PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Molecular probes permit doctors to detect diabetic retinopathy before vision fails

New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that by using molecular imaging probes that target the surface of small blood vessels, diabetic retinopathy can be detected at the molecular level

2014-09-02
(Press-News.org) A new study published in the September issue of The FASEB Journal, http://www.fasebj.org, identifies a novel strategy to diagnose the leading cause of blindness in adults, diabetic retinopathy, before irreversible structural damage has occurred. This advance involves quantifying the early molecular changes caused by diabetes on the endothelium of retinal vessels. Using new probes developed by scientists, they were able to distinguish the early molecular development of diabetic retinopathy.

"My goal is to establish a versatile clinical tool that alerts of a disease process right when the first molecular changes take place. This will then provide ample opportunity to act, as opposed to merely acknowledge that there is structural damage that we cannot do anything about," said Ali Hafezi-Moghadam, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Center for Excellence in Functional and Molecular Imaging at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. "Here, we have shown it in an important disease, the diabetic retinopathy, but there is no reason to stop there."

Hafezi-Moghadam and colleagues identified a target on the intraluminal surface of the retinal vessels that is expressed at higher levels in diabetes. They found significantly more vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) in the diabetic micro-vessels compared to control. They then custom-generated molecular probes and characterized their binding properties. Light-based live imaging was then used to quantify binding interaction. An unexpected finding in this work was that not only was VEGFR-2 higher in the retinas of diabetic animals as well as humans, but the molecule was found in the retinal micro vessels, not in the larger vessels. When the imaging probes were injected into the blood stream of living normal and diabetic animals, they circulated throughout the animal's vasculature. With the help of live imaging of the retinal vessels, it was possible to visualize the interaction of individual probes with their endothelial targets. The probes transiently interacted with the intraluminal surfaces. In comparison, control probes with a surface moiety that does not interact with the inner vascular lumen freely flowed through the retinal micro vessels. Since the probe interaction with the inner vessel wall can be deduced to individual molecular interactions, the information gained from this study provides quantitative knowledge of target molecules in the retinal micro vessels.

"This study should be a huge eye-opener for doctors hoping to prevent eye disease resulting from diabetes," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "This study shows that it is possible to do this, and the next step is to make this accessible at the clinical level. The sooner doctors can detect that their patients might have a vision problem, the more time they have to save someone's sight."

INFORMATION: Receive monthly highlights from The FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. The FASEB Journal is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). It is the world's most cited biology journal according to the Institute for Scientific Information and has been recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century.

FASEB is composed of 27 societies with more than 120,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Our mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.

Details: Dawei Sun, Shintaro Nakao, Fang Xie, Souska Zandi, Abouzar Bagheri, Mozhgan Rezaei Kanavi, Shahram Samiei, Zahra-Soheila Soheili, Sonja Frimmel, Zhongyu Zhang, Zsolt Ablonczy, Hamid Ahmadieh, and Ali Hafezi-Moghadam. Molecular imaging reveals elevated VEGFR-2 expression in retinal capillaries in diabetes: a novel biomarker for early diagnosis. FASEB J. September 2014 28:3942-3951; doi:10.1096/fj.14-251934 ; http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/9/3942.abstract


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Research in rodents suggests potential for 'in body' muscle regeneration

2014-09-02
Winston-Salem, N.C. – Sept. 2, 2014 – What if repairing large segments of damaged muscle tissue was as simple as mobilizing the body's stem cells to the site of the injury? New research in mice and rats, conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, suggests that "in body" regeneration of muscle tissue might be possible by harnessing the body's natural healing powers. Reporting online ahead of print in the journal Acta Biomaterialia, the research team demonstrated the ability to recruit stem cells that can form muscle tissue to ...

More than one-third of booked operations are re-booked

More than one-third of booked operations are re-booked
2014-09-02
More than one third of all planned orthopaedic surgery procedures are re-booked, postponed or cancelled completely. The most common reasons are cancellation at the patient's own request or emergency cases having to be prioritised. These are the findings of a study carried out by the Sahlgrenska Academy in association with Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Postponed or cancelled operations are a problem both for the individual patient, who may have to wait longer for treatment, and for the hospital providing treatment in the form of poorer use of resources. The Department ...

New synthesis method may shape future of nanostructures, clean energy

2014-09-02
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A team of University of Maryland physicists has published new nanoscience advances that they and other scientists say make possible new nanostructures and nanotechnologies with huge potential applications ranging from clean energy and quantum computing advances to new sensor development. Published in the September 2, issue of Nature Communications the Maryland scientists' primary discovery is a fundamentally new synthesis strategy for hybrid nanostructures that uses a connector, or "intermedium," nanoparticle to join multiple different nanoparticles ...

University of Houston researcher looks at the future of higher education

2014-09-02
Most forecasts about the future of higher education have focused on how the institutions themselves will be affected – including the possibility of less demand for classes on campus and fewer tenured faculty members as people take courses online. Some changes already have begun. When researchers at the University of Houston tackled the issue, they focused instead on what students will need in the future, including improved mentoring, personalized learning and feedback in real time. The UH researchers identified three key themes: A shift in the balance of power away ...

Family history of cardiovascular disease is not enough to motivate people to follow healthy lifestyle

2014-09-02
New research1 presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona shows that having a family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not enough to motivate people to follow healthy lifestyles. Researchers used data from 188,139 users of HeartAge.me, a free online tool that engages people presenting their personal CVD risk factors as their estimated 'heart age', to test the hypothesis that those who have a family history of CVD are more likely to attend medical examinations and blood pressure checks and be motivated to adopt healthy diet and lifestyle ...

Researchers reveal carbon emissions of PlayStation®3 game distribution

2014-09-02
It's not always true that digital distribution of media will have lower carbon emissions than distribution by physical means, at least when file sizes are large. That's the conclusion of a study published in Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology that looked at the carbon footprint of games for consoles such as PlayStation®3. Researchers found that Blu-ray Discs delivered via retail stores caused lower greenhouse gas emissions than game files downloaded over broadband Internet. For their analysis, the investigators estimated total carbon equivalent emissions for an 8.8-gigabyte ...

Oceans apart: Study reveals insights into the evolution of languages

Oceans apart: Study reveals insights into the evolution of languages
2014-09-02
A new Journal of Evolutionary Biology study provides evidence that physical barriers formed by oceans can influence language diversification. Investigators argue that the same factor responsible for much of the biodiversity in the Galápagos Islands is also responsible for the linguistic diversity in the Japanese Islands: the natural oceanic barriers that impede interaction between speech communities. Therefore, spatially isolated languages gradually diverge from one another due to a reduction of linguistic contact. "Charles Darwin would have been amused by a study like ...

Coming or going? How Scottish independence could affect migration

Coming or going? How Scottish independence could affect migration
2014-09-02
In light of the upcoming referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country, researchers present a set of predictions of the possible effects on internal and international migration. If Scotland declares independence, international immigration will remain the most uncertain flow. However, if large inflows occur, they are likely to be balanced by emigration from Scotland. Migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK is expected to remain at similar levels to the present, irrespective of the outcome of the 2014 independence referendum. "International ...

Salamander skin peptide promotes quick and effective wound healing in mice

2014-09-02
Move over antibiotic ointment, there might be a new salve to dominate medicine cabinets of the future, and it comes from an unlikely place—the lowly salamander. Salamanders may not be the cuddliest of animals, but they can regenerate lost limbs and achieve amazing recovery of seriously damaged body parts. Now, a new report published in the September 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal, identifies a small protein (called a "peptide") from the skin of salamanders that may be the key to unlocking the secret of this amazing wound healing trick in humans. "This research takes ...

NYC teens and young adults who abuse prescription at high risk for overdose

2014-09-02
The prevalence of opioid-involved overdoses has become an increasing concern to health officials both in NYC and nationally. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the number of unintentional opioid-involved overdose deaths in 2011 was nearly triple the number of such deaths in 2000. Much of the increase has been attributed to a dramatic rise in nonmedical prescription opioid (PO) use among teens and young adults, and, more recently, in heroin use among youth who transitioned from POs to heroin. Now researchers affiliated with New York ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

IOP Publishing and IPEM mandate reporting of sex and gender in research 

Dogs trained to detect trauma stress by smelling humans’ breath

Electronic device thermal management made simpler and slightly better!

Study: Dangerous surgical site infections can be reduced with simple prevention protocol

Genetic testing of patients with atrial fibrillation can alert clinicians to potential development of life-threatening conditions

Artificial Intelligence tool successfully predicts fatal heart rhythm

What progress has China made in agriculture green development over the past five years?

ALMA finds new molecular signposts in starburst galaxy

Open waste burning linked to air pollution in Northwestern Greenland

Google Street View reveals how built environment correlates with risk of cardiovascular disease

Connecting the dots to shape growth forces

Parental avoidance of toxic exposures could help prevent autism, ADHD in children, new study shows

Trends in the incidence of renal replacement therapy due to rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in Japan, 2006–2021

Olympics not likely to swallow up skateboarding’s subversive nature into its corporate spectacle, study says

Looking after the NHS workforce must be a top priority, say experts

Prolonged use of certain hormone drugs linked to increased brain tumor risk

Delirium a ‘strong risk factor’ for dementia among older people

People experiencing homelessness more likely to develop dementia at younger ages, study finds

Can metalens be commercialized at a fraction of the cost?

Reclaim ‘wellness’ from the rich and famous, and restore its political radicalism, new book argues

Curtin research unlocks supernova stardust secrets

New documents reveal patient safety concerns over strike day cover

UTA hosts Solar-bration watch party for April 8 eclipse

Researchers discover molecule that promotes production of cancer cells in triple-negative breast cancer

New tool provides researchers with improved understanding of stem cell aging in the brain

Around half of people living with HIV in developed countries are now aged 50 years and over and at higher risk of becoming frail and having multiple comorbidities

You are never too old for an STI – more older adults being diagnosed with STIs such as gonorrhea and syphilis

University of Minnesota researchers introduce enhanced brain signal analysis technique

Aston University research center to focus on using AI to improve lives

Robot, can you say ‘cheese’?

[Press-News.org] Molecular probes permit doctors to detect diabetic retinopathy before vision fails
New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that by using molecular imaging probes that target the surface of small blood vessels, diabetic retinopathy can be detected at the molecular level