ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Scientists find genes linked to human neurological disorders in sea lamprey genome
• Scientists find bone-marrow environment that helps produce infection-fighting T and B cells
• General mechanism that accelerates tumor development discovered
• Ability of brain to protect itself from damage revealed
• Scientists find surprising new influence on cancer genes
• Analytical trick accelerates protein studies
• Distinct niches in bone marrow nurture blood stem cells
• Asthma drug found highly effective in treating chronic, severe hives and itch

Scientists find genes linked to human neurological disorders in sea lamprey genome Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:29 AM PST Scientists have identified several genes linked to human neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, in the sea lamprey, a vertebrate fish whose whole-genome sequence.

Scientists find bone-marrow environment that helps produce infection-fighting T and B cells Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:29 AM PST Medical researchers have deepened the understanding of the environment within bone marrow that nurtures stem cells, this time identifying the biological setting for specialized blood-forming cells that produce the infection-fighting white blood cells known as T cells and B cells.

General mechanism that accelerates tumor development discovered Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:28 AM PST Two new articles describe how the CPBE1 protein "takes the brakes off" the production of proteins associated with the cell switch from being healthy to tumorous. The study highlights CPEB proteins as promising targets, thus opening up a new and unexplored therapeutic window. The lab has developed a system for screening compounds that impede the action of CPEB proteins in tumors.

Ability of brain to protect itself from damage revealed Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:28 AM PST The origin of an innate ability the brain has to protect itself from damage that occurs in stroke has been explained for the first time. Researchers hope that harnessing this inbuilt biological mechanism, identified in rats, could help in treating stroke and preventing other neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

Scientists find surprising new influence on cancer genes Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:28 AM PST Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk" DNA. But now, a new study shows how pseudogenes can regulate the activity of a cancer-related gene called PTEN. The study also shows that pseudogenes can be targeted to control PTEN's activity.

Analytical trick accelerates protein studies Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST Researchers have found a new way to accelerate a workhorse instrument that identifies proteins. The high-speed technique could help diagnose cancer sooner and point to new drugs for treating a wide range of conditions.

Distinct niches in bone marrow nurture blood stem cells Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST In research that could one day improve the success of stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, scientists have found that distinct niches exist in bone marrow to nurture different types of blood stem cells.

Asthma drug found highly effective in treating chronic, severe hives and itch Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST An international team of researchers has found that a once-a-month, high-dose injection of a commonly used asthma drug is highly effective in treating teens and adults chronically afflicted with hives and severe, itchy rash. The drug, omalizumab, was tested on 323 people at 55 medical centers for whom standard antihistamine therapy failed to quell their underlying, allergy-like reaction, known as chronic idiopathic urticaria or chronic spontaneous urticaria.

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