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The unwanted activation of an important cell-signaling pathway may play a role in two kidney problems that are major causes of end-stage renal disease, scientists have found. Their research opens up a novel approach for treating kidney failure.

Biologists have deciphered the structure of a large protein complex responsible for adding sugar molecules to newly formed proteins -- a process essential to many proteins' functions. The structure offers insight into the molecular "sugar-coating" mechanism, and may help scientists better understand a variety of diseases that result when the process goes awry.

A new class of painkillers that block a receptor called TRPV1 may interfere with brain functions such as learning and memory, a new study suggests. The experiments with rat brain found that the TRPV1 receptor regulates a neural mechanism called long-term depression, which is believed to be central to establishing memory pathways in the brain.

A cup of black tea could be the next line of defense in the threat of bio-terrorism according to new international research. A new study has revealed how the humble cup of tea could well be an antidote to Bacillus anthracis -- more commonly know as anthrax. Components in English breakfast tea such as polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the activity of anthrax.

Molecular biologists have found one piece of the complex puzzle of autophagy, the process of 'self-eating' performed by all eukaryotic cells -- cells with a nucleus -- to keep themselves healthy. This finding is important because it allows scientists to control this one aspect of cellular autophagy, and may lead to the ability to control other selective “self-eating” processes. This, in turn, could help illuminate autophagy’s role in aging, immunity, neurodegeneration and cancer.

Previous scientific research findings have helped to warn consumers that the pH (potential of hydrogen) levels in beverages such as soda could lead to tooth erosion, the breakdown of tooth structure caused by the effect of acid on the teeth that leads to decay. However, the pH level of soft drinks isn't the only factor that causes dental erosion. A beverage's "buffering capacity," or the ability to neutralize acid, plays a significant role in the cause of dental erosion. Popular energy drinks also cause tooth erosion.

Investigators have identified a new mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The mechanism may also shed some light on why gene therapy experiments that use adenoviruses to deliver genes to humans have run into problems.

An investigational antiviral drug currently undergoing human trials in Europe for treating hepatitis C infections may have potential to reduce muscle cell damage in Duchenne and other forms of muscular dystrophy according to results using three different mouse models of MD.

Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness -- age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy -- can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers have discovered.

Girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder stand a substantially greater risk of developing eating disorders in adolescence than girls without ADHD, a new study has found. "Adolescent girls with ADHD frequently develop body-image dissatisfaction and may go through repeating cycles of binge eating and purging behaviors that are common in bulimia nervosa," said the psychologist who led the study.