Curated News: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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This study provides a mechanism for rapidly identifying the protein kinase that is driving the abnormal behavior of individual cancers.

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In a new study, researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center uncovered a gene that is overexpressed in mutated IDH1. Studies in human cells and a novel mouse model both show that this gene, called ZMYND8, plays a critical role in the radiation resistance. When they knocked down the gene, the glioma cells became responsive to radiation treatment.

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Adjuvants are added to vaccines to improve protection, extend the duration of protection and reduce the dose or number of boosters required.

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An international consortium co-led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center immunogeneticist Rubén Martínez-Barricarte, PhD, has discovered a new genetic disorder that causes immunodeficiency and profound susceptibility to opportunistic infections including a life-threatening fungal pneumonia. The discovery, reported Jan. 20 in the journal Science Immunology, will help identify people who carry this in-born error of immunity (IEI).

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A new study reveals adults who suffered any head injury during a 30-year study period had two times the rate of mortality than those who did not have any head injury, and mortality rates among those with moderate or severe head injuries were nearly three times higher.

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Scientists working in connectomics are creating comprehensive maps of how neurons connect to one another

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Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital captured the 3D structure of SPOP, revealing how mutations in previously unappreciated regions fuel cancer.

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Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has launched the first clinical trial for Down syndrome regression disorder (DSRD), a rare and debilitating condition that affects adolescents and young adults with Down

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Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a new computational tool that can more accurately discover and quantify RNA molecules from these error-prone long-read RNA sequencing data. The tool, called ESPRESSO (Error Statistics PRomoted Evaluator of Splice Site Options), was reported today in Science Advances.

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Editing a gene that prompts a cascade of damage after a heart attack appeared to reverse this inevitable course in mice, leaving their hearts remarkably unharmed, a new study by UT Southwestern scientists showed. The findings, published in Science, could lead to a new strategy for protecting patients from the consequences of heart disease.

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A new study has found high frequency propagating activity patterns in the motor cortex that contain details of upcoming movement — information that could lead to the development of better brain-machine interfaces.

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A new clinical trial aims to shed light on how to best treat a patent ductus arteriosus in the most fragile infants.

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UC San Diego researchers describe how pancreatic cancer stem cells leverage a protein in a family of proteins that normally suppress tumors to instead do the opposite, boosting their resistance to conventional treatments and spurring growth.

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Researchers are building detailed maps of colorectal cancer to better understand the dynamics of the disease

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New UCLA-led research suggests that antiretroviral drugs called TAF and TDF directly reduce energy production by mitochondria, structures inside cells that generate the power that cells use to function. Both drugs led to reduced cellular oxygen consumption rates, a measure of the ability of the mitochondria to produce energy, compared with controls.

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Non-Hispanic Black adults more frequently experience delays in receiving an appendicitis diagnosis in hospital emergency departments, putting them at a higher likelihood of perforated appendicitis and subsequent post-surgical infections, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

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Columbia researchers invent a multimodal sequencing technique that achieves high-quality results from small volumes of frozen tumor specimens--the ability to study cancer tissues archived in biobanks should increase the number and variety of tumor samples available for scientific analysis and advance the discovery of biomarkers and drug targets.

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High blood pressure and diabetes are known risk factors for stroke, but now a new study shows that the amount of risk may decrease as people age. The study is published in the January 18, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Researchers have developed a new system for developing gene drives for areas ranging from human health to global food supplies. The new “hacking” system converts split gene drives into full drives, offering new flexibility for safely conducting gene drive experiments in a range of applications.

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Columbia Engineering neuroscientists identified a specific neural mechanism in the human brain that tags information with emotional associations for enhanced memory. The team demonstrated that high-frequency brain waves in the amygdala, a hub for emotional processes, and the hippocampus, a hub for memory processes, are critical to enhancing memory for emotional stimuli. Disruptions to this neural mechanism, brought on either by electrical brain stimulation or depression, impair memory specifically for emotional stimuli.

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A tendency for one or both spouses to avoid or withdraw from tough conversations could set up married couples for emotional distress, bad feelings about their relationship, chronic inflammation and lowered immune function, new research suggests.

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A new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) shows how ideal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 hit their marks. Now scientists are looking at how we might harness their power in new antibody therapeutics and even more effective COVID-19 vaccines.

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Columbia Nursing ranks first among U.S. nursing schools in NIH research funding for FY 2022.

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It’s ‘lights out’ for antibiotic-resistant superbugs as next-generation light-activated nanotech proves it can eradicate some of the most notorious and potentially deadly bacteria in the world.

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A specific colonization of microbes in the reproductive tract is commonly found in women with ovarian cancer, according to a new study from Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine. The discovery, published in Scientific Reports, strengthens evidence that the bacterial component of the microbiome — a community of microorganisms that also consists of viruses, yeasts and fungi — is an important indicator for early detection, diagnosis and prognosis of ovarian cancer.

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UC San Diego scientists discover a molecular pathway critical to the initiation of pancreatic tumors. The findings may inspire new chemotherapeutic drugs targeting early stages of tumor formation and spread.

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In the past decade, researchers have begun to appreciate the importance of a two-way communication that occurs between microbes in the gastrointestinal tract and the brain, known as the gut–brain axis.

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Humans and chimpanzees differ in only one percent of their DNA. Human accelerated regions (HARs) are parts of the genome with an unexpected amount of these differences.

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A new study led by Cedars-Sinai and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has determined that altering a cellular process can lead stem cells—cells from which other cells in the body develop—to die or regenerate.

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An international consortium led by UC San Diego has identified at least some of the genetic drivers of a mysterious form of pediatric epilepsy.

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Scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have developed a zebrafish model of NEDBEH—a rare genetic disorder that can cause coloboma, where parts of the eye are missing due to developmental defects. The model provides a new tool for understanding the eye's embryonic development. The NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have developed a zebrafish model of NEDBEH—a rare genetic disorder that can cause coloboma, where parts of the eye are missing due to developmental defects. The model provides a new tool for understanding the eye's embryonic development. The NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

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LA JOLLA, CA — Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have at last uncovered how an enzyme called O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) keeps cells healthy. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, reveals a key aspect of cellular biology and may lead to important medical advances.

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Electronic nudges delivered to health care clinicians based on a machine learning algorithm that predicts mortality risk quadrupled rates of conversations with patients about their end-of-life care preferences, according to the long-term results of a randomized clinical trial published by Penn Medicine investigators in JAMA Oncology today.

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CAR T cell therapy may enhance the effectiveness of surgery for solid tumors, according to a preclinical study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a defect in an enzyme called APT1 interferes with the ability to secrete insulin, contributing to the development of Type 2 diabetes in people who are overweight or obese.

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A team of University of Delaware researchers will use a $2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to create microrobots smaller than a human cell and work with “active matter,” exploring how to embed the rudimentary intelligence of single-cell organisms into these robotic creations.

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A new University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center study highlights the need for increased outreach and education to reduce colorectal cancer screening disparities in Black communities. According to the qualitative study published in the Journal of Cancer Education, people in Kentucky’s Black communities may not be aware about all of the colorectal cancer screening options available to them, particularly stool-based tests.

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A new analysis by Cedars-Sinai investigators is furthering the scientific community’s understanding of COVID-19 immunity by showing that similar levels of COVID-19 antibodies are reached over an extended period of time in different population groups.

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Findings from a UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center study prompt researchers to question current cervical cancer screening guidelines for older women.

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Investigators at Cedars-Sinai have created a unique and detailed molecular profile of endometriosis to help improve therapeutic options for the millions of women suffering from the disease.

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Inexpensive iron salts are a key to simplifying the manufacture of essential precursors for drugs and other chemicals, according to scientists at Rice University.

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New experiments that show that eukaryotic cells can robustly control average fluctuations in organelle size. By demonstrating that organelle sizes obey a universal scaling relationship that the scientists predict theoretically, their new framework suggests that organelles grow in random bursts from a limiting pool of building blocks.

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Young children sometimes believe that the moon is following them, or that they can reach out and touch it.

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Moderate levels of two outdoor air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter, are associated with non-viral asthma attacks in children and adolescents who live in low-income urban areas, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found.

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NIH, in collaboration with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at HHS, has launched the Home Test to Treat program, an entirely virtual community health intervention that will provide free COVID-19 health services—at-home rapid tests, telehealth sessions and at-home treatments—in selected communities.

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Researchers investigated the role of one cellular mechanism in improving physical fitness by exercise training and identified one anti-aging intervention that delayed the declines that occur with aging in the model organism.