Tag Archives: immune system

Gene Research Sheds Light on Timing of Menopause

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2012Healthanna murray, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, damage, early menopause, genes, genetic studies, genome, heart disease, hormonal change, hormonal regulation, immune system, joanne murabito, john perry, kathryn lunetta, menopause, menopause onset, oestrogen exposure, post menopausal women, pre menopausal, repair, reproductive disorders, reproductive lifespan, timing of menopause, university of exeter, university of oxford

An international team of researchers has discovered 13 new regions of the genome associated with the timing of menopause.

These genes shed light on the biological pathways involved in reproductive lifespan and will provide insights into conditions connected to menopause, such as breast cancer and heart disease.

Menopause is a major hormonal change that affects most women when they are in their early 50s. The timing of menopause can have a huge impact on fertility, as well as influencing the risk of a range of common diseases such as breast cancer. It has been known for some time that genetic factors influenced the onset of menopause, however until recently very few genes had been identified.

In the new study, published in the journal Nature Genetics on 22 January 2012, Dr Anna Murray, University of Exeter, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) Dr John Perry, PCMD and WTCHG, University of Oxford, and dozens of international collaborators, examined the genomes of over 50,000 women. They identified 13 novel gene regions associated with menopause onset, and confirmed four previously identified. Most of the 17 regions include genes related to DNA damage/repair or the immune system, whilst others are linked to hormonal regulation. (more…)

‘Fingerprinting’ Method Tracks Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plant

By Guest PostDecember 17, 2011Environmentatmosphere, brains of fetuses, central nervous system, chemical fingerprints, chlorine producing plants, coal, coal combustion, coal fired power plants, coal samples, crystal river, crystal river plant, eastern kentucky, effects on humans, element mercury, environmental pollution, gerald keeler, global atmospheric pool, global mercury reservoir, heart, immune system, incinerators, isotopic fractionation, jason demers, joel blum, laura sherman, mass dependent fractionation, mdf, mercury emissions, mercury emissions in florida, mercury fingerprinting technique, mercury isotope fingerprints, methylmercury, microorganism, natural phenomenon, naturally occurring element, non radioactive, nuclei, power plant, primary source of mercury pollution, protons, rainfall, timothy dvonch, toxic, university of michigan, west virginia

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— For the first time, the chemical “fingerprints” of the element mercury have been used by University of Michigan researchers to directly link environmental pollution to a specific coal-burning power plant.

The primary source of mercury pollution in the atmosphere is coal combustion. The U-M mercury-fingerprinting technique – which has been under development for a decade – provides a tool that will enable researchers to identify specific sources of mercury pollution and determine how much of it is being deposited locally. (more…)

UCLA Scientists Engineer Blood Stem Cells to Fight Melanoma

By Guest PostDecember 1, 2011Health, Scienceantigen, blood stem cells, cancer and stem cell, cancer patient, caucasians, dimitrios n vatakis, DNA, genes, genetically engineered, human melanoma, immune system, jerome zack, microbiology, mouse models, PET, positron emission tomography, t cell receptor, t cells, viral vehicle

Researchers from UCLA’s cancer and stem cell centers have demonstrated for the first time that blood stem cells can be engineered to create cancer-killing T-cells that seek out and attack a human melanoma. The researchers believe the approach could be useful in about 40 percent of Caucasians with this malignancy.

Done in mouse models, the study serves as the first proof-of-principle that blood stem cells, which make every type of cell found in the blood, can be genetically altered in a living organism to create an army of melanoma-fighting T-cells, said Jerome Zack, the study’s senior author and a scientist with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. (more…)

A Bug Like a Russian Doll

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2011Scienceanimal metabolism, bacteria, bacterial symbiont, bacterium, carol von dohlen, cytoplasm, dual symbiont systems, human gut, immune system, john mccutcheon, lyle buss, metabolic pathways, moranella, nested symbiosis of mealybugs, relationships between bacteria and citrus mealybugs, relationships between organisms, tremblaya

*A former UA postdoctoral fellow has discovered amazing relationships between organisms: a bacterium living inside a bacterium living inside an insect. Evolving together, the organisms depend on each other for survival, and each contributes a subset of the enzymes needed in shared metabolic pathways.*

Sure, many bacteria cause disease, but most people don’t realize how beneficial they can be. The human gut, for example, brims with bacteria that play critical roles in everything from immune system development and extracting energy from food to providing necessary nutrients.

They get a nice comfy home living inside people, and in return they help us. It’s a symbiotic relationship. However, these beneficial partnerships are nothing compared to the complex relationships between bacteria and citrus mealybugs recently discovered by a team of biologists led by former UA researcher John McCutcheon, who recently took a position as an assistant professor at the University of Montana. (more…)

Is Meditation the Push-up for the Brain?

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2011Health, Scienceage related brain atrophy, amygdale, anterior corpus callosum, axonal demyelination, brain imaging, brain regions, brain stem, brains, bundles of neurons, cerebral cortex, corticospinal tract, diffusion tensor imaging, dti, eileen luders, electrical signals in the brain, frontal cortex, hippocampus, immune system, kristi clark, limbic system, meditation, meditators, mental exercise, micro anatomical level, occipital lobes, physical structure of the brain, shamatha, spinal cord, superior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, vipassana, white matter, zazen

*Study shows practice may have potential to change brain’s physical structure*

Two years ago, researchers at UCLA found that specific regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger and had more gray matter than the brains of individuals in a control group. This suggested that meditation may indeed be good for all of us since, alas, our brains shrink naturally with age.

Now, a follow-up study suggests that people who meditate also have stronger connections between brain regions and show less age-related brain atrophy. Having stronger connections influences the ability to rapidly relay electrical signals in the brain. And significantly, these effects are evident throughout the entire brain, not just in specific areas. (more…)

Researchers Discover Way to ‘Amp Up’ Power of Killer T Cells in Immune System

By Guest PostMay 22, 2011Healthanti tumor effector, cancer killing power, immune system, killer cells, toll like receptors

Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a way to “amp up” the power of killer T cells known as CD8 cells in the immune system, making them more functional for longer periods of time and boosting their ability to multiply and expand within the body to fight melanoma. (more…)

It Takes a Community of Soil Microbes to Protect Plants From Disease

By Guest PostMay 15, 2011Environment, Scienceactinobacteria, archaea, bacteria, berkeley lab, burkholderia, complex microbial network, coral reefs, deepwater horizon spill, disease, dna sequences, dutch scientists, environmental mysteries, gary andersen, gulf of mexico, immune system, mammals, pathogens, phylochip, plants, potato, psuedomonas, puerto rico, rathmann family foundation, rhizoctonia solani, rice, root fungus, soil, soil microbes, sugar beet, todd desantis, types of bacteria, vegetables, xanthomonas, yvette piceno

*Berkeley Lab scientists decipher immune system for plants beneath our feet*

Those vegetables you had for dinner may have once been protected by an immune system akin to the one that helps you fight disease. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Netherland’s Wageningen University found that plants rely on a complex community of soil microbes to defend themselves against pathogens, much the way mammals harbor a raft of microbes to avoid infections.

The scientists deciphered, for the first time, the group of microbes that enables a patch of soil to suppress a plant-killing pathogen. Previous research on the phenomenon of disease-suppressive soil had identified one or two pathogen-fighting microbes at work. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Scientists Find That Normal Breast Cells Help Kill Cancer Cells

By Guest PostApril 20, 20111 commentHealth, Scienceberkeley lab, breast cancer cells, cytostatic, cytotoxic, dna mutations, extracellular matrix culture, healthy cells, human body, il25, immune system, inflammation, interleukin 25, malignant phenotype, mammary epithelial cells, microenvironmental factors, mina bissell, natural defense mechanism against cancer, pathogens, protein, saori furuta, treatment of breast cancer, tumor cells, tumor surveillance system

It is well known that the human body has a highly developed immune system to detect and destroy invading pathogens and tumor cells. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown that the body has a second line of defense against cancer – healthy cells. A new study shows that normal mammary epithelial cells, as they are developing, secrete interleukin 25, a protein known for its role in the immune system’s response to inflammation, for the express purpose of killing nearby breast cancer cells.

“We found that normal breast cells provide an innate defense mechanism against cancer by producing interleukin 25 (IL25) to actively and specifically kill breast cancer cells,” says breast cancer authority Mina Bissell, of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division, who led this research. “This suggests that IL25 receptor signaling may provide a new therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer.” (more…)