‘All human body cells contain the same DNA, but every type of cell – for example a muscle cell compared to that of a nerve – has a different gene expression pattern’, said Dr Sonja Stadler, speaking at the 2012 congress of DGKL (German Society for Clinical Chemistry).
Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have shed light on the activity of a protein pair found in cells that form the walls of blood vessels in the brain and retina, experiments that could lead to therapeutic control of the blood-brain barrier and of blood vessel growth in the eye.
Johns Hopkins surgeons have established a facial transplantation team and are in the process of obtaining approval from the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) of their protocol to perform the complicated procedure.
Major advances in Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) lead to a tremendous interest in new surgical endoscopes. The advantages of minimally invasive surgery via natural body orifices, such as the mouth, are obvious: less post-operative pain, a minor infection rate, minor incisional hernia, shorter hospitalisation and, finally, better cosmetic results. Karoline Laarmann reports
The European Research Council (ERC) has earmarked about €2.5 mio. to fund the research being conducted by gastroenterologist and biochemist Professor Dr. Dr. Detlef Schuppan at Mainz University Medical Center. Professor Schuppan is a specialist in liver diseases ranging from fibrosis to cirrhosis (the terminal stage of fibrosis) to hepatic cancer.
Gathering in Austria, plastic surgeons proclaim the need for clarification and standards. Michael Krassnitzer reports
HI-RTE allows the assessment and real-time colour display of tissue elasticity. The current generation ultrasound modality has proven applications in breast, prostate, thyroid and pancreatic disease and where diagnostic biopsy is indicated, HI-RTE allows more accurate localization and targeting of lesions.
Too much unhealthy food, too little exercise – the risk factors for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and Type 2 diabetes are not only similar but also form a life-threatening alliance.
Dr Bill Svensson believes that elastography has the potential to improve diagnosis of breast cancer, reduce the number of false positives in the detection of the condition and also lead to fewer biopsies performed as accuracy of imaging improves further. This June he highlighted the potential of elastography and the developments in the imaging modality at two sessions at the United Kingdom…
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Evaluation of the axillary lymph nodes is essential to insure complete cancer removal. Fluorescence imaging instead of radioisotopes is an innovative method for sentinel lymph node detection.
Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are developing a technique based on a new discovery which could pave the way towards detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages - and could help to develop urgently-needed treatments.
In 2005, when they founded the French ultrasound company SuperSonic Imagine, Jacques Souquet PhD and Claude Cohen-Bacrie had to convince radiologists that they not only offered a new product but also a completely new ultrasound technology that could measure entirely new parameters.
Who has not dreamed at least once to live in future times? Who would not want that one’s today incurable diseases may be cured in the future by medical progress? Long-time cryopreservation immediately after death is the betting ticket to that future.
Cornelis Van De Velde, Professor of Surgical Oncology at the Leiden University Medical Centre, in the Netherlands, and President of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), describes the work and aims of the society within the EU.
The trend towards personalised medicine implies the development of targeted cancer therapy. Tissue based examinations by pathologists play a key role in this trend. However, the relevance is still underestimated as pathologist Professor Manfred Dietel noted in his lecture at the European Forum on Oncology 2010 in Berlin, which explained what pathology already actually renders to targeted cancer…
The world consists of molecules – so do we. With the progression of measurement tools such as microscopes, centrifuges, or spectrometers, mankind is becoming better and better in identifying the substances from which our world is made. Today, with the technical developments in mass spectrometry, biomolecules can be weighted with the highest precision and accuracy ever known, placing it among…
Interfaces between the brain and electrical circuits in technical devices or computers open new perspectives for basic research and medical application, e.g., for therapeutic brain stimulation and neuroprosthetics. The new EU project CORONET will develop the technological and theoretical foundations for such future “bio-hybrid” interfaces between biological and artificial nervous tissues.
Neurons communicate via chemical transmitters which they store in the bubble-like synaptic vesicles and release as required. To be able to react reliably to stimulation, neurons must have a certain number of "acutely releasable" vesicles. With the help of a new method, German neuroscientists have now discovered that neurons systematically recycle the protein components necessary for transmitter…
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the engine that drives tumour growth. They can not only reproduce themselves but also differentiate to form all the specialised cells found within a tumour. While chemotherapy and radiotherapy non-specifically target all rapidly dividing cells, there is increasing evidence that CSCs are more resistant to these treatments. Report: Karoline Laarmann
Tissue hardness provides radiologists and gynaecologists with significant information to help distinguish between benign and malignant tumours. Tumour tissue is harder and less malleable than normal glandular and fatty tissues. Therefore, the classification of tissue hardness determines whether a biopsy is necessary. For breast diagnoses, real-time tissue elastography, along with conventional…
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that they may be able to monitor the aging process in the brain, by using MRI technique to measure the brain lactic acid levels. Their findings suggest that the lactate levels increase in advance of other aging symptoms, and therefore could be used as an indicator of aging and age-related diseases of the CNS.
Used in numerous orthopaedic medical procedures, PMMA is a self-curing two component system that includes liquid and powder components. The liquid is methylmethacrylate monomer, a known deadly toxin, and PMMA toxicity is well documented in medical journals and regulatory publications. After many years of reported patient issues related to PMMA, doctors began calling these surgical complications…
Precise regulation of tissue architecture is critical for organ function. Single cells build up a tissue by communicating with their environment and with other cells, thereby receiving instructions on whether to divide, change shape or migrate. An interdisciplinary group of researchers from several Max Planck Institutes have now identified a mechanism by which skin cells organize their interior…
Ten years ago, molecular biologist Dr Peter H J Riegman set up a unique bio-bank for medical research at the pathology department of Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Erasmus MC Tissue Bank now holds 30,000 samples from about 15,000 patients. However, when Dr Riegman discusses his bio-bank with international colleagues they do not immediately associate it with a clinic or…
Biopsy developed into an invaluable diagnostic tool in many organ systems. Advanced imaging technologies have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward imaging-guided percutaneous or through the skin techniques, according to a new study appearing online and in the September print edition of the journal Radiology.