Latest Nature Medicine Stories

Test likely to proceed to clinical trials In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries. The study builds on a discovery that, in mice, a key protein can...

Study in Nature Medicine could lead to novel therapy for cancer In a study published in Nature Medicine, Loyola researchers report on a promising new technique that potentially could turn immune system killer T cells into more effective weapons against infections and possibly cancer. The technique involves delivering DNA into the immune system's instructor cells. The DNA directs these cells to overproduce a specific protein that jumpstarts important killer T cells. These killer cells...

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have for the first time isolated stem cells that are capable of producing what appear to be normal egg cells or oocytes from the ovaries of reproductive age women. According to BBC News Health and Science Reporter James Gallagher, the research demonstrates that it could be possible to someday create a virtually unlimited supply of human eggs to assist with fertility treatments and help women hoping to have a child. Gallagher also...

MD Anderson research shows promise for patients suffering from chronic pain By reformulating the common cancer drug imatinib (Gleevec®), researchers have eliminated morphine tolerance in rats – an important step toward improving the effectiveness of chronic pain management in patients, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Narcotics such as morphine are a mainstay of chronic pain treatment. Over time, tolerance to the pain-relieving effects of...

The study identifies the USP15 protein as a new therapeutic target which, due to its molecular characteristics, will accelerate drug development against cancer After years studying the molecular bases of glioblastoma - the most common brain tumor and one of the most aggressive of all cancers, the group led by Dr. Joan Seoane , Director of Translational Research at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and ICREA Research Professor has today published a study in Nature Medicine...

Successful testing in mice paves the way toward human trials for patients with osteoporosis A research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones. Once these cells are guided to the bone surface by this molecule, the stem cells differentiate into bone-forming cells and synthesize proteins to enhance bone...

Researchers at the University of Southampton, University of Oxford and Retroscreeen Virology Ltd have discovered a series of peptides, found on the internal structures of influenza viruses that could lead to the development of a universal vaccine for influenza, one that gives people immunity against all strains of the disease, including seasonal, avian, and swine flu. Influenza, an acute viral infection, affects hundreds of thousands of people a year and puts an enormous strain on...

UCLA findings point to new treatment pathways for infectious diseases A team of UCLA scientists has found that the pathogen that causes leprosy has a remarkable ability to avoid the human immune system by inhibiting the antimicrobial responses important to our defenses. In one of the first laboratory studies of its kind, researchers discovered that the leprosy pathogen Mycobacterium leprae was able to reduce and evade immune activity that is dependent on vitamin D, a natural hormone...

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy. This new magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technique provides a definitive diagnosis of cancer based on imaging of a protein associated with a mutated gene found in 80 percent of low-...

A molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. The cholesterol receptor offers a promising new target for anti-viral therapy, for which an approved drug may already exist, say the researchers, whose findings were reported online in advance of publication in Nature Medicine....