Health & Medicine Week articles from November 2003

Health & Medicine Week archives from November 2003

Prevalence and risk factors for mild cognitive impairment in elderly described.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The prevalence of mild forms of cognitive impairment among the elderly increases with age and may be associated with cerebrovascular disease, depression, and racial factors, according to two new...

Scientists discover overweight, obesity jump between adolescence, adulthood.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 2 million U.S. adolescents became obese and another 1.5 million remained obese as they grew into adulthood between 1996 and 2001, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) study...

Vowel quality improves after cochlear implantation.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vowel quality improves after cochlear implantation. According to a study from Austria, "Since auditory feedback is partially restored after cochlear implantation, the aim of the present study was...

Standard improves tests of male DNA.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mother Goose tells us that boys are made of "snips and snails and puppy dog tails." She was clearly misinformed about the snails and tails, but she was on to something with the snips. What you...

Adductor pollicis fatigue is comparable in older men and women.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adductor pollicis fatigue is comparable in older men and women. "Sex differences in fatigue resistance of the adductor pollicis (AP) muscle were studied in 24 older adults who were divided into...

Hormone replacement therapy augments the influence exercise has on bone health.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hormone replacement therapy augments the influence exercise has on bone health. "Osteoporosis is a major public health concern. The combination of exercise, hormone replacement therapy, and calcium...

Stem-cell donation by Crohn colitis patients may put recipients at risk.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stem-cell donation by Crohn colitis patients may pass the disorder to graft recipients. In the journal Gut, scientists in England described "a case of fulminant Crohn's colitis that occurred...

Gates Foundation doubles grant for India.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says it is doubling, to $200 million, the prevention funds for HIV and AIDS that the Microsoft chairman promised India in a visit last year. The announcement...

VScan test kits are being shipped to People's Republic of China.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Services International (MSITF) has received a letter of intent to supply 250,000 VScan HIV rapid-test kits to a major Chinese pharmaceutical company in the People's Republic of China. ...

FDA grants anti-CD4 drug fast-track status for the treatment of HIV-1.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tanox, Inc., (TNOX) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast-track status to TNX-355 for the treatment of patients with human-immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)...

Operative technique and postoperative care reduce abortion-related problems.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Operative technique and postoperative care reduce abortion-related problems. According to recent research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "surgical abortion in the...

New device-based skin treatments reported.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Device-based acne treatments are rapidly finding acceptance from physicians and patients, according to clinical news reports in the most recent issue of the Aesthetic Buyers Guide, published by Medical...

Cell infusions boost heart function, revive damaged heart muscle.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Infusing a patient's own cells into a heart artery several days after a heart attack speeds the healing process and strengthens the heart's pumping power, researchers report. In a small study of...

Parental education is significant for preventing inhalant abuse.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Parental education is significant for preventing inhalant abuse. According to a study from the United States, "inhalant abuse is a prevalent and often overlooked form of substance abuse in...

Treatment for substance abuse during pregnancy improves infant outcomes.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Treatment for substance abuse during pregnancy improves infant outcomes. "The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of residential substance abuse treatment on pregnancy outcome among...

Adipose tissue and women's health discussed.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The view of adipose tissue and its role in women's health is discussed in a recent issue of the journal Pathologie Biologie. "Nowadays, in industrialized societies, it is fashionable for women to...

Clinical and molecular aspects of adrenocortical tumorigenesis reviewed.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Clinical and molecular aspects of adrenocortical tumorigenesis is reviewed. "Adrenal masses are a common problem affecting 3-7% of the population. The majority turn out to be benign adrenocortical...

5-FU infusion plus CPT-11 is an active and safe regimen in advanced CRC.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- 5-FU infusion plus CPT-11 is an active and safe regimen in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). "We carried out a single-center series with the combination of irinotecan (CPT-11) plus protracted...

Liver transplant tacrolimus neurotoxicity may be preceded by leukoencephalopathy.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Liver transplant neurotoxicity following tacrolimus may be preceded by leukoencephalopathy. According to recent research published in the journal Liver Transplantation, "Neurotoxicity is a...

Medical Mutual to use RationalMed to prevent drug-induced problems.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Mutual is introducing RationalMed, a health and safety system from Medco Health Solutions, Inc. The system uses integrated medical and pharmaceutical data to prevent unnecessary...

Families with periodontitis have elevated levels of IgG2 that are inherited.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Families with aggressive periodontitis are found to have elevated levels of IgG2 that are inherited. According to a study from the United States, "IgG2 is elevated in localized but not in...

Asthma may occur due to vagal reflex stimulation from gastroesophageal reflux.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vagal reflex stimulation may be involved in the airway hyperresponsiveness that can accompany gastroesophageal reflux. "Airway hyperresponsiveness is among the defining phenomena in asthma. In this...

Tri-Nasal Nasal Spray acquired from Muro Pharmaceutical.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a closely held specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it has acquired from Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc., all rights to Tri-Nasal (triamcinolone acetonide, USP)...

Avoiding pets may not prevent allergies.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Exposure to high levels of cat allergen as a child may prevent the development of allergies, according to a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI). Researchers...

APOE epsilon4 associated with shorter lifespan.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- APOE epsilon4 was associated with a shorter lifespan in elderly adults. "Over 30% of normal elderly people have cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Possession of APOE epsilon4 is associated with...

APOE expression increases Alzheimer disease risk.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- APOE expression increases the risk of Alzheimer disease risk and is predictive of a poor outcome after head injury. "The APOE-epsilon4 allele is associated with risk for Alzheimer disease (AD) and...

CBP binding transcriptional repressor inhibited by PS1FAD mutations.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A CBP binding transcriptional repressor produced by the PS1/epsilon-cleavage of N-cadherin is inhibited by PS1FAD mutations. According to published research from the United States, "Presenilin1...

G-protein alpha-subunits decline as Alzheimer disease progresses.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The levels of G-protein alpha-subunits decline as Alzheimer disease progresses. "G-protein alpha-subunits (G-alpha[subscript]o, G-alpha[subscript]i, G-alpha[subscript]s, G-alpha(q)) and adenylyl...

Inhibition of NF-kB promotes apoptosis induced by amyloid beta peptides.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Inhibition of NF-kB renders cells more vulnerable to apoptosis induced by amyloid beta peptides. According to recent research from Portugal, "One of the mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration...

Melatonin inhibition of beta-amyloid peptide attenuated by bicuculline.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The melatonin inhibition of beta-amyloid peptide overexpression could be attenuated by bicuculline treatment. According to recent research from People's Republic of China, "Melatonin deficiency in...

Biologic marker specific for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Berlex Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Schering AG Germany (SHR), announced that it has discovered that a receptor protein molecule, CCR1, that is usually found on the surface of white blood cells...

Massachusetts General to battle ALS with RNAi technology.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Massachusetts General Hospital and CytRx Corp. (CYTR) have jointly initiated a broad-based research program for the use of RNAi gene-silencing technology in the development of a drug for the prevention,...

Research program funded for study of RNAi technology in ALS.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CytRx Corporation (CYTR) announced that it has agreed to fund a sponsored research program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) for the use of RNAi gene silencing technology in the...

Erythropoietin treatment could worsen cancer prognosis.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a European study cast doubt over the value of treating anemia with erythropoietin (epoetin beta) among patients who have cancer. Results of the study show that anemic patients fare better in...

No association found between serum hepcidin and markers of anemia.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- No significant association exists between serum hepcidin and other markers of iron status or anemia. "The hepatic antimicrobial protein, hepcidin, is implicated in duodenal iron absorption and...

NIH grant funds study of (un)consciousness.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With a 4-year, $1,200,000 grant to the Medical College of Wisconsin, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding a scientific study of the enigmatic problem of consciousness. Specifically,...

Update provided on FDA review of PMR System.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CardioGenesis Corporation (CGCP), a provider of angina-relieving Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR) and percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR), announced that the company and the U.S. Food...

CD226 is on nonresting human endothelial cells, allows adhesion of leukocytes.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The transmembrane glycoprotein CD226 is involved in adhesion of leukocytes to endothelial cells and in endothelial cells it is an inducible molecule. According to recent research published in the...

Two-stage procedures create rodent models of severe limb ischemia at rest.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two-stage procedures create rodent models of severe limb ischemia at rest. "We sought an animal model able to discriminate metabolic and angiogenic processes in limb ischemia. For that we modified...

Spectrum of components of angiosarcomas accounts for difficulty in tumor typing.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A wide spectrum of cellular components of angiosarcomas accounts for the difficulty in establishing accurate tumor typing. According to recent research from France, "To characterize the cytological...

P-glycoproteins for multidrug resistance are in Haemonchus contortus, eggs.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nematode eggshells and adults of Haemonchus contortus contain P-glycoproteins involved in multidrug resistance, although individual parasites have different degrees of it. "The multidrug resistance...

Phase I trial yields positive results for the prevention of serious infections.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ipsat Therapies presented positive Phase I clinical trial data for its lead product, P1A, at the BioPartnering Europe Conference in London. This product fulfils many of the criteria for fast-track...

IL-17 alone may enhance osteosarcoma cell lysis by natural killer cells.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Osteosarcoma cells have receptors to IL-17; IL-17 alone may enhance lysis by NK cells, but with IFNgamma they resist NK more. "We investigated the effect of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin...

Ligand-targeted liposomal anticancer drugs may be developed soon.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ligand-targeted liposomal anticancer drugs may be developed soon. "Antibody or ligand-mediated targeting of liposomal anticancer drugs to antigens expressed selectively or over-expressed on tumor...

Luminescent imaging is a useful tool for evaluating anticancer drugs in vivo.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Luminescent imaging is a useful tool for evaluating anticancer drugs in vivo. "Human DU-145 prostate and MCF-7 breast tumor cell lines were stably transfected with plasmid pcDNA3.1-Luc expressing...

Researchers develop an anticancer agent of marine origin.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers develop an anticancer agent of marine origin. According to recent research from Netherlands, "Yondelis (trabectedin, ET-743) is a novel antitumor agent derived from a marine source, the...

Virus delivered nitroreductase/CB1954 acts synergistically with 5-FU on cancer.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The enzyme-prodrug combination nitroreductase/CB1954 creates cancer cell apoptosis by the caspase pathway, and acts synergistically with 5-fluorouracil. According to published research from England,...

Passive immunotherapy appears to be an effective way to treat melanoma.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Passive immunotherapy should soon be a recognized way of effectively treating melanoma. According to recent research published in the journal Bulletin du Cancer, "The protocols of tumor...

On-X prosthetic heart valve maker begins aspirin study.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Carbon Research Institute, L.L.C., (MCRI), manufacturer of the On-X prosthetic heart valve, announced the initiation of a clinical study under an aspirin-only anticoagulation protocol. The...

The asparaginyl endopeptidase inhibitor, acyloxymethylketone, is cell-permeable.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The potent asparaginyl endopeptidase inhibitor, acyloxymethylketone, is cell-permeable; alters antigen presentation. "Mammalian asparaginyl endopeptidase (AEP) or legumain is a recently identified...

The C-terminal domain of human CAP18 was used to develop more active analogues.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The C-terminal domain of human antibacterial protein CAP18 was used as a base to develop 2 proteins with stronger antibacterial effect. "This paper reports the effect of the synthesized 27-amino...

Pacidamycin derivatives active against drug-resistant bacterial pathogens.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of pacidamycin derivatives have demonstrated activity against drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, including E. coli and M. tuberculosis. According to a recent study from California,...

Innate antimicrobials are important, despite some bacterial immune evasion.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antimicrobial peptides are involved in innate immune defense against bacteria, and bacteria have evolved some ways to evade these molecules. According to recent research published in the journal...

Aggregated antibiograms useful for monitoring drug-resistant Streptococcus.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aggregated antibiograms are useful for the monitoring of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. "Community-specific antimicrobial susceptibility data may help monitor trends among drug-resistant...

Mechanism of metronidazole-resistance by Enterococcus proposed.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers propose a mechanism for metronidazole-resistance by isolates of nitroreductase-producing Enterococcus gallinarum and Enterococcus casseliflavus from the human intestinal tract. ...

Ganoderma lucidum, a mushroom, may prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ganoderma lucidum, a mushroom, may prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. According to recent research published in the journal Current Science, "Cisplatin (cisplatinum (II) diamine dichloride)...

Interferons alpha and beta act on p53; do have antitumor, antiviral activities.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interferons alpha and beta collaborate with p53, effecting tumor suppression and antiviral effects; new types of interferon or better targeted delivery may be clinically effective. "In the recent...

Plasmid-driven siRNAs useful for controlling viral pathogen gene expression.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Plasmid-driven siRNAs offer extensive control over the gene expression of viral pathogens. In a recent study from St. Louis, "Short interfering double-stranded RNAs (siRNAs) expressed under the...

Children with constipation manifest more toileting anxiety than well kids.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation department of pediatric gastroenterology & nutrition report that children with functional constipation have significantly more anxiety specific to...

Parents favor counseling over meds for kids.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research suggests that parents would rather send their children to counseling than give them medication for social anxiety disorder, a preference that has also been noted for childhood depression...

Death risk hinges on choice of surgeon, study finds.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- If the largest blood vessel in your body threatens to burst, a new study finds that your best bet is to have it repaired by a surgeon who has operated on many other patients with the same condition. If...

Aorta area ratio can be used in noninvasive quantitation of flow turbulence.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Postvalvular aorta to valvular orifice cross-sectional areas ratio can be used in noninvasive quantitation of blood flow turbulence in aortic valve disease. According to a study from France,...

Unusual form of memory loss often confused for Alzheimer disease.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 4 million Americans have Alzheimer disease, the single most common cause of dementia. Its high prevalence may lead people to believe that dementia is always due to Alzheimer disease and that...

Catheter insertion site can make a difference for apheresis patients.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The site of insertion and other aspects concerning catheters can make a difference for apheresis patients. According to published research from Germany, "In the intensive care unit, apheresis...

Cardiac imaging can be "gatekeeper" for implantable heart-shocker.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- High-tech images of the heart and its surrounding blood flow can help identify patients who will benefit most from implanted electronic devices that treat heart rhythm disturbances, according to a new...

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment studied in phase II trial.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (REGN) announced that the company's IL-1 Trap demonstrated evidence of efficacy and safety in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a phase II dose-ranging study in...

Technology licensed to accelerate development of model-based assays.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The BioAnalytics Group, LLC, has completed an agreement to license technology from Predix Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., to accelerate the development of its model-based assays technology. ...

The changing face of severe asthma: Boys in childhood and women as adults.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Almost two out of three children with severe asthma are boys. But women account for more than two out of three adults with severe asthma. And no one really knows why. Those are some of the most...

Nerve disorder in mice and men linked to mutated gene.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a small town on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean, people are living with a serious neurological disorder, called Cayman ataxia, found nowhere else in the world. People born with this rare,...

Cellular fat sensor slows heart disease.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A cellular sensor of dietary fats slows the development of lesions that lead to heart disease, a Salk Institute study has found. The study, which appears in Science, uncovers a unique pathway that...

Excess vascular endothelial growth factor associates with hyperhomocysteinemia.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Excess vascular endothelial growth factor associates with hyperhomocysteinemia. "Hyperhomocysteinemia has been reported to be an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis....

Phase II study initiated to evaluate recombinant alpha 1-antitrypsin gel.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ProMetic Life Sciences (TSX: PLI) and Arriva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that their joint venture company, Arriva-ProMetic, Inc., (JV), has opened a phase II clinical study to evaluate its lead...

Two phase IIa trials initiated in dermatology.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Encysive Pharmaceuticals (ENCY) announced that its majority-owned German affiliate, Revotar Biopharmaceuticals AG, initiated two double-blind, placebo, and standard drug controlled phase IIa clinical...

Soft-patch device used to close hole in heart of pediatric patient.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Without performing surgery, a physician at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, has used a special instrument successfully to patch a hole in the heart wall of an infant. The child...

CD8 + chronic lymphocytic leukemia had other markers, cytokines expressed.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In atypical chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells expressing CD8, there are a series of other unique immune markers and cytokines expressed. According to a study from Mexico, "Atypical chronic...

B7-H3 may be a negative Th1 regulator and may prevent some autoantibodies.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- B7-H3 is involved in downregulation of Th1 responses and lack of it can produce more autoantibodies, experimentally. "We investigated the in vivo function of the B7 family member B7-H3 (also known...

Regulatory T cells have role in protection from autoimmunity.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Regulatory T cells are a diverse population of T cells involved in protecting against autoimmunity, and may be used therapeutically in the future. According to recent research published in the...

AID may not need cofactors in somatic hypermutation, but may in class-switch.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Activation-induced cytidine deaminase does not appear to need cofactors in B-cell somatic hypermutation signalling but may need them in class switch. "Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is...

Fas can induce apoptosis in B cells, but other surface receptors may intervene.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fas can induce apoptosis in B cells, but other surface receptors determine to susceptibility to it, unlike other cells. "Engagement of the cell surface receptor Fas/APO-1 (CD95) initiates a...

Dendritic cells battle meningococcal, listerial meningitis two separate ways.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dendritic cells function by two different pathways to combat bacterial meningitis from Listeria monocytogenes and Neisseria meningitides. "Few bacteria are capable of causing infections of the...

Anaerobic bacterium from dermatitis in Michigan dairy cows characterized.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have characterized the predominant anaerobic bacterium recovered from digital dermatitis lesions in three Michigan dairy cows. "Digital dermatitis is a superficial epidermatitis of the...

Complete genome sequence of Porphyromonas gingivalis strain W83 reported.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The complete genome sequence of the oral pathogenic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis strain W83 has been published in a recent issue of the Journal of Bacteriology. "The complete 2,343,479-bp...

Overproduction of inactive variants of murein synthase lyses E. coli.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Overproduction of inactive variants of the murein synthase PBP1B causes lysis in Escherichia coli. "Penicillin-binding protein 1B (PBP1B) of Escherichia coli is a bifunctional murein synthase...

Unique FauI restriction-modification system characterized.
November 3, 2003... 2003 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have characterized the unique FauI restriction-modification system. "The nucleotide sequence was established for the full-length Flavobacterium aquatile operon coding for the FauI...