Improving research with more effective antibodies
A new study points to the need for better antibody validation, and outlines a process that other labs can use to make sure the antibodies they work with function properly.
Read moreDiseases and Conditions
Acceptance and commitment therapy may ease fear of recurrence in cancer survivors
Researchers report that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) shows significant promise for treating fear of cancer recurrence in women who have survived breast cancer. Fear that cancer may come back or progress is especially common in breast cancer survivors, with up to 70% reporting that the fear affects their daily life.
Read moreInactive receptor renders cancer immunotherapies ineffective
The aim of immunotherapies is to enable the immune system once again to fight cancer on its own. Drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors are already in clinical use for this purpose. However, they are only effective in about one third of patients. Based on analysis of human tissue samples, a team has now discovered one reason why this is so: an inactive receptor in cancer cells prevents the drugs from reactivating the immune system.
Read moreGene mutation in the chloride channel triggers rare high blood pressure syndrome
When the adrenal gland produces too much aldosterone, this often leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage (hyperaldosteronism). It has only recently emerged that several patients harbor a mutation in the gene for the ClC-2 chloride channel. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how the altered channels cause the disease.
Read moreFrontotemporal dementia is associated with alterations in immune system function
Recent research has revealed increased inflammatory activity in a subgroup of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Increased inflammation was associated with parkinsonism symptoms and more rapid disease progression. In addition, the results showed that cancer is rare in FTD, whereas some autoimmune diseases may be more common among FTD patients. These findings may indicate an overactive immune system in FTD.
Read moreCell family trees tracked to discover their role in tissue scarring and liver disease
Researchers have discovered that a key cell type involved in liver injury and cancer consists of two cellular families with different origins and functions.
Read moreStudy 'cures' oldest case of deafness in human evolution
An international team of researchers has published a new study examining a 430,000-year-old cranium of a human ancestor that was previously described as deaf, representing the oldest case of deafness in human prehistory.
Read moreMachine learning tool refines personalized immunotherapy
Scientists have developed a new and more accurate method to identify the molecular signs of cancer likely to be presented to helper T cells, which stimulate and orchestrate the immune response to tumors and infectious agents.
Read moreWomen get half the number of heart attack treatments as men
Women receive poorer heart attack treatment than men, even when rates of diagnosis are the same, according to new research.
Read moreDNA fracturing rewires gene control in cancer
A multi-institutional team has brought attention to genomic structural variation as a previously unappreciated mechanism involved in altering DNA methylation, a form of gene control, in human cancers.
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