Category Health/Medical

The normal functioning of our hearts is maintained by our body’s control center—the brain—via an intricate network of nerves. When this communication is disrupted, it results in heart disease, including heart attacks, sudden cardiac death and problems in blood supply. As an added layer of safety, the heart has its own ‘little brain’, called the intracardiac nervous system (ICN) to monitor and correct any local disturbances in communication. The ICN is essential in supporting heart health and can even protect cardiac muscle during a heart attack...

In a new study, researchers have discovered how the protein PP2A can inhibit tumor growth in mice. The protein turns off an enzyme that stimulates cell growth, thus inhibiting the development of cancer.

Proteins are found throughout our cells and regulate a lot of biological processes that are important forour survival. But some of them also regulate processes that can make us sick. Now, an international research team, with researchers from the University of Copenhagen at the forefront, has achieved a much better understanding of one such protein.

In a new study, the researchers discovered how the protei...

Simpler test that can be done in doctor’s office offers results in 30 minutes. An improved urine-testing system for people suffering from kidney stones inspired by nature and proposed by researchers from Penn State and Stanford University may enable patients to receive results within 30 minutes instead of the current turnaround time of a week or more.

Kidney stones occur due to buildup of certain salts and minerals that form crystals, which in turn stick together and enlarge to form a hard mass in the kidneys...

Scientists from the Antibody and Vaccine group at the University of Southampton have discovered a way to transform antibody drugs previously developed to treat autoimmunity into antibodies with powerful anti-cancer activity through a simple molecular “switch.”

This work, published in the journal Cancer Cell, focuses on a molecule called CD40 which is present on the surface of immune cells and controls both autoimmunity and cancer. In autoimmunity, CD40 is thought to be over-stimulated, increasing the chance of the immune system attacking healthy tissues; whereas in cancer, CD40 is believed to be under-stimulated, enabling tumour cells to evade the immune system. Targeting of CD40 with antibody drugs is ongoing in therapeutic interventions for both diseases.

Accordingly, antibody...