Tag: "ucla" at biology news

UCLA Study Shows One-Third of Drug Ads in Medical Journals Do Not Contain References Supporting Medical Claims

UCLA investigators reviewed pharmaceutical ads in American medical journals and found that nearly one-third contained no references for medical claims; while the majority of references to published material was available, only a minority of company data-on-file documents were provided upon request; and the majority of original research cited in the ads was funded by or had authors affiliated with...

UCLA scientists transform HIV into cancer-seeking missile

Camouflaging an impotent AIDS virus in new clothes enables it to hunt down metastasized melanoma cells in living mice, reports a UCLA AIDS Institute study in the Feb. 13 online edition of Nature Medicine. The scientists added the protein that makes fireflies glow to the virus in order to track its journey from the bloodstream to new tumors in the animals' lungs. .. "For the past 20 years, gene th...

UCLA launches $20 million stem cell institute to investigate HIV, cancer and neurological disorders

Experts in bioengineering, imaging, molecular genetics, immunology, ethics, hematology/oncology and cellular biology to collaborate on Proposition 71 research .. . "As one of the world's leading research universities, UCLA has long been engaged in adult and embryonic stem ce...

UCLA scientists store materials in cells natural vaults

In the realm of nanotechnology, or study of the tiny, scientists often aim to safely deliver and leave material in the human body without causing harm. A big challenge is how to design a package for this biomaterial that will be compatible with living cells and will not provoke an immune reaction. Previous efforts have relied upon viruses or artificial chemicals to house and deliver drugs or othe...

UCLA study assesses cost-effectiveness of Hepatitis B drugs

Researchers at UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System conducted the largest and most comprehensive study in comparing the cost-effectiveness of current modern drugs for treating hepatitis B -- a disease affecting 350 million worldwide. .. .<...

UCLA cancer researchers shake loose hidden biomarker

Using a common chemotherapy agent, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine found a way to move an important biomarker expressed in prostate cancer, shaking it loose from one location in a cell ?where it could not be accessed by blood ?to another, easier to target area. .. The discovery, outlined in the cover article of May 11 edition of...

Caloric restriction won't dramatically extend life span in humans: UCLA research

Severely restricting calories over decades may add a few years to a human life span, but will not enable humans to live to 125 and beyond, as many have speculated, evolutionary biologists report. . "Our message is that suffering years of misery to remain super-skinny is not going to have a big payoff in terms of a longer life," said UCLA evolutionary biologist John Phelan. "I once heard someone s...

UCLA scientists strengthen case for life more than 3.8 billion years ago

Ten years ago, an international team of scientists reported evidence, in a controversial cover story in the journal Nature, that life on Earth began more than 3.8 billion years ago--400 million years earlier than previously thought. A UCLA professor who was not part of that team and two of the original authors will report in late July that the evidence is stronger than ever. . Craig E. Manning,...

UCLA researchers identify key enzyme linked to childhood blindness

In findings that could lead to curing some forms of congenital blindness through gene therapy, researchers at UCLA have discovered that RPE65, a gene missing in infants born with the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis, is also a key enzyme in the visual cycle. The identity of this enzyme has long been a mystery to scientists. . .. "We were amazed when we discovered the function for Rpe65...

UCLA scientists reveal how Nipah virus infects cells

UCLA scientists have discovered how the deadly Nipah virus infiltrates human cells to cause encephalitis. Designated as a potential bioterrorism agent by the National Biodefense Research Agenda, the virus exploits a protein essential to embryonic development to enter cells and launch its attack. The online edition of Nature reports the findings July 6. . "In its natural state, the Nipah virus can...

UCLA discovery will aid in treatment of patients with a deadly brain cancer

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer have identified key characteristics in certain deadly brain tumors that make them 51 times more likely to respond to a specific class of drugs than tumors in which the molecular signature is absent. . The discovery of the telltale molecular signature ?the expression of a mutant protein and the presence of a tumor suppressor protein called PTEN ?will allow rese...

UCLA scientists discover immune response to HIV differs, even in identical twins

In findings illustrating the difficulty of developing an AIDS vaccine, UCLA AIDS Institute researchers report the immune systems in two HIV-positive identical twins responded to the infection in different ways. . .. The researchers followed the cases of male twins who were infected shortly after their 1983 births in Los Angeles by blood transfusions admi...

UCLA imaging study of children with autism finds broken mirror neuron system

New imaging research at UCLA detailed Dec. 4 as an advance online publication of the journal Nature Neuroscience shows children with autism have virtually no activity in a key part of the brain's mirror neuron system while imitating and observing emotions. . .. Symptoms of autis...

UCLA scientists find male gene in brain area targeted by Parkinson's

UCLA scientists have discovered that a sex gene responsible for making embryos male and forming the testes is also produced by the brain region targeted by Parkinson's disease. Published in the Feb. 21 edition of Current Biology, the new research may explain why more men than women develop the degenerative disorder, which afflicts roughly 1 million Americans. . "Men are 1.5 times more likely to...

UCLA scientists uncover mechanism of response to targeted therapy

UCLA researchers knew - based on two clinical trials - that a subset of kidney cancer patients responded well to an experimental targeted therapy, but they didn't know why. If they could determine the mechanism behind the response, they would be able to predict which patients would respond and personalize their treatment accordingly. . Extrapolating from the clinical responses, Jonsson Cancer Cen...

UCLA paper examines how one disease may prevent another

The knowledge that one disease may prevent the onset of another is not new. For example, the discovery that cowpox vaccines can prevent smallpox dates back to 1798. . .. .. "Clinical observations of disease-versus-disease interactions have led t...

UCLA study of community health project shows how group dynamics affect fitness, eating habits

Imagine break-room vending machines featuring fruit juice and vegetables instead of cookies and soda pop. Consider colleagues who insist on mid-morning group exercise breaks and applaud a lunchtime workout rather than criticizing the cut of the sweat suit. Ponder an organizational culture that encourages walking the stairs instead of riding the elevator. . A UCLA-evaluated study of a demonstrati...

UCLA study finds same genes act differently in males and females

UCLA researchers report that thousands of genes behave differently in the same organs of males and females ?something never detected to this degree. Published in the August issue of Genome Research, the study sheds light on why the same disease often strikes males and females differently, and why the genders may respond differently to the same drug. . "We previously had no good understanding of...

UCLA researchers develop T-cells from human embryonic stem cells

Researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine have demonstrated for the first time that human embryonic stem cells can be genetically manipulated and coaxed to develop into mature T-cells, raising hopes for a gene therapy to combat AIDS. . The study, to be published the week of July 3 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy...

UCLA researchers unravel a mystery about DNA

UCLA researchers in collaboration with researchers at Rutgers University have solved longstanding mysteries surrounding DNA transcription, the first step in carrying out instructions contained in our genes. The breakthrough described in an article in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Science reveals important structural information about the gyrations of DNA during transcription and the effects of...

UCLA: How does your brain respond when you think about gambling or taking risks?

Should you leave your comfortable job for one that pays better but is less secure? Should you have a surgery that is likely to extend your life but poses some risk that you will not survive the operation? Should you invest in a risky startup company whose stock may soar even though you could lose your entire investment? In the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Science, UCLA psychologists present the f...

UCLA scientists design masks to hide genetic mutations from cell

. The laboratory findings suggest a powerful new approa...

UCLA/Toronto researchers unlock key to memory storage in brain

Scientists know little about how the brain assigns cells to participate in encoding and storing memories. Now a UCLA/University of Toronto team has discovered that a protein called CREB controls the odds of a neuron playing a role in memory formation. The April 20 edition of Science reports the findings, which suggest a new approach for preserving memory in people suffering from Alzheimer's or...

Lithium builds gray matter in bipolar brains, UCLA study shows

Neuroscientists at UCLA have shown that lithium, long the standard treatment for bipolar disorder, increases the amount of gray matter in the brains of patients with the illness. . .. Carrie Bearden, a clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at UCLA, and Paul Thompson, associate professor of neurology at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, used a novel method of three-...

UCLA study uncovers clues for why Graves' disease attacks the eyes

UCLA researchers have uncovered new clues that may explain why Graves?disease (GD) attacks the muscle tissue behind the eyes, often causing them to bulge painfully from their sockets, as in the late actor Marty Feldman. . .. Ear...

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers find a peptide that encourages HIV infection

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have discovered that when a crucial portion of a peptide structure in monkeys that defends against viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders is reversed, the peptide actually encourages infection with HIV. . .. "Although it may seem counterintuitive to value or even study a peptide that increases the ability of HIV-1 to enter a broad range of human cells...

US control strategies may make flu epidemics worse, UCLA study shows

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die. . .. In a report to be published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS Computational...