institute researchers

(Salk Institute) Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes.

The findings, published Feb. 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and provide insight into certain cancers.

(The Translational Genomics Research Institute) Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute have begun to identify mutations and cellular pathway changes that lead to lung cancer in never-smokers -- a first step in developing potential therapeutic targets.

(NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute) Researchers have identified important risk factors for death and transplantation in children with dilated cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), according to results from a study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

(Trudeau Institute) Researchers from the Smiley lab at the Trudeau Institute have now identified a single component of the plague causing bacterium that can be used as a vaccine.

This single "subunit" could potentially be used to create a safer form of a T cell-stimulating plague vaccine.

The new data is featured in the July issue of the Journal of Immunology.

(The Translational Genomics Research Institute) Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute will make two presentations at this week's 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, June 25-29, in Orlando, Fla.

(Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute) Researchers have shown that a peptide (a chain of amino acids) called iRGD helps co-administered drugs penetrate deeply into tumor tissue.

The peptide has been shown to substantially increase treatment efficacy against human breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers in mice, achieving the same therapeutic effect as a normal dose with one-third as much of the drug.

(Howard Hughes Medical Institute) Cancer biologists have long known that it takes the cooperation of multiple cancer-causing genes to cause cancer.

Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have shown that the cooperating mutations can occur in neighboring cells.

(Van Andel Research Institute) An indigenous family living in a mountainous area of Malaysian Borneo helped Van Andel Research Institute researchers to discover information about genetic mutations associated with acromegaly, a form of gigantism that often results in enlarged hands, feet and facial features.

(Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) The role of a protein called XIAP in the regulation of cell death has been identified by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers and has led them to recommend caution when drugs called IAP inhibitors are used to treat cancer patients with underlying liver conditions.

(Journal of the National Cancer Institute) Researchers have identified a new candidate tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer and examined its use as a potential biomarker in stool samples, according to a new study published online June 17 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.