New study identifies HIPK2 as a novel regulator of heart failure progression UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – An unexplored kinase in heart muscle cells may be a good target to treat heart failure, a disease that is only incrementally delayed by existing therapies. Failing human hearts showed reduced amounts of this kinase, and preclinical experiments showed that restoring the amount of this kinase in...
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Molecular gatekeepers that regulate calcium ions key to muscle function
CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL Calcium ions are essential to how muscles work effectively, playing a starring role in how and when muscles contract, tap energy stores to keep working and self-repair damage. Not only are calcium ions vital for the repair of injured muscle fibers, their controlled entry into the mitochondria, the cell’s energy powerhouses, spells...
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Novel research aims to identify new medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF NURSING PHILADELPHIA (OCTOBER 31, 2019) – Opioid use disorder and overdose deaths are a major public health crisis in the United States. While medication-assisted treatments for opioid use disorder exist, these treatments remain inadequate for many patients, resulting in a high rate of relapse following detoxification. A new study from...
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Discovery may help derail Parkinson’s ‘runaway train’
Researchers have discovered a new enzyme that inhibits the LRRK2 pathway, the most common cause of genetic Parkinson’s UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE Researchers at the University of Dundee have made a discovery they believe has the potential to put the brakes on the ‘runaway train’ that is Parkinson’s disease. The team, based at the Medical Research...
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Researchers find high-intensity exercise improves memory in seniors
MCMASTER UNIVERSITY Researchers at McMaster University who examine the impact of exercise on the brain have found that high-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults. The study, published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, has widespread implications for treating dementia, a catastrophic disease that affects approximately half a million Canadians and is expected...
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Key mechanism in insulin release by cholesterol metabolite found
LUND UNIVERSITY Insulin which is released by pancreatic beta-cells is the main regulator of blood sugar. Previous and current studies by a research group at Lund University in Sweden have identified around hundred different receptors on the surface of the beta-cells, with a diverse functional impact on the beta-cells. Now researchers at Lund University in...
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Adaptive human immunity depends on the factor responsible for the formation of white blood cells
Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has a significant regulatory effect not only on innate, but also on adaptive immunity. IMMANUEL KANT BALTIC FEDERAL UNIVERSITY Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), which causes division and differentiation of bone marrow cells depending on the body’s need for leukocytes, has a significant regulatory effect not only on innate, but also on...
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Study finds that Bisphenol A increases the pain sensation of mice
by Asociacion RUVID University of Alicante (UA) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) researchers have found out the mechanism of action of bisphenol A (BPA) in nociceptor neurons that transmit the sense of pain. BPA is a chemical substance used to make plastic containers, thermal paper and coating resins for the inside of food or soft...
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Study reveals more about how immune cells create new types of antibodies
by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress A team of researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital has learned more about the process of V(D)J recombination and how it makes use of chromatin looping to collect segments that are to be spliced. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers outline their research and what they...
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Rotavirus vaccine: A potential new role as an anticancer agent
by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress Numerous vaccines, from flu shots to those those that help thwart chickenpox and measles, are widely used to guard against contagion, but researchers in France are proposing a breakthrough role for rotavirus vaccines: deploying them in cancer treatment. And they contend that other common vaccines may help fight malignancies,...