ALSO NOTED: Researchers ID destructive enzymes; Biomarkers used to predict mortality; Adjuvant works in bird flu vaccine;

Scientists working in a U.S. government lab have developed a new way to identify the work of destructive enzymes that are linked to a variety of diseases. Atrix metalloproteinases, or MMPs, are linked with arthritis, metastasis and more. Their identification can play a role in diagnosis as well as monitoring the efficacy of a therapy. Report

A group of scientists at UCLA have concluded after 12 years of studying 12 biomarkers for neuroendocrine and vascular functions, metabolic and immune activity in seniors aged 70 to 79 that they can often be used to predict mortality. Report

Researchers were able to gain an immune response with an avian flu vaccine using one quarter of the normal dose amount after adding the adjuvant MF 59. Adjuvants have been a key part of avian flu vaccine research work as scientists work to stretch the supply of any weapons that can be used against bird flu. Release

An MIT team has discovered the most complicated knot ever seen in a protein, and they believe it may be linked to the protein's function as a rescue agent for proteins marked for destruction. "In proteins, the three-dimensional structure is very important to the function, and this is just one example," said Peter Virnau, a postdoctoral fellow in physics and an author of a paper on the work that appears in the September 15 issue of the Public Library of Science, Computational Biology. Release

Screening embryos for sex identification occurs in about half of all cases at fertility clinics and in about one in ten cases it is the exclusive reason for screening. Report

University of Rochester researcher Jean-Philippe Couderc, Ph.D., will lead a team of scientists who will study a massive database of electrocardiograms in order to identify early predictors of cardiac risk. Release

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are hoping a new gene therapy that takes a gene called RTVP-1 directly into the prostate tumor will prove effective in preventing recurrence of the disease. Report

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have tracked how the herpes virus invades the inner layer of the cornea in much the same way that bacteria is overcome by immune cells. Understanding that process should help researchers learn how herpes evades the immune system and might point a way to developing new therapies to prevent infectious blindness. Report

Researchers from the National Cancer Center, Tokyo, say a new study indicates that diabetes is linked to higher rates of cancer. The scientists have not concluded that diabetes causes cancer, but note that men with diabetes have more liver, kidney, and pancreatic cancers while women with diabetes have more stomach and liver cancers. Report

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is responsible for the development of stomach ulcers and also of stomach cancer, according to researchers in Italy. Dr. Fabio Bagnoli of Novartis Vaccines, Siena, Italy, is studying the mechanisms how Helicobacter causes the cells of the gastric mucosa to transform. Helicobacter is equipped with special enzymes that enable it to survive the acid attacks by the stomach. Release

A small study involving 50 volunteers by the Cleveland Clinic has garnered data that suggests an OTC antihistamine could also help fight chronic heart failure. Researchers started investigating Pepcid after data analysis of a number of studies showed that people taking Pepcid who had a history of heart disease suffered fewer heart failure symptoms. The researchers are quick to note that much work remains to be done. Report

A jumping gene first identified in a cabbage-eating moth may one day provide a safer, target-specific alternative to viruses for gene therapy, researchers say. They compared the ability of the four best-characterized jumping genes, or transposons, to insert themselves into a cell's DNA and produce a desired change, such as making the cell resistant to damage from radiation therapy. Release

A research team at Duke University Medical Center has identified mutations in the SLITKR1 gene that causes compulsive hair-pulling, a rare but frequently undiagnosed condition. There is no known therapy designed for trichotillomania, but the condition has been treated successfully with some depression therapies. Depression and anxiety are commonly associated with hair-pulling. The mutation is believed present in about five percent of all cases of trichotillomania. Release

Using an animal model, brain researchers in Göttingen have examined the effects of mutations that cause autism in humans. These are mutations in the genes which carry the building instructions for proteins in the neuroligin family. The study published in the scientific journal Neuron shows that neuroligins ensure that signal transmission between nerve cells functions. In the brain of genetically altered mice without neuroligins, the contact points at which the nerve cells communicate, the synapses, do not mature. Release

Researchers have developed a new computer-aided analysis technique to identify early cellular damage in Alzheimer's disease. The study is featured in the October issue of Radiology. Report

A statistician in the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences at The University of Melbourne, Australia, has developed a mathematical formula that is 75 percent accurate in predicting a woman's risk of having an osteoporotic fracture. Report

Alcohol abuse can impair a person's immune system. Alcohol abuse is also very common among individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus. New findings indicate that heavy drinking can accelerate time to AIDS among rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus. Release

Black women suffer significantly higher rates of mortality from uterine cancer than white women receiving the same treatment, suggesting that other factors are at work in the disease. Report

Researchers at the University of Bath are beginning a four-year project to determine how electron spin resonance imaging can be adapted to become a better predictor of serious illnesses. Report

Two new tools have been developed to predict an individual's risk of carrying a gene mutation linked with hereditary colorectal cancer. Use of these tools may guide decisions about genetic testing. Descriptions of these tools were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Release

A new study published in the Journal of Periodontology has found people who have more than four millimeters of alveolar bone loss from periodontal disease to be at increased risk of coronary heart disease. Release

Deals & Dollars

The X Prize Foundation plans to announce a $10 million prize for faster, cheaper DNA sequencing techniques. Report

The New York Times profiles Dr. Paul Greengard, who used his $400,000 award from the Nobel committee to fund an annual $50,000 prize for outstanding female biomedical researchers. Article

The Starr Foundation is putting up $100 million to create a new consortium of cancer research groups. The consortium will coordinate their work mapping cancer genes and researching new ways to interfere with the development of cancer. Report

The National Cancer Institute today announced awards totaling over $35.5 million to establish a network of teams that will investigate how to detect cancer by finding cancer-specific proteins and protein patterns in blood samples. The Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a leading member of the team based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in partnership with the University of California at San Francisco and the Buck Institute for Age Research. Release

The National Science Foundation has awarded Cornell University a $3.3 million grant to boost significantly--over the next five years--the percentage of women faculty members in the university's science and engineering departments. The grant begins on November 1, 2006. Release

The NIAID has granted five awards totaling $4 million for research into anti-radiation therapies. They will work on ways to clean the body of radioactive materials following exposure. Kenneth Raymond of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is the recipient of a $998,325 grant. Report

Tools & Technology

GE Healthcare has published the MicroArray Quality Control project, a collaborative effort led by the FDA that included 137 participants from 51 academic, government, and commercial institutions over a two year period. Release

Mirus Bio Corporation has unveiled a new RNAi tool to analyze gene function in vivo. Release

A new two million pound stem cell center is being created in Scotland that will provide stem cell lines to researchers. Report

Axela Biosensors and Abnova signed a collaborative agreement to co-develop reagents and biomarker panels for use on Axela's dotLab System. The dotLab System provides for the analysis, validation, and commercialization of protein biomarkers. Release