Category Health/Medical

Raymond C. Harris, M.D., left, Ming-Zhi Zhang, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues are investigating why COX-2 inhibitors cause heart problems in some patients. Credit: Photo by John Russell

It’s been about a decade since the promise of COX-2 inhibitors – drugs that relieve arthritis pain and inflammation without the gastrointestinal side effects of other painkillers – was tempered by the realization that they could cause heart problems in some patients. Now a team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientists are closer to understanding why. They have found that production of prostaglandins by macrophages may play a role, especially in the kidney and the skin. Their findings could lead to development of a new, better-targeted class of drugs that relieve pain without causing vascular effects.

Highlights • The first crystal structure of the UP1 domain of hnRNP A1 bound to RNA is determined. • The UP1–RNA structure reveals that only the RRM1 sub-domain and inter-RRM linker of UP1 interact with the RNA via a nucleobase pocket; RRM2 does not contact the RNA. • A structural model scored by small-angle X-ray scattering reveals UP1 binds the HIV ESS3 stem loop as a 1:1 complex using its RRM1 domain and inter-RRM linker only. • Structure-guided mutagenesis and molecular dynamics simulations show the RRM1 and RRM2 sub-domains synergize to fold the inter-RRM linker in a conformation that determines specific and high-affinity RNA interactions.

Researchers have produced the first image of an important human protein as it binds with ribonucleic acid (RNA), a discovery that could o...

If you have a well for your drinking water, you might consider testing it for arsenic (regularly). Included as one of the many contaminants that are typically part of a ‘standard’ well water test, arsenic is something that you really want to know about – especially since you ‘might’ be slowly poisoning yourself without even knowing it…

More than 140 million people worldwide and 4 million Americans chronically ingest arsenic in their drinking water. The 21st most abundant metal in Earth’s crust, arsenic is naturally present in soil and bedrock-walled wells and has no odor, color or taste...

David Bello, M.D., listens to the heart of a patient at Orlando Health using a new device called HeartBuds, a smartphone and an app. Credit: Orlando Health

“They not only detect sounds inside the body just as well – or better – than traditional stethoscopes, but they are more sanitary,” said David Bello, MD, developer of HeartBuds. “And because they incorporate smartphone technology, we can now record, store and share those sounds as well. This could change the way we approach patient exams in the future.”

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by French physician René Laennec, and has essentially been unchanged since. But on the eve of its 200th anniversary, the emergence of this new technology could mark the beginning of the end for this medical mainstay.

With HeartBuds, doctors use a sma...