Transforming skin cells into cartilage

EDITOR'S PICK Cancer cell survival is not miR-ly dependent on p53 Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a common type of skin cancer and remains one of the most resistant to available chemotherapies. Many cancer therapeutic strategies are directed at restoring the function of the tumor suppressor gene p53, because when active, cells are more sensitive to the DNA damage induced by chemotherapy. Other proteins related to p53, including p63 and p73, have also been implicated in cancer and cell sensitivity to chemotherapy. Both p63 and p73 are overexpressed in SCC, and are thought ...

While wealthier people have chosen alternatives to urban nursing homes, the urban poor still depend on them for long-term care. A new study led by researchers at Brown University finds that option is nevertheless slipping away. Between 1999 and 2008, nursing home closures in the United States were concentrated disproportionately in poor, urban and predominantly minority neighborhoods. Overall, the United States lost 5 percent, or 96,902, of its total nursing home beds during the decade, as patients with means sought assisted living or other forms of home and community-based ...

BOSTON—A large proportion of Medicare expenditures for nursing home residents with advanced dementia, a terminal illness, is spent on aggressive treatments that may be avoidable and of limited clinical benefit, according to a new study by the Institute for Aging Research, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, published in the online version of the Archives of Internal Medicine on Jan. 10, 2011. The study examined Medicare expenditures for 323 nursing home residents with advanced dementia in 22 facilities in the Greater Boston area as part of the Choices, Attitudes, and ...

A SCUBA expedition in Australia and New Zealand to find the rare embryos of an unusual shark cousin enabled American and British researchers to confirm new developmental similarities between fish and mammals. Elephant fish, a relative of sharks, utilize the same genetic process for forming skeletal gill covers that lizards and mammals use to form fingers and toes, researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Cambridge found. The precise timing of when and where that gene is expressed during embryonic development produces dramatic anatomical differences ...

The search for a universal flu vaccine has received a boost from a surprising source: the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu strain. Several patients infected with the 2009 H1N1 strain developed antibodies that are protective against a variety of flu strains, scientists from Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago have found. The results were published online Monday in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. "Our data shows that infection with the 2009 pandemic influenza strain could induce broadly protective antibodies that are only rarely seen after seasonal ...

Nursing home closures eliminated about 5 percent of available beds between 1998 and 2008, with closures concentrated in minority and poor communities, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the May 9 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Regulatory oversight, reinforced by market forces and an increased focus on transparency and public reporting, is designed to eliminate poorly performing nursing homes," the authors write as background information in the article. "A small fraction of U.S. nursing ...

Converting hospital intensive care units (ICUs) to private rooms is associated with a reduction in the rate at which patients acquire infections, according to a report in the January 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Health care associated infections occur in about 30 percent of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality," the authors write as background information in the article. "In ICU patients, these infections are associated with an increased length of stay of ...

More than half of the recommendations in current practice guidelines for infectious disease specialists are based on opinions from experts rather than on evidence from clinical trials, according to a report in the January 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "During the past half century, a deluge of publications addressing nearly every aspect of patient care has both enhanced clinical decision making and encumbered it owing to the tremendous volume of new information," the authors write as background information in the article. ...

A computer decision model suggests that for patients with a history of bleeding within the brain, the risk of recurrence associated with statin treatment may outweigh the benefit of the drug in preventing cardiovascular disease, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The benefits of statins for reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke are well established, but more widespread use of statin therapy remains controversial, according to background information in the ...

Most anti-epileptic drugs are associated with an increased risk of non-traumatic fracture in individuals 50 years of age and older, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Anti-epileptic drugs are considered a secondary risk factor for osteoporosis, according to background information in the article, because epilepsy is highly prevalent in older adults, a population already at risk for osteoporosis. Additionally, anti-epileptic drugs are associated with greater bone density reduction in post-menopausal women ...