Recently, researchers at the National Institutes of Health reported that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
NIH Scientists Discover How Dengue Virus Infects Cells
National Institutes of Health researchers have discovered a key step in how the dengue virus infects a cell. The discovery one day may lead to new drugs to prevent or treat the infection.
Gene Variations That Alter Key Enzyme Linked to Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer.
NIH Study Shows How Insulin Stimulates Fat Cells to Take in Glucose
Using high-resolution microscopy, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model. The findings were reported in the Sept. 8 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
Gene Associated with Rare Adrenal Disorder Appears To Trigger Cell Death, According to NIH Study
A gene implicated in Carney complex, a rare disorder of the adrenal glands, appears to function as a molecular switch to limit cell growth and division, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Mice lacking functional copies of the gene in the adrenal glands developed an overgrowth of adrenal tissue and were more susceptible to tumors in the gland.
NIH Researchers Identify New Steps in Spread of Malaria Parasite Through Bloodstream
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have observed two previously unknown steps in the spread of the malaria parasite through the bloodstream. And in laboratory cultures, the researchers interfered with one of these steps, raising the possibility that new drug treatments could be developed to combat the disease.
New Gene Discovered for Recessive Form of Brittle Bone Disease
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have discovered the third in a sequence of genes that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic condition that weakens bones, results in frequent fractures and is sometimes fatal.
Imitation Promotes Social Bonding in Primates
Imitation, the old saying goes, is the sincerest form of flattery. It also appears to be an ancient interpersonal mechanism that promotes social bonding and, presumably, sets the stage for relative strangers to coalesce into groups of friends, according to a study by a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health and two Italian research institutions.
Second Gene Linked to Familial Testicular Cancer
Specific variations or mutations in a particular can gene raise a man's risk of familial, or inherited, testicular germ-cell cancer, the most common form of this disease, according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Researchers Discover How Prion Protein Damages Brain Cells
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.
Researchers Decipher Blood Stem Cell Attachment, Communication
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have deciphered a key sequence of events governing whether the stem cells that produce red and white blood cells remain anchored to the bone marrow, or migrate into the circulatory system.
Plan Offers Guidance For Evaluating Menopause-Like Condition in Girls & Young Women
A comprehensive plan to help health care professionals diagnose and treat primary ovarian insufficiency--a menopause-like condition affecting girls and young women that may occur years before normal menopause is expected--has been developed by a scientist at the National Institutes of Health.
Herpes Virus Changes Anti-Herpes Drug to Form that Hinders AIDS Virus
The drug acyclovir has long been used to suppress outbreaks of oral and genital herpes. Herpes viruses change acyclovir to a form that prevents them from reproducing. Now, it appears that after acyclovir is altered by herpes viruses, it also interferes with the AIDS virus's ability to reproduce, report researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Molecular Switch Boosts Brain Activity Associated with Schizophrenia
People with schizophrenia have an alteration in a pattern of brain electrical activity associated with learning and memory. Now, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Sweden's Karolinska Institute have identified in mouse brain tissue a molecular switch that, when thrown, increases the strength of this electrical pattern.
NIH Scientists Offer Explanation for Winter Flu Season
NIH Scientists Offer Explanation for Winter Flu Season Stability of Virus' Membrane at Cold Temperatures May Ease Winter Spread.
Second Gene Discovered for Recessive Form of Brittle Bone Disease
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found a second genetic defect that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a disorder that weakens bones, sometimes results in frequent fractures and is sometimes fatal.
Youth Overweight Increases Risk of Bone Fractures, Muscle & Joint Pain
Children and adolescents who are overweight are more likely than their normal weight counterparts to suffer bone fractures and have joint and muscle pains, according to a study conducted at the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers Find Protein That Makes Long-Term Memory Possible
From language to literature, from music to mathematics, a single protein appears central to the formation of the long-term memories needed to learn these and all other disciplines, according to a team of researchers led by scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Women with Endometriosis Have Higher Rates of Some Diseases
Women who have endometriosis are more likely than other women to have disorders in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues, according to researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the George Washington University, and the Endometriosis Association.
NIH Licenses New MRI Technology That Produces Detailed Images of Nerves, Other Soft Tissues
A new technology that allows physicians and researchers to make detailed, three-dimensional maps of nerve pathways in the brain, heart muscle fibers, and other soft tissues has been licensed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).