Newswise Curated News Channel: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH Awards Researchers $3.14 Million Grant to Design Novel Model Aimed at Reducing Healthcare Disparities

Cleveland Clinic — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 15:55:37 EST

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.

Autoantibody linked to rare disorder that destroys fat, UT Southwestern researchers find

UT Southwestern Medical Center — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 13:00:02 EST

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.

Scientists Discover New Protein Activity in Telomeres

University of North Carolina School of Medicine — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 12:30:20 EST

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.

FASEB and NIH Announce DataWorks! Prize Winners

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 11:00:32 EST

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

Researchers Map Mosquito Cells That May Help the Insects Choose Tastiest Humans

Johns Hopkins Medicine — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:00:04 EST

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.

COVID-19 Vaccination Linked to Fewer Cardiac Events

Mount Sinai Health System — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 08:00:00 EST

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.

Daily rhythm detected for cerebral blood flow in stroke patients

Brigham and Women's Hospital — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 17:25:21 EST

Strokes are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, as well as around the world. Various environmental and biological factors are known to affect the risks and outcomes of strokes.

Toxic protein linked to muscular dystrophy and arhinia

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 14:00:00 EST

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their colleagues have found that a toxic protein made by the body called DUX4 may be the cause of two very different rare genetic disorders. For patients who have facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), or a rare facial malformation called arhinia, this research discovery may eventually lead to therapies that can help people with these rare diseases.

A study refines a molecular marker that accurately predicts the recurrence of aggressive meningiomas

Texas Children's Hospital — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 13:20:17 EST

Drs. Akash Patel and Tiemo Klisch, investigators at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children's Hospital and faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, have found that the loss of a single copy of CDKNA/B genes can greatly accelerate the recurrence of aggressive meningiomas, portending a poor prognosis for this subset of patients.

Receptor location matters for psychedelic drug effects

University of California, Davis — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:55:48 EST

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

CBD shows promise for reducing cigarette smoking

Washington State University — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:30:07 EST

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.

Multiple sclerosis discovery could end disease's chronic inflammation

University of Virginia Health System — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:45:41 EST

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

Small Molecule Drug Reverses ADAR1-induced Cancer Stem Cell Cloning Capacity

University of California San Diego — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:35:19 EST

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.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Team Aims to Transform Care for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Children's Hospital Los Angeles — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 08:05:06 EST

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.

Hijacking our cells' enzymes to eliminate disease-causing proteins

University of Illinois Chicago — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:35:12 EST

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.

New compound that withstands extreme heat and electricity could lead to next-generation energy storage devices

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 11:15:52 EST

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.

A New Strategy for Repairing DNA Damage in Neurons

Harvard Medical School — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 11:00:00 EST

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

Texas Biomed HIV vaccine candidate aims to block virus before it takes root

Texas Biomedical Research Institute — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:35:05 EST

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.

Survivors of Utah's Eugenic Sterilization Program Still Alive in 2023

University of Utah — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 04:00:00 EST

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.

Multiplication on, multiplication off: Targeting an enzymatic switch to develop oncology drugs

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:50:50 EST

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.