Curated News: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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Supported by a new $3.14 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to Cleveland Clinic, researchers are using an emerging technology known as “digital twins” to better understand healthcare disparities based on where someone lives. Researchers from Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth aim to use this information to develop strategies designed to reduce these disparities in health outcomes.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered the first molecular biomarker for acquired generalized lipodystrophy (AGL), a rare disorder in which fat deposits are destroyed, causing patients to have dangerously low body fat, signs of accelerated aging, and severe metabolic diseases including diabetes and fatty liver.

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Reporting in the PNAS, UNC School of Medicine researchers made the stunning discovery that telomeres contain genetic information to produce two small proteins, one of which they found is elevated in some human cancer cells, as well as cells from patients suffering from telomere-related defects.

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FASEB and NIH select inaugural winners of the DataWorks! Prize, showcasing research teams' exemplary data sharing and reuse projects.

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In a bid to understand why mosquitoes may be more attracted to one human than another, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have mapped specialized receptors on the insects’ nerve cells that are able to fine-tune their ability to detect particularly “welcoming” odors in human skin.

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Analyzing the most extensive datasets in the U.S., researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have revealed that vaccination against COVID-19 is associated with fewer heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular issues among people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The research letter, “Impact of Vaccination on Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with COVID-19 Infection,” was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on February 20. The research will also be presented on March 5, 2023 in a poster session in New Orleans, LA, at the American College of Cardiology’s 72nd Annual Scientific Session Together With World Heart Federation’s World Congress of Cardiology.

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Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells.

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Cannabidiol or CBD, a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, inhibits the metabolism of nicotine, new research has found, meaning it could help tobacco users curb the urge for that next cigarette.

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UVA Health neuroscientists have discovered a potential way to disrupt the chronic inflammation responsible for multiple sclerosis.

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UC San Diego researchers report that a late-stage, pre-clinical small molecule inhibitor reverses malignant hyper-editing by a protein that promotes silencing of the immune response, metastasis and therapeutic resistance in 20 different cancer types.

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Two federal grants are supporting efforts at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to develop novel therapies for this aggressive childhood brain tumor. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have received a nearly $1 million K08 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—as well as funding from the U.S. Department of Defense—to support studies into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a childhood brain tumor with a 0% survival rate.

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The researchers looked at a ubiquitin ligase enzyme named FBXL2, known to degrade proteins at various cellular membrane compartments. They found that by attaching or detaching a fat molecule or lipid to FBXL2 — a process called palmitoylation and de-palmitoylation — they could direct where the FBXL2 went. They also discovered that in order to travel in the aqueous cellular environment for the delivery of lipid-modified FBXL2 to membrane compartments, it used a trafficking protein called PDE6D, which is known to shield the lipid modifications.

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Society’s growing demand for high-voltage electrical technologies—including pulsed power systems, cars and electrified aircraft, and renewable energy applications—requires a new generation of capacitors that store and deliver large amounts of energy under intense thermal and electrical conditions. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Scripps Research have now developed a new polymer-based device that efficiently handles record amounts of energy while withstanding extreme temperatures and electric fields.

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Researchers discover a mechanism used by neurons to repair damage that occurs during neuronal activity

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The National Institutes of Health has awarded $3.8 million to Texas Biomedical Research Institute to further develop a promising HIV vaccine candidate that stops the virus upon entry, before it begins rapidly spreading throughout the body.

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At least 830 men, women and children were coercively sterilized in Utah, approximately 54 of whom may still be alive. They were victims of a sterilization program that lasted for fifty years in the state and targeted people confined to state institutions. Many were teenagers or younger when operated upon; at least one child was under the age of ten.

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Interdisciplinary research highlighted lipid-protein interaction as a new avenue for oncology drug development, demonstrating its functionality by designing small molecule-based inhibitors to target acute myeloid leukemia.

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Neighborhood redevelopment, which transforms low-income neighborhoods through rezoning, new construction and renovation, can lead to health benefits, such as greater access to fresh produce, improved housing, and more green spaces. But these advantages may not extend to all area residents. More information is needed about the impact of redevelopment, also known as urban renewal, on health, particularly if it contributes to inequities among middle-aged and older adults.

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Los investigadores de Mayo Clinic hicieron una revisión de los atletas que se trataron en Mayo durante un período de 20 años, y los hallazgos publicados en Mayo Clinic Proceedings sugieren que después de que la afección del paciente se haya evaluado y tratado de manera adecuada, es factible que los atletas puedan volver a sus actividades de forma segura.

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Atletas com doença cardíaca genética frequentemente são considerados inaptos a participar de esportes competitivos devido ao risco de parada cardíaca súbita. Embora a intenção dos médicos seja compreensível, será que essa é necessariamente a melhor abordagem?

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Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the top 10 global public health threats according to the World Health Organization, and scientists have been scrambling to find new tools to cure the most deadly drug-resistant infections.

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A fungus that plagues rice crops worldwide gains entry to plant cells in a way that leaves it vulnerable to simple chemical blockers, a discovery that could lead to new fungicides to reduce the substantial annual losses of rice and other valuable cereals.

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UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have mapped gene control elements in specialized cardiac cells responsible for coordinating heartbeats. The findings of the genome exploration study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, provide insight into how heartbeats are regulated and could impact diagnosis and risk prediction for a variety of common arrhythmias.

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Contrary to some common claims, a study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that relatively high doses of cannabidiol (CBD) may increase the adverse effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient in cannabis that can cause a mood alteration or a “high” sensation. The findings show that in edible cannabis products, CBD inhibits the metabolism, or breakdown, of THC, which may result in stronger and longer drug effects.

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A study in mice, led by Tufts University School of Medicine scientists, found chronic stress reduced an animal’s abilities to produce and respond to neurosteroids, specifically allopregnanolone.

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Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital solved the 3D structure of a protein in cilia, an organelle important to many diseases at nearly ten times the resolution of previous efforts.

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Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified CD70 as being highly expressed on drug-resistant cancer cells in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), highlighting a novel therapeutic target that could be used to eliminate resistant cells remaining after treatment with commonly used EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The study published today in Cancer Cell.

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Computer software developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis can predict what happens to complex gene networks when individual genes are missing or dialed up more than usual. Mapping the roles of single genes in these networks is key to understanding healthy development and finding ways to regrow damaged cells and tissues. Likewise, understanding genetic errors could provide insight into birth defects, miscarriage or even cancer.

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Marc J. Philippon, MD, FAAOS, was honored with the 2023 Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) Clinical Research Award, which recognizes outstanding clinical research related to musculoskeletal disease or injury.

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Analysis reveals similar changes in the brain’s functioning in both humans and mouse models

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers find increased risk of mortality in childhood cancer survivors is associated independently with local poverty, chronic conditions and frailty.

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Smoking tobacco and vaping electronic cigarettes may increase healthy young people’s risk for developing severe COVID illness.

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When it comes to DNA, one pesky mosquito turns out to be a rebel among species.

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University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered a key trigger for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a mysterious condition that causes fat to build up in the liver for no clear reason.

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Thinking beyond COVID-19, a team led by Srikanth Singamaneni at the McKelvey School of Engineering developed a new point-of-care diagnostic test that is 1,000 times more sensitive than conventional rapid tests and can quantify concentrations of proteins.

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In a new study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal for the first time how one IAP, a protein called BIRC6, operates at a molecular level to inhibit programmed cell death.

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MicroRNA (miRNA) molecules in pancreatic islets have been thought to play important roles in type 2 diabetes, but until now scientists have not confidently identified which miRNAs are associated with the disease in humans.

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Researchers have developed an inhalable powder that could protect lungs and airways from viral invasion by reinforcing the body’s own mucosal layer.

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Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) along with traditional pathology offers promise for swiftly developing treatment plans for patients with non-small cell lung cancers, a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers discovered.

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UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers are part of a large-scale research study to test a new drug therapy to treat pancreatic cancer.

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In a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists have demonstrated that the connection between dopamine and counterfactual information, which is related to the psychological notions of regret and relief, appears altered by alcohol use disorder.

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While early treatment of diabetes-related eye disease slowed progression to severe disease, it did not improve visual acuity compared with treating more severe disease once it developed, according to a clinical study from the DRCR Retina Network.

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While early treatment of diabetes-related eye disease slowed progression to severe disease, it did not improve visual acuity compared with treating more severe disease once it developed, according to a clinical study from the DRCR Retina Network.