damage

Deficient DNA Repair Capacity Associated With Increased Risk Of Breast Cancer

... DNA repair contributes to the accumulation of DNA damage and accelerates the genetic changes involved in carcinogenesis. To evaluate whether reduced DNA repair capacity in the nucleotide excision pathway that fixes DNA alterations known as bulky DNA adducts is associated with breast cancer risk, Regina M....

Spleen may be source of versatile stem cells

...en that are important for healing several types of damage orinjury," says Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, director of the MGHImmunobiology Laboratory and senior author of the SAGE KE report. "Ifso, these cells could have much broader therapeutic applications thansuggested by our earlier work."In 2001 Faustman's t...

Enzyme, lost in most mammals, is shown to protect against UV-induced skin cancer

...repair system to identify theprincipal type of DNA damage responsible for the onset of skin-tumordevelopment...skincancer. Ultraviolet light is a knownsource of damage to our DNA, but under normal conditions humans andother mammals are capable of removing UV-induced D...

Mouse brain cells rapidly recover after Alzheimer's plaques are cleared

...disappeared. "Theseswellings represent structural damage that seemed to be wellestablished and stable, but ...tzman and some other scientists hadregarded plaque damage to nerve cells as a fait accompli--somethingthat the plaques only needed to inflict on nerve cells o...

Genome of deadly amoeba shows surprising complexity, evidence of lateral gene transfer

...es the same methods to kill bacteria as it uses to damage human cells and cause disease, the level of certai...minated food or water. The disease can cause liver damage but more often causes dysentery, a severe diarrhea that is often associated with blood in the feces....

Key molecule in plant photo-protection identified

...disappeared. "Theseswellings represent structural damage that seemed to be wellestablished and stable, but ...tzman and some other scientists hadregarded plaque damage to nerve cells as a fait accompli--somethingthat the plaques only needed to inflict on nerve cells o...

Ecological destruction fuels emerging diseases

...rophe, warns a Canadian zoologist. This ecological damage also endangers human health by turning parasites into "evolutionary land mines." Dr. Daniel (Dan) Brooks, a parasitologist at the University of Toronto, says the decline of global biodiversity is linked to the emergence of new human and wildlife dis...

“Nano-scissors?laser shows precise surgical capability

...irming that theprecision of the laser’s cut didn’t damage surrounding tissue andallowed the neurons to grow a new axon to reach the muscle. Until now,researchers have only been able to investigate nerve regeneration inmice and zebrafish, which have complex nervous systems. This laserallows researchers to st...

U-M scientist to talk about tissue engineering at AAAS

...h of a human mouth as well as compensating for the damage of radiation. "It's not just a question of whether we can make new tissue in a perfect condition. Now we're mimicking what can really happen in a person, and we don't know if the rules of regeneration might be totally different," said Paul Krebsbach...

U of M researcher examines newly emerging deadly disease

...to widespread severe purpura with extensive tissue damage and sloughing of skin. Purpura are skin lesions that may be many centimeters in diameter caused by the leakage of blood into the skin. "It is important to alert medical professionals about the symptoms and treatments of this new deadly disease," sai...

Spider Venom Could Yield Eco-Friendly Insecticides

...even to increased dosages, while the environmental damage and human health risks associated with the chemicals have increased, according to King. "We have a very good reason to look for a safer, nontoxic, and more efficient pesticide. More than a billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed in the U.S. every y...

Plant hemoglobins: Oxygen handlers critical for nitrogen fixation

...ntrations in nodules at levels low enough to avoid damage of oxygen-sensitive nitrogenase, the bacterial enzyme complex responsible for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Thus, plant hemoglobins fulfill roles analogous to those of animal hemoglobins, as well as novel roles that are apparently unique to symbiotic ...

Taking Aim With Nanoparticle PEBBLEs

... to cancer cells is too unstable to wander off and damage healthy cells, so only targeted cells are affected. Including molecules that make PEBBLEs more visible in MRI images provides an added bonus, helping to show where tumors are located and how they respond to treatment. In recent experiments with a sm...

Probing The Promise And Perils Of Nanoparticles

...y investigating how certain kinds of nanoparticles damage cell membranes—enough to cause cell death in some cases—and how the damage can be prevented. "If you're inventing these sorts of materials, you need to be concerned about the...

Scientists identify genetic pathways essential to RNA interference

...destruction," says Kim. "And the connection to DNA damage pathways, which was totally unexpected, suggests a potential connection between RNAi and the control of cell division in cancer." The researchers note that better understanding the mechanisms underlying RNAi could help transform what has been a rese...

Gene Therapy For Parkinson's Disease Moves Forward In Animals

...ing small monkeys called marmosets prevented brain damage by producing therapeutic levels of a protein that helps nourish brain cells, said Ron Mandel, Ph.D., a scientist with the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute and Genetics Institute who was part of the research team. The protein, called ...

Researchers add new tool to tumor-treatment arsenal

...veness of treating tumors by combining agents that damage DNA with a drug that sensitizes cancer cells to th...d p53) responds by either killing the cell, if the damage is too severe, or allowing the cancer cell to repair the damaged DNA. If the DNA is repaired, cells ...

Why do insects stop 'breathing'? To avoid damage from too much oxygen, say researchers

...dically to keep out excess oxygen, thus preventing damage to their tissues. Timothy Bradley, professor of e...is excess internal oxygen that can cause oxidative damage -- the destruction of biomaterial due to excess oxygen -- to tissues. To protect their bodies, insec...

Research Gives Hope For Liver Damage

... and heart trouble, have made dramaticgains, liver damage - described as the new plague of the 21st century ...llexplore the role of these immune-system cells in damage and repair toother organs, including the kidney....

Bird Brains Show How Trial and Error May Contribute to Learning

...f solo song. Finally, they showed that birds with damage to that region of the brain lost their improvisational ability. In birds without a functioning LMAN, Kao and her colleagues still found differences between the two types of songs, but the solo song lost its subtle variations. "In a nutshell, our pap...

Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease moves forward in animals

...ing small monkeys called marmosets prevented brain damage by producing therapeutic levels of a protein that helps nourish brain cells, said Ron Mandel, Ph.D., a scientist with the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute and Genetics Institute who was part of the research team. The protein, called ...

Vascular structure and function improve with diet and exercise

...x. Left ventricular mass is a measure of end organ damage often following the onset of LVDF abnormalities. The brachial (arm) and carotid (neck) arteries were tested for intima-media thickness and arterial distensibility. Both reflect the health of the blood vessels. The thicker and less distensible (elast...

Antibiotic might fight HIV-induced neurological problems

...tive of HIV, and treated with minocycline had less damage to brain cells, less brain inflammation, and less ...fection seems to be controlled, it may still cause damage in the brain. And because people are living with HIV longer than ever, the prevalence of neurologica...

Protein offers way to stop microscopic parasites in their tracks

..., kills at least 1 million people per year through damage to red blood cells and clogging of the capillaries that feed the brain and other organs. Cryptosporidium, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms, is one of the most common causes of water-borne disease in the world. "These other parasite...

Artifical cornea lets woman blind 20 years see

...ar cornea wouldn't work because of the severity of damage to my corneas. But now my life is more like normal...at I want to read." While many people with cornea damage are eligible to become candidates for standard human cornea transplants, some cannot tolerate donor ...

Potential treatments for neurofibromatosis

...affected by the disease face possible paralysis or damage to the brain and other organs. The disease frustrates doctors because there's no effective treatment even though the responsible gene was identified more than a decade ago. Currently little can be done to treat a disease that affects more people tha...

Surprising findings reported about iron overload

...prevalent in the South, and sometimes causes organ damage when severe iron deposition occurs due to inadequate control of iron absorption by the small intestine. The first major report of findings in the five-year, 100,000-person study will be published tomorrow, April 28, in The New England Journal of Med...

PET/MRI scans may help unravel mechanisms of prenatal drug damage

...ckly provide clues to the underlying mechanisms of damage and suggest ways to test new treatment or prevention strategies," said Benveniste. The imaging tools could also be used to assess the effects of therapeutic drugs, such as administering synthetic narcotics to pregnant women following surgical proced...

Probing the promise and perils of nanoparticles

...y investigating how certain kinds of nanoparticles damage cell membranes---enough to cause cell death in some cases---and how the damage can be prevented. "If you're inventing these sorts of materials, you need to be concerned about the...

Single stem cells from bone heal a broken heart

Myocardial infarction results in irreversible damage to the heart that can cause congestive heart failure. The lasting damage results from the limited ability of the myocardium to regenerate and self-repair. Douglas Losordo an...

Newly discovered pathway might help in design of cancer drugs

... there is a way to efficiently create this type of damage by modifying the DNA itself." In the lab, Greenbe...elength light that selectively switches on the DNA damage process. He said that the synthetic DNA is very similar to that which is produced when cells are ex...

Buying Time Through Hibernation on Demand

...t for a host of human ills related to ischemia, or damage to living tissue from lack of oxygen," said Roth, ...number of amputations caused by irreparable tissue damage from wounds that won't heal. A wound to the skin allows the entry of oxygen, which initiates cell de...

U-M team recovers ancient whale in Egyptian desert

...t for a host of human ills related to ischemia, or damage to living tissue from lack of oxygen," said Roth, ...number of amputations caused by irreparable tissue damage from wounds that won't heal. A wound to the skin allows the entry of oxygen, which initiates cell de...

Researchers uncover sequence of major rice pathogen

...teins that are likely used as offensive weapons to damage rice plants; and redundant, or duplicate, mechanisms that protect the fungus from efforts to fight against it. "It's a clever system," Dean says. "If you have important genes, you tend to have a lot of them." The paper also reports that the M. gris...

Harmful chemicals may reprogram gene response to estrogen

...posure to harmful agents in the environment caused damage to the gene. This study, however, indicates that an environmental agent can actually change or reprogram the gene so that it functions differently. "This study is telling us that an environmental reprogramming of a normal response, combined with an ...

Scientists identify genetic pathways essential to RNA interference

...destruction," says Kim. "And the connection to DNA damage pathways, which was totally unexpected, suggests a potential connection between RNAi and the control of cell division in cancer." The researchers note that better understanding the mechanisms underlying RNAi could help transform what has been a rese...

Protein That Promotes Survival Of Stem Cells Might Be Key To Poor Leukemia Prognosis

...leukemia cells resistant to treatments designed to damage the cell so it undergoes apoptosis." Opferman is continuing his studies of Mcl-1 at St. Jude to better understand the role this protein plays in both normal hematopoiesis (production of blood cells) as well as in potentially fatal blood cancers. Opf...

Yeast Network Prevents Damage By Oxygen Radicals

...seases associated with genetic deficiencies of DNA damage responses." ...

Mystery Blood Vessel Disorder Implicated In 'Mini' Strokes

...ficant cause of lacunar or "mini" strokes that can damage small areas of the brain. Depending on which area of the brain is affected, the strokes can impair functions such as movement, physical control of speech, or coordination. Multiple lacunar strokes can also cause cognitive and memory deficits that re...

Technique may allow cancer patients to freeze eggs, preserving fertility before starting treatment

... large. When the egg is thawed, ice crystals cause damage that prevents the egg from being fertilized. U-M ...ch as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause damage to a woman's reproductive system and leave her unable to have children afterward. Some women may reg...

New understanding of DNA repair may pave way to cancer treatments

...s cycle to allow repair of damaged DNA before such damage becomes permanent." Ronai and his colleagues are ...ce between its role in gene regulation and the DNA damage response. We need to find out which of the two functions is more dominant under these circumstances ...

First technology to remove prions that cause vCJD from blood launched

...r does not rely on chemical additives, which could damage or compromise the therapeutic value of a blood transfusion such as the oxygen carrying properties of red cells. A filtration approach also avoids the ethical issues associated with diagnostic testing, such as alerting a blood donor that he or she has...

Grasping metaphors: UC San Diego research ties brain area to figures of speech

... colleagues tested four right-handed patients with damage to the left angular gyrus. Fluent in English and o...of sensory information into another ?patients with damage to the angular gyrus performed at the level of chance. Three age-matched control subjects, on the o...

Cooperation is key—a new way of looking at MicroRNA and how it controls gene expression

...ely tuned so that these proteins do not cause more damage to the body than the bacterial infection they were produced to defeat. Excessive inflammation can lead to organ failure and death, and this is exactly what happens when people are stricken with septic shock. Likewise, the loss of control of genetic e...

NYU and MSKCC research provides model for understanding chemically induced cancer initiation

...rimary components of cigarette smoke, are known to damage DNA. This damage occurs at special positions of the p53 gene, called mutation hot spots, which have been previously l...

Protein prevents detrimental immune effects of bacterial sepsis

... clear the pathogen and its toxins actually causes damage to the host's own tissues when it goes into overdr...e response must be carefully controlled to prevent damage to the host. Damazo et al. studied this balancing act by analyzing the effects of the bacterial tox...

Taking the piste out of Alpine vegetation

...fected. Machine grading of ski slopes caused most damage to vegetation, with machine-graded slopes having f...an ungraded pistes. And, say the researchers, this damage is long lasting. They found pistes that had been machine graded as long as 30 years ago and re-sown ...

Could microbes solve Russia's chemical weapons conundrum?

... it can cause severe burns to the skin, and severe damage to the respiratory system and internal organs if ingested or inhaled. It accounts for around 2 percent of Russia's CWA stockpile. Around 60 percent of the mustard RM consists of derivatives of a toxic compound called 1,4-perhydrothiazine (PHT). Erm...

Findings have implications for tracking disease, drugs at the molecular level

... is at a wavelength range that causes only minimal damage to most biological tissue. The findings will be published in the June issue of Nano Letters. ...

Brain May Be Less Plastic Than Hoped

...n that adult brains could compensate for permanent damage to the eyes, ears, skin, or even to itself. In the case of damage to the retina, Smirnakis said, “the predominant-but by no means universal-view was that significant ...

Unchecked DNA replication drives earliest steps toward cancer

...m." Fortunately, cells have an effective on-board damage control system, managed by the p53 gene. A protein...o prevent cancers from developing. When it suffers damage itself, cancers commonly result, explaining why p53 mutations are so frequently seen in so many diff...

Breakthrough isolating embryo-quality stem cells from blood

... medicine, which could repair apparently permanent damage such as heart disease or Parkinson's. The cells are currently taken from aborted human foetuses, an issue which has led to controversy and opposition in many parts of the world. Any alternative source, such as voluntary adult donations, could spark a...

To Stop Evolution: New Way Of Fighting Antibiotic Resistance Demonstrated By Scripps Scientists

...rtheless, all organisms are prone to some level of damage because no replication machinery is perfect, and w...l mechanism. If the cell senses damage, and if the damage persists beyond its ability to repair it, the cell will turn on its mutation machinery and open the ...

Newly Discovered 'Branding' Process Helps Immune System Cells Pick Their Fights

...e in atherosclerosis. Scientists suspect oxidative damage in the blood vessel walls may lead to immune reactivity that contributes to narrowing and stiffening of blood vessels. ### Herzog J, Maekawa Y, Cirrito TP, Illian BS, Unanue ER. Activated antigen-presenting cells select and present chemically modif...

Researchers find gene that may be at root of potato blight

... gene still causes massive amounts of agricultural damage throughout the modern world?on the order of billions of dollars each year. The scientists describe the gene, called Avr3a, in a study that appears online in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers call ...

Alarm pheromone causes aphids to sprout wings

...y to avoid manipulation by plants. Thus, to reduce damage caused by aphids, the major insect pests in Europe, it may prove effective to apply pulses of alarm pheromone to infested fields. ...

Fox Chase study shows that weakened T-cell receptor signals change T-cell lineage

...ing agents, including bacterial infections, tissue damage and stress," Wiest said. "Laboratory mice unable to make delta-gamma T cells heal skin injuries more slowly. "Immune surveillance, the body mechanism that detects potential cancers and destroys them before their presence is evident to us, may be one...

NHGRI targets 12 more organisms for genome sequencing

...ich causes hundreds of millions of dollars of crop damage each year. The pea aphid is a model for studying rapid adaptation because this species is exceptionally able at adapting to and resisting many pesticides. Understanding this resistance at a molecular level can lead to safer and more effective pestici...

Owl genomics presents a HEPATOCHIP for diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

...tologically by fatty acid accumulation, hepatocyte damage and inflammation resembling alcoholic hepatitis. NASH is a critical stage in the process that spans from hepatic steatosis to cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. NASH is one of the most common causes of elevated aminotransfereases in patients referred for...

Young Blood Revives Aging Muscles, Stanford Researchers Find

... to share a blood supply. They then induced muscle damage only in the older mice. Bathed in the presence of younger blood, the old muscles healed normally. In contrast, when old mice were connected to other old mice they healed slowly. In similar work, the group examined the livers of older mice connected ...