Toxins Released By Bacterial Infections And Venom Removed By Nanosponges
4/15/2013
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have invented a "nanosponge" capable of safely removing a broad class of dangerous toxins from the bloodstream - including toxins produced by MRSA, E. coli, poisonous snakes and bees. These nanosponges, which thus far have been studied in mice, can neutralize "pore-forming toxins," which destroy cells by poking holes in their cell membranes...
Microwave Ablation Shows Promise For Relief Of Painful Bone And Soft-Tissue Tumors
4/15/2013
First-of-its-kind research showed microwave ablation (MWA) therapy cut pain in half for patients with painful bone and soft-tissue tumors and took less time to complete than radiofrequency ablation. Pain relief lasted over 4 months on average and up to 15 months in some patients, according to results reported at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine...
The Effects Of Opioids On Patients With Sickle Cell Disease
4/15/2013
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) sought to shed light on the biopsychosocial and spiritual effects of taking prescribed opioids to treat noncancer pain...
Deadly Skin Cancer Treated With Naturally-Occurring Substance In Laboratory
4/15/2013
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated the mechanism of action of gossypin, a naturally-occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, as a treatment for melanoma, which causes the majority of deaths from skin cancer...
The Continuing Challenges In Changing Behaviors That Increase Cancer Risk
4/15/2013
An annual report from the American Cancer Society finds continuing challenges in changing behaviors and risk factors in order to reduce suffering and death from cancer...
Molecular 'Superglue' Based On Flesh-Eating Bacteria
4/15/2013
In a classic case of turning an enemy into a friend, scientists have engineered a protein from flesh-eating bacteria to act as a molecular "superglue" that promises to become a disease fighter...
Rx Target Found For HPV, Hep C And Related Cancers
4/15/2013
New discoveries by a team of scientists at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans for the first time reveal the inner workings of a master regulator that controls functions as diverse as the ability of nerve cells to "rewire" themselves in response to external stimuli and the mechanism by which certain viruses hijack normal cellular processes to facilitate their replication tha...
Certain Types Of Papilloma Virus Might Actually Prevent Cervical Cancer: New Study
4/14/2013
There are over 100 different types of human papilloma virus (HPV). Cervical cancer is known to be caused by infection with approximately 14 so-called "high-risk" types of this virus. Researchers from Manchester looked at the different types of HPV found in cervical smears and invasive cervical cancers from HIV positive and HIV negative women in Kenya...
Researchers Engineer 'Protein Switch' To Dissect Role Of Cancer's Key Players
4/14/2013
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have "rationally rewired" some of the cell's smallest components to create proteins that can be switched on or off by command. These "protein switches" can be used to interrogate the inner workings of each cell, helping scientists uncover the molecular mechanisms of human health and disease...
Blood Stem Cells Have A Surprising Ability In Response To Emergencies
4/14/2013
A research team of Inserm, CNRS and MDC lead by Michael Sieweke of the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille Luminy (CNRS, INSERM, Aix Marseille Universite) and Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, has revealed an unexpected role for hematopoietic stem cells: they do not merely ensure the continuous renewal of our blood cells; in emergencies they are capable of ...