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) have discovered that branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in tumours can be targeted to prevent and treat cancer. Together with collaborators from the United States and National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), they found that some cancers potently suppress the catabolism (breakdown) of BCAAs. This leads to BCAAs accumulating in...
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Personalised treatments for Parkinson’s disease
Scientists at Cardiff University are helping to bring personalised treatments for Parkinson’s disease closer to the clinic, thanks to a major investment of over £50,000 from American charity, The Summit for Stem Cell Foundation. Working in partnership with Professor Jeanne Loring of the Scripps Research Institute, Cardiff University’s Dr Mariah Lelos is testing the potential...
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New hope for stem cell approach to treating diabetes
Scientists working to develop more effective treatments for diabetes are turning to stem cells. Such cells can be transformed into cells that produce insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar. But there’s a major challenge: the amount of insulin produced by theses cells is difficult to control. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in...
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Alzheimer’s: What leads to brain cell damage?
Scientists have uncovered a mechanism through which a toxic brain protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease can damage neurons, or brain cells. illustration of brain disintegrating New research uncovers the mechanism that leads to the progressive loss of brain cells that characterizes Alzheimer’s disease. The team at the Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences in...
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Alzheimer’s disease: It may be possible to restore memory function, preclinical study finds
Research published today in the journal Brain reveals a new approach to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that may eventually make it possible to reverse memory loss, a hallmark of the disease in its late stages. Yan and her team used an epigenetic approach to restore memory function in an animal model of Alzheimer’s Disease Credit: Douglas...
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Faulty molecular master switch may contribute to AMD
A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that interrupting TGF-beta signals to immune cells called microglia causes the cells to enter an activated, inflammatory state....
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Genetic study reveals possible new routes to treating osteoarthritis
In the largest genetic study of osteoarthritis, an international team of scientists including researchers from the University of Sheffield, have uncovered 52 new genetic changes linked to the disease, which doubles the number of genetic regions associated with the disabling condition. Scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, GSK and their collaborators – including Mark Wilkinson,...
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Gene changes may predict breast cancer relapse, study suggests
Scientists have identified genetic changes that may predict the likelihood of breast cancer relapse in women taking a common type of hormone therapy. The findings could in future help to identify women at risk so they can be given alternative treatments to lower their chances of developing secondary breast cancer, which is incurable. Hormone therapy...
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Possible link between rotavirus vaccine and decline in type 1 diabetes
A drop in the number of young children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes could be associated with the introduction of routine rotavirus vaccination of Australian infants, according to a new study by Melbourne researchers. The immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producting islets in the pancreas is the cause of type 1 diabetes. Still from WEHI-TV animation ‘Insulin...
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Study uncovers cause of bone loss in joint implant patients
Rutgers researchers have discovered the long-sought reason that many people with joint replacements experience harmful inflammation and bone loss. A major contributing factor to joint replacement failure is microparticles released from the prosthetic devices — known as “wear debris” — which are thought to promote inflammation, leading to pain, disappearance of bone tissue, loosening of...