Potential gene therapy for Sickle cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in hemoglobin (HBB) that deform red blood cells. A small number of patients have been successfully treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation; however, there are several drawbacks and complications associated with this procedure, including graft vs. host disease and long-term immune suppression. Many of complications could potentially be avoided by the use of autologous HSC transplant, which uses patient cells that ...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in hemoglobin (HBB) that deform red blood cells. A small number of patients have been successfully treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation; however, there are several drawbacks and complications associated with this procedure, including graft vs. host disease and long-term immune suppression. Many of complications could potentially be avoided by the use of autologous HSC transplant, which uses patient cells that have been treated genetically modified to replace ...

Malaria, a mosquito-born infectious disease, kills over 600,000 people every year. Research has focused on the development of a vaccine to prevent the disease; however, many malaria vaccines targeting parasite antigens have failed because the antigen targets are highly variable. Based on the observation that low-density infections can induce antibody-independent immunity to different malaria strains, Michael Good and colleagues at Griffith University in Australia created a vaccine using blood-stage malaria parasites that were attenuated with a chemical agent that keeps ...

Of the many negative stereotypes that exist about older adults, the most common is that they are forgetful, senile and prone to so-called "senior moments." In fact, while cognitive processes do decline with age, simply reminding older adults about ageist ideas actually exacerbates their memory problems, reveals important new research from the USC Davis School of Gerontology. The study, forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science, is an extension of the idea of "stereotype threat" — that when people are confronted with negative stereotypes about a group with which ...

This news release is available in French. Montreal, July 1st 2013 – The very system that is meant to protect the body from invasion may be a traitor. These new findings of a study, led by investigators at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), reveal that infection-fighting white blood cells play a role in activating cancer cells and facilitating their spread to secondary tumours. This research, published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has significant implications for both the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. ...

The forest we are used to looking at is not at all in equilibrium. Since the Ice Age, a number of plants have been 'missing' in Northern Europe, i.e. species that have not yet arrived. The same applies in many other parts of the world. Similarly, there is evidence that -- even today -- it often takes a very long time before plants follow when glaciers retreat, or the climate changes. In future, such disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities on Earth. This has been demonstrated by a new synthesis carried out by two researchers at Aarhus University -- Professor ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Studies have shown that children with autism often struggle socially and now new research suggests that a corresponding lack of motor skills – including catching and throwing – may further contribute to that social awkwardness. The findings, published in the July issue of Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, add to the growing body of research highlighting the link between autism and motor skill deficits. Lead author Megan MacDonald is an assistant professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University. She is an expert ...

BACKGROUND The Alzheimer's Association projects that the number of people living with Alzheimer's disease will soar from 5 million to 13.8 million by 2050 unless scientists develop new ways to stop the disease. Current medications do not treat Alzheimer's or stop it from progressing; they only temporarily lessen symptoms, such as memory loss and confusion. Current Alzheimer's drugs aim to reduce the amyloid plaques—sticky deposits that build up in the brain--that are a visual trademark of the disease. The plaques are made of long fibers of a protein called Amyloid ...

DALLAS, July 1, 2013 — DNA fragments in your blood may someday help doctors quickly learn if chest pain means you have narrowed heart arteries, according to a new study published in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. The study involved 282 patients, ages 34 to 83, who reported chest pain and were suspected of having coronary artery disease. Researchers used computed tomography imaging to look for hardened, or calcified, buildup in the blood vessels that supply the heart. Blood samples also were tested for bits of ...

KUALA LUMPUR—July 1, 2013—The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) welcomes the World Health Organization (WHO)'s new HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention guidelines. For the first time, the 2013 guidelines combine recommendations across the continuum of HIV care and prevention programs, including expanding treatment eligibility for HIV-positive pregnant women, mothers, and children. These recommendations signify a major step forward in the global effort to achieve an AIDS-free generation, but will require a significant shift in current implementation efforts. ...

Dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system is related to many severe neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and certain types of cancer. Such dysfunction is also believed to be related to some degenerative muscle diseases. The proteasome is a large protein complex that maintains cellular protein balance by degrading and destroying damaged or expired proteins. The ubiquitin is a small protein that labels proteins for destruction for the proteasome. If the system does not work effectively enough, expired and damaged proteins accumulate ...

July 1, 2013, Shenzhen, China – The Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG), an independent, not-for-profit company in collaboration with BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, and The University of Hong Kong (HKU), jointly announced the publication of findings from a study of recurrent mutations in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most deadly cancers worldwide, in the international journal Genome Research. The study provides new insights into potential therapeutic intervention strategies for this common form of liver cancer. HCC is a primary malignancy ...

A research group led by professor Jesper Ekelund showed that by giving a very large dose of famotidine (200 mg daily), sufficient amounts of the drug are able to penetrate the so-called blood-brain barrier to affect the histamine system in the brain. Famotidine has been used for the treatment of heartburn since the 1980s, but at regular dosing, famotidine almost does not enter the brain at all, since the brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier. By increasing the dosage five-fold the drug is able to enter the brain and affect the histamine system. - Already after ...

SYDNEY: A bizarre, pouched super-predator that terrorized South America millions of years ago had huge sabre-like teeth but its bite was weaker than that of a domestic cat, new research shows. Australian and American marsupials are among the closest living relatives of the extinct Thylacosmilus atrox, which had tooth roots extending rearwards almost into its small braincase. "Thylacosmilus looked and behaved like nothing alive today," says University of New South Wales palaeontologist, Dr Stephen Wroe, leader of the research team. "To achieve a kill the animal must have ...

Philadelphia, PA-- As in any other field of medicine, when a depressed person visits a psychiatrist for treatment of depression, they like to be informed of the odds that they will respond to the medication they are prescribed. Unfortunately, there has been no precise way to predict antidepressant response in individual patients. It would be very nice to have an equation that would enable doctors to predict the likelihood that individual patients would respond to specific treatments. Accurate predictions are likely to be challenging. The ability to accurately predict ...

Computer science researchers have programmed a computer to play the game Concentration (also known as Memory). The work could help improve computer security – and improve our understanding of how the human mind works. The researchers developed a program to get the software system called ACT-R, a computer simulation that attempts to replicate human thought processes, to play Concentration. In the game, multiple matching pairs of cards are placed face down in a random order, and players are asked to flip over two cards, one at a time, to find the matching pairs. If a player ...

Bethesda, MD -- Like most other things, you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to wound healing, and new research proves it. According to an article published in the July 2013 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, wound healing can be delayed because the body produces too many mast cells, which normally promote healing. An overabundance of these cells, however, also causes harm by leading to the overproduction of IL-10, which prevents certain white blood cells from reaching the wounded area. The work was conducted in mice with lymphedematous skin, and ...

This news release is available in Spanish. The UPV/EHU researcher Irati Agirreazkuenaga-Onaindia has developed a new methodology for studying the profiles, working habits and perceptions of Basque and Scottish Gaelic-speaking radio journalists. The study confirms that social responsibility is the main motivation for the EITB and BBC journalists. Euskadi Irratia was 30 years old last year, and the study covers what the journalists who work in minority languages are like and how they go about their work. So the UPV/EHU researcher Irati Agirreazkuenaga has compared ...

There's not much difference between what makes a man and what makes his beer - at least at the molecular level - according to a new study led by Professor John Schwabe at the University of Leicester. Scientists used a powerful technique called protein crystallography to look at 3D structures of protein complexes purified from cultured human cells. They discovered that a family of complexes, that switch off gene expression, is regulated by small signalling molecules called inositol phosphates. This latest study shows that this mode of regulation is conserved from yeast ...

Neuroblastomas are pediatric tumors that originate from cells of the embryonic nervous system. The disease can take widely varying clinical courses that range from spontaneous regression to fatal outcomes. Highly aggressive neuroblastomas rarely respond well to chemotherapy. Understanding and overcoming the resistance mechanisms of highly aggressive neuroblastomas are considered essential to the development of effective treatments. Scientists from the department headed by Professor Dr. Olaf Witt at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, ...

Researchers found that dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the striatum were lower in people who smoke more cannabis and those who began taking the drug at a younger age. They suggest this finding could explain why some cannabis users appear to lack motivation to work or pursue their normal interests. The study, by scientists at Imperial College London, UCL and King's College London, was funded by the Medical Research Council and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The researchers used PET brain imaging to look at dopamine production in the striatum ...

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a mechanism that triggers chronic inflammation in Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes. The results, published today in Nature Immunology, suggest a common biochemical thread to multiple diseases and point the way to a new class of therapies that could treat chronic inflammation in these non-infectious diseases without crippling the immune system. Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes—diseases associated with aging and inflammation—affect more than 100 million Americans. When the body encounters ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- A Kansas State University-led study has discovered the role of a protein in bacteria that cause a wide variety of diseases, including typhoid fever, plague, meningitis and dysentery. The results may lead to new and improved antibiotics for humans and animals. Phillip E. Klebba, professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, made the findings with two colleagues in the department: Lorne D. Jordan, doctoral candidate, Manhattan, and Salete M. Newton, research professor. The collaboration included other biophysicists at ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Even short-term exposure to political violence may have long-lasting effects on children's adjustment and behavior, says a new study by a team of researchers from Kenya, Italy and the United States. Intense violence followed the contested Kenyan presidential election of December 2007. More than a year later, children who were exposed to the violence showed increased delinquent and aggressive behaviors, including such problem behaviors as bullying, vandalism, stealing and skipping school, said study author Ann T. Skinner of the Duke University Center for ...

A new method designed to measure the aesthetic value of ecosystems has been applied in Cornwall. According to the research findings, Cornwall's beautiful rugged coastline has been measured to have the highest aesthetic value. Researchers at the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute developed the method, which uses computational social science to count photos uploaded to an online photo-sharing site. The researchers found that areas most highly valued for their aesthetic attributes generate hotspots of photographer activity. Areas in which large ...