UMD School of Medicine Research helps uncover how certain receptors play role in the mechanism of fast-acting antidepressants UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Effective treatment of clinical depression remains a major mental health issue, with roughly 30 percent of patients who do not respond to any of the available treatments. Researchers at the University of Maryland...
Post
Biologists find a way to boost intestinal stem cell populations
Study suggests that stimulating stem cells may protect the gastrointestinal tract from age-related disease. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CAMBRIDGE, MA — Cells that line the intestinal tract are replaced every few days, a high rate of turnover that relies on a healthy population of intestinal stem cells. MIT and University of Tokyo biologists have now...
Post
Promising new drugs for old pathogen Mtb
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT Tuberculosis (TB), an ancient and notoriously difficult disease to treat, has killed millions through the course of human history; and the antibiotics that have been used to fight the disease in recent history are becoming less and less effective. In the face of this reality, Dennis Wright, professor of medicinal chemistry in...
Post
Stabilizing ends of chromosomes could treat age-related disease
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE A study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine has uncovered a new strategy that can potentially treat age-related disease and decline. The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, demonstrates that shortening of telomeres – the ends of the chromosomes – impairs a class of enzymes called sirtuins, which play an important...
Post
Scientists find brain mechanism that naturally combats overeating
by Rockefeller University Food is, generally speaking, a good thing. In addition to being quite tasty, it is also necessary for survival. That’s why animals have evolved robust physiological systems that attract them to food and keep them coming back for more. Now, research in mice reveals the existence of brain cells that have the opposite effect, curbing an animal’s...
Post
In mice, single population of stem cells contributes to lifelong hippocampal neurogenesis
Scientists once thought that mammals entered adulthood with all of the neurons they would ever have, but studies from the 60s found that new neurons are generated in certain parts of the adult brain and pioneering studies from the 90s helped identify their origins and function. In the latest update, a team of researchers has...
Post
Testosterone discovery may explain low levels in men with diabetes
Scientists at the University of Virginia and elsewhere have mapped out how the body transports testosterone, and their surprising findings may explain low testosterone levels seen in men with diabetes or patients on certain medications. The discovery allows scientists to understand exactly how testosterone, the male sex hormone, binds to a protein called serum albumin...
Post
What are Exosomes?
By Catherine Shaffer, Ph.D.Reviewed by Chloe Barnett, BSc Exosomes are vesicles, or cellular components, that exist outside of a cell. They are generally understood as having been released from cells upon fusion with an intermediate endocytic compartment, or a multivesicular body (MVB). When the MVB fuses with the plasma membrane surrounding the cell, intraluminal vesicles...
Post
Recent superbug cases linked to weight-loss surgeries in Tijuana prompt fresh warning
by Paul Sisson, The San Diego Union-Tribune With several patients in local hospitals struggling to recover, public health officials are warning San Diego doctors to be on the lookout for signs of a deadly infection linked to weight-loss surgeries performed in Tijuana. The county Health and Human Services Agency this week alerted the medical community that four patients have popped up in local...
Post
A television in the bedroom?
Having a television in the bedroom during the preschool years can lead to mental and physical health problems in adolescence, a new Université de Montréal study indicates. Too much time in front of the bedroom TV deprives the child of more enriching developmental activities and may explain, in part, less optimal body mass, poor eating habits and socio-emotional difficulties as a teenager, says the study, published in Pediatric...