Category Health/Medical

A multi-institution study led by Rohan Dharmakumar, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, has identified that iron drives the formation of fatty tissue in the heart and leads to chronic heart failure in about fifty percent of heart attack survivors. The discovery, recently published in Nature Communications, paves the way for treatments that have the potential to prevent heart failure in nearly half a million people a year in the United States, and many millions more worldwide.

“For the first time, we have identified a root cause of chronic heart failure following a heart attack,” Dharmakumar said.

Dharmakumar is executive director of IU’s Krannert Cardiovascular Researc...

The molecules, called SGDGs, may lead to new ways to treat age-related neurological diseases. Aging involves complicated plot twists and a large cast of characters: inflammation, stress, metabolism changes, and many others. Now, a team of Salk Institute and UC San Diego scientists reveal another factor implicated in the aging process — a class of lipids called SGDGs (3-sulfogalactosyl diacylglycerols) that decline in the brain with age and may have anti-inflammatory effects.

The research, published in Nature Chemical Biology on...

The mTOR protein plays a central role in cell growth, proliferation and survival. Its activity varies according to the availability of nutrients and some growth factors, including hormones. This protein is implicated in several diseases, including cancer, where its activity frequently increases...

Researchers at ETH Zurich are planning to use magnetic bacteria to fight cancerous tumours. They have now found a way for these microorganisms to effectively cross blood vessel walls and subsequently colonise a tumour.

Scientists around the world are researching how anti-cancer drugs can most efficiently reach the tumours they target. One possibility is to use modified bacteria as “ferries” to carry the drugs through the bloodstream to the tumours. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now succeeded in controlling certain bacteria so that they can effectively cross the blood vessel wall and infiltrate tumour tissue.

L...