Veni vidi vici: How natural killer cells conquer the superbug Klebsiella
The inappropriate or excessive use of anti-microbial agents in past decades has propelled the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant microbial pathogens. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency, each year about 25.000 patients in the EU die from infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria. Globally, 700.000 people per year die due to antimicrobial resistance.
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Vitamin D linked with better live birth rates in women undergoing assisted reproduction
Researchers are calling for a randomised clinical trial to be carried out to investigate the potential role of vitamin D supplementation in improving live birth rates following assisted reproduction treatment (ART). This follows a review and meta-analysis published in Human Reproduction, one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals, that shows a strong link between low vitamin D concentrations in women and lower live birth rates after ART compared to women who have the right amount of vitamin D in their bodies.
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UK study shows cell signaling interaction may prevent key step in lung cancer progression
New findings from University of Kentucky faculty published in Scientific Reports reveals a novel cell signaling interaction that may prevent a key step in lung cancer progression. Kentucky continues to lead the nation in incidence and death rates from lung cancer, and the UK College of Pharmacy is committed to reducing these numbers.
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Colon cancer breakthrough could lead to prevention - and the foods that can help
Colon cancer, Crohn's, and other diseases of the gut could be better treated - or even prevented - thanks to a new link between inflammation and a common cellular process, established by the University of Warwick. Led by Dr Ioannis Nezis at Warwick's School of Life Sciences, new research demonstrates that autophagy - an essential process whereby cells break down and recycle harmful or damaged elements within themselves to keep our bodies healthy - causes tissue inflammation when dysfunctional, which in turn leaves us susceptible to harmful diseases, particularly in the gut.
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CSIC tightens the noose around superbugs
A team led by researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has made an important breakthrough in the battle against superbugs and their resistance to multiple drugs. Scientists have designed molecules which can break the cellular mechanisms which lead these bacteria to becoming unaffected by conventional antibiotics. The results of this discovery are published in the latest issue of the journal, Cell.
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Cancer cells destroyed with dinosaur extinction metal
Cancer cells can be targeted and destroyed with the metal from the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, according to new research by an international collaboration between the University of Warwick and Sun Yat-Sen University in China. Researchers from the Professor Sadler and Professor O’Connor groups in Warwick's Department of Chemistry and Professor Hui Chao's group at Sun Yat-Sen have demonstrated that iridium - the world's second densest metal - can be used to kill cancer cells by filling them with deadly version of oxygen, without harming healthy tissue.
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New toolkit reveals novel cancer genes
A new statistical model has enabled researchers to pinpoint 27 novel genes thought to prevent cancer from forming, in an analysis of over 2000 tumours across 12 human cancer types. The findings could help create new cancer treatments that target these genes, and open up other avenues of cancer research.
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