by Brian Wallheimer, Purdue University Many types of human cancers exhibit changes in kinase and phosphatase balances. Drugs that inhibit kinase activity have shown success in the clinic as cancer therapeutics, but the phosphatases still remain a largely underexploited target class due primarily to the lack of understanding of how they cause diseases. Purdue University’s...
Tag: <span>scientists</span>
The ‘love hormone’ oxytocin can also give rise to aggressive behavior
by Max Planck Society During the pandemic lockdown, as couples have been forced to spend days and weeks in one another’s company, some have found their love renewed while others are on their way to divorce court. Oxytocin, a peptide produced in the brain, is complicated in that way: A neuromodulator, it may bring hearts...
COVID-19 immunology study reveals universally effective antibodies
A study of 149 people who have recovered from COVID-19 show that although the amount of antibodies they generated varies widely, most individuals had generated at least some that were intrinsically capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The findings are published in the journal Nature. Antibodies vary widely in their efficacy. While many may latch...
Up to 45 percent of SARS-CoV-2 infections may be asymptomatic
by The Scripps Research Institute An extraordinary percentage of people infected by the virus behind the ongoing deadly COVID-19 pandemic never show symptoms of the disease, according to the results of a Scripps Research analysis of public datasets on asymptomatic infections. The findings, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, suggest that asymptomatic infections may account...
Link between liver and heart disease could lead to new therapeutics
A new study that looks closely at the cardiac health of flies provides new evidence that liver dysfunction may lead to deterioration of the heart. The research fills in gaps in how scientists understand the links between heart health and other tissues and could inform the development of new therapies in human medicine, said Hua...
Texas A&M researchers light cells using nanosheets for cancer treatment
A 2D nanosheet developed by scientists in the Department of Biomedical Engineering could be used to control cell response via light Scientists in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University are developing new ways to advance the field of regenerative medicine and cancer treatment. They are developing a 2D nanosheet that is 1,000...
Scientists rescue mini retinas from eye disease via new gene therapy approach
Scientists have developed a new gene therapy approach that offers tremendous promise for one day treating an eye disease that leads to blindness and affects thousands of people across the globe. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and University College London (UCL) teamed up to pool their expertise in genetics, virology and ophthalmology, beginning the journey...
Tracking cancer’s immortality factor
Canadian scientists have achieved a first in the study of telomerase, an essential enzyme implicated in aging and cancer. In today’s edition of the prestigious journal Molecular Cell, scientists from Université de Montréal used advanced microscopy techniques to see single molecules of telomerase in living cells. A flaw in the replication of chromosomes means that...
Princeton’s “poisoned arrow” molecule shreds superbugs from the inside
By Nick Lavars June 03, 2020 How the human species contends with an alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a pressing issue, with some experts predicting these superbugs could kill millions a year by 2050 if we don’t develop new weapons to neutralize the threat. A team of Princeton researchers has put forward a new...
A few months of vaping puts healthy people on the brink of oral disease
by Emily Caldwell, The Ohio State University Scientists who’ve taken the first look at bacteria in young and healthy vapers’ mouths say that the potential for future disease lies just below the surface. The collection of oral bacteria in daily e-cigaretteusers’ mouths is teeming with potent infection-causing organisms that put vapers at substantial risk for...