A new mouse model for myotonic dystrophy – the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy – helped Baylor College of Medicine researchers show that levels of CUGBP1, a protein that binds and controls the activity of the genetic material RNA, increase early in affected cells of the animals with the disease. This means CUGBP1 plays a key role in the disorder.
A new clinical study will explore the brain-gut interaction in patients with functional dyspepsia and whether certain drugs can effectively relieve symptoms of this disorder. Functional dyspepsia is a costly and chronic disorder that can cause severe stomach pain often reported as cramping, bloating and gas, or great discomfort or fullness after eating. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health at six medical centers in the US.
In a study published in the September 6, 2007, issue of the journal Nature, researchers showed that two key proteins join together at the precise location where energy of motion is turned into electrical impulses. These proteins, cadherin 23 and protocadherin 15, are part of a complex of proteins called ?tip links? that are on hair cells in the inner ear. The tip link is believed to have a central function in the conversion of physical cues into electrochemical signals.
Neurons, or nerve cells, communicate with each other through contact points called synapses. When these connections are damaged, communication breaks down, causing the messages that would normally help our feet push our bike pedals or our mind locate our car keys to fall short.
A McGill University study has found that a new class of drugs known as serotonin4 (5-HT4) receptor agonists may take effect four to seven times faster than traditional selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The study, led by former McGill post-doctoral fellow in psychiatry Guillaume Lucas with his supervisor, the late Dr. Guy Debonnel, was published in the September 6 issue of the journal Neuron.
The Simons Foundation, through its Autism Research Initiative, has signed a $7.8 million, two-year contract with the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) to establish a collection of DNA samples for autism studies. The samples will be collected from 2,000 families that have a single autistic child.
Dr. Judith A. Potashkin, Ph.D., and colleagues at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science recently completed a study investigating one of the changes in gene expression that occurs when individuals take addictive drugs. The findings of this study will be published in the September 5 issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.
A study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center reports that nicotine in the breast milk of lactating mothers who smoke cigarettes disrupts their infants’ sleep patterns.
A landmark Australian and New Zealand intensive care study has provided vital information for the treatment of patients with brain injuries. The results of the SAFE-TBI Study, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirm that the choice of resuscitation fluids affects the chances of patients with brain injury surviving.
OVATION Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase III clinical trial evaluating clobazam, a unique 1,5 benzodiazapine with significant anticonvulsant properties, as adjunctive treatment for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), one of the most severe forms of childhood epilepsy that frequently persists into adulthood.