Researchers identify biomarker and potential therapy target in multiple sclerosis

Researchers identify biomarker and potential therapy target in multiple sclerosis

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Researchers from Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) have found that proteins in the IL-6 signaling pathway may be leveraged as novel biomarkers of multiple sclerosis (MS) to gauge disease activity and as a target for new therapies. The research, which investigated how several components involved in immune response differ between MS patient and control samples, was conducted by a team of researchers at BRI led by Dr. Jane Buckner in collaboration with Dr. Mariko Kita at Virginia Mason Medical Center and was published today in Science Translational Medicine.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system affecting an estimated 400,000 people in the United States. MS is more prevalent in the Northwest region of the U.S. than almost anywhere else in the world. In the Northwest, the likelihood of being diagnosed with MS (2 in 1,000) is double that across the U.S. (1 in 1,000).

Under normal circumstances, effector T cells protect us from infection and cancer and it is the job of regulatory T cells to keep the effector T cells from attacking healthy tissue, thereby preventing autoimmune diseases such as MS. MS occurs when the immune system's effector T cells mistakenly attack myelin, which surrounds and protects the central nervous system. When the myelin is damaged, nerve impulses are not transmitted quickly or efficiently, resulting in symptoms such as numbness, weakness, vision problems, cognitive impairment or fatigue, among others. In Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS), individuals experience episodes of active disease, which include attacks of neurologic dysfunction, followed by periods of improvement.

Buckner's group found that the T cells of RRMS patients with active disease were able to avoid suppression by regulatory T cells, while those from patients with mild or well controlled MS did not exhibit this resistance to suppression. These results suggest that the presence or absence of T cell resistance to regulatory T cells could provide patients and physicians with valuable information about an individual's disease activity level and the potential for disease progression. The researchers also discovered that resistance to T cell suppression in RRMS patients was correlated with increased sensitivity to IL-6, a protein that is produced by the immune system that has been shown to contribute to the resistance of effector T cells to suppression. Buckner's group demonstrated that the patient samples that exhibited T cell resistance to suppression also were more sensitive to IL-6. Furthermore, when the signals generated by IL-6 were blocked in these T cells, the resistance to suppression was reversed, suggesting that therapies targeting the IL-6 pathway could potentially be used to modulate T cell resistance to suppression.

"These findings are an exciting step toward better understanding why MS occurs. They will help us to better assess the degree of disease activity in MS patients and lead us to consider new therapeutic approaches for MS" noted Dr. Buckner. "Therapies that target the IL-6 pathway are already available for treatment of other autoimmune diseases and should now be tested in MS."

Future research directions will include investigation of the role of T cell resistance to suppression and IL-6 signaling in MS onset and whether the IL-6 signaling components can be used as biomarkers to predict the severity of disease at the time of diagnosis or anticipate flares and disease progression. The samples used in this study were obtained through the BRI's Translational Research Program's Biorepository. Research funding was provided by Life Sciences Discovery Fund and JDRF.

###

Immune Tolerance Network: http://www.immunetolerance.org

Thanks to Immune Tolerance Network for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 70 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126554/Researchers_identify_biomarker_and_potential_therapy_target_in_multiple_sclerosis

touch nitrous oxide rihanna thug life tattoo arizona governor patrick witt leprosy tampa bay buccaneers

The Stir: 12 Wedding Dress Shopping Tips to Make 'Saying Yes' Less Stressful

Written by Maressa Brown on CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

Seems like back when our mothers got married, shopping for a wedding dress was so much simpler. They went with their moms to one shop where they picked their gown, or they had a family friend who made the dress, and that was that. It was like the opposite of today's "Say Yes"-fueled marathon try-outs involving dozens of designer dresses. Forget about "Running of the Brides," huge sample sales at Kleinfelds, or weekly trunk shows. Those are conventions we 21st century brides-to-be have exclusive rights to -- for better or worse.

Thankfully, I was able to find The Dress -- with my mom and my soon-to-be mother-in-law and other VIP ladies' input via iPhone! -- without enduring too much of the complete crazy you might witness on reality TV shows. But I certainly learned quite a few lessons along the way. Here, 12 of 'em I hope will help brides be better able to say they found their perfect gown ...

1. Your mother-in-law-to-be may not be your first pick for a shopping buddy, but if you can include her somehow -- even if you take her on one trip -- you could make her entire year. Being that mine never had sisters or daughters, it may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her to be involved in my dress search.

2. Some bridal salespeople listen ... Others don't, assuming you probably don't know what's best for you. I can't tell you how many times I heard that brides come in all the time asking for mermaid, lace, no beading and walk out the door having signed up for a frou-frou ball gown. Oookay. But many brides do know what they want (or don't). And if you know right away that the dress realllly isn't for you, speak up, and take it off. Playing along just to "be nice" is a frustrating time-suck.

3. At the same time, it never hurts to be open-minded and try something that you'd never choose for yourself. That's what ended up happening with my dress. I thought I wanted a defined A-line, but ended up finding out (thanks to an awesome sales associate) that a slim "modified" A-line did my curves more justice. If the people helping you are good at what they do, they may have a better eye for what works on you than you do.

4. Although plenty of bridal salons are strict about how many dresses you can try and snapping pics of your faves, there are those that don't mind either. For me, being able to take pics was a must, being that my mom and bridesmaids were all out of town. Thankfully, most of the stores I went to were more accommodating than not.

5. Once you get into your third or fourth trips out, you may want to fib about how, err, "experienced" you are. Assuming you're high maintenance, salespeople might show you fewer gowns and attempt to steer you to "the one" faster than they would otherwise.

6. Similarly, if you already think you may have fallen in love but want to do some comparison shopping (which is totally fair!), don't let on. That's when they'll steer you toward whatever it is you probably already know you want in an attempt to close the deal faster.

7. Do your best not to be swayed/pressured by a trunk show that's going on the day you hit the shop. The reps may make it seem like it's your last opportunity to get an awesome deal, but you may be able to get just as good a deal in other ways (at a different shop willing to negotiate or thanks to another type of offer).

8. Don't feel pressured into buying anything the same day, no matter how much blather they go into about your last chance! to order. Yes, it can take six to eight months for some gowns to come in, but as long as you get shopping early enough, you should be in fine shape!

9. Speaking of "shape," don't get freaked out about your size prior to trying on teeny tiny sample-size dresses (which don't reflect "street sizes" at all). As a weight-watching bride myself, I was surprised by the variety of sizes I encountered at various shops. Sure, they may have a dress you adore in an itsy-bitsy size, but there may still be ways to try it on (using stretchy bands and clips) so you can get the general idea. And while that kind of thing may seem embarrassing or demoralizing, I get the impression that most professional salespeople do what they can to "make it work" in a private dressing room and are completely accustomed to working with women of all shapes and sizes.

10. Do try to involve your bridesmaids/VIPs who live both near and far via texted photos. It's not the same as having them there in person -- but who wants too many cooks in the kitchen anyway?

11. Remember the dress can/will look very different once altered/accessorized. You can always get rid of the sash it comes with (hey, it may even look better without it!), add sleeves, amp up the "wow!" with extra bling, etc.

12. Second-guessing your dress is completely normal, especially given the HUGE amounts of pressure brides are under when it comes to finding the most hyped piece of clothing ever. And second-guessing doesn't necessarily mean it's not The Dress. You might just need to try it on twice (or, err, three!) times before you figure it out and everyone stops and stares and says, "OMG, this is your dress!" and then, you cry. Like I did. Oh, and once that happens, you HAVE to stop looking, cause otherwise, you'll probably drive yourself insane.

What's a lesson you learned that you'd share with other brides about dress shopping?

More from The Stir:

This Is Officially the Worst Email a Bride Could Ever Send to Her Bridesmaids

Cheap Brides Will Appreciate These Penny-Pinching Tips

Texting Bride Proves Technology Is Ruining Everything (VIDEO)

Inspiring Bride Survives Horrific Crime to Walk Down the Aisle

Front page photo by Flickr user Mariia Kratsova.

?

Follow The Stir on Twitter: www.twitter.com/The_Stir

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-stir/12-wedding-dress-shopping_b_2450893.html

lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks

APNewsBreak: Marines issue survey on women's role

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? A Marine Corps survey found about 17 percent of male Marine respondents said they would likely leave the Corps if women move into combat positions.

That number jumped to 22 percent if women are assigned involuntarily to those jobs, according to the survey.

Male Marines also listed among their top concerns fears about being falsely accused of sexual harassment or assault, fraternization or some Marines getting preferential treatment. They also worried women would be limited because of pregnancy or personal issues that could affect the unit before they are sent to the battlefield.

Results of the survey of 53,000 Marines were released to The Associated Press on Friday.

The survey was conducted last summer and the results were given to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta before he opened thousands of combat jobs to female service members last week.

Both sexes surveyed mentioned intimate relationships between Marines and feeling obligated to protect female Marines among their top five concerns about allowing women into ground combat jobs.

Women Marines listed among their top three concerns enemies targeting women as POWs, the risk of sexual harassment or assault and hygiene requirements, according to the results which did not given specifics.

The survey asked female Marines if they would feel pressured to suppress their femininity, something equal rights activists found offensive.

About 4 percent of female Marines surveyed said they would consider leaving if the ban was lifted. Even more would drop out if women were put into those positions involuntarily with about 17 percent of female respondents expressing they would cut their careers short under those circumstances.

About 31 percent of female respondents say they would be interested in moving into a combat position.

The commandant of the Marine Corps said the infantry side of the most male of all military branches is skeptical about how women will perform in their units, and some positions may end up closed again if too few females meet the physically demanding standards of combat.

Gen. James Amos made the remarks to reporters Thursday at a defense conference in San Diego hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and the defense trade group AFCEA.

Amos says most Marines support the policy change. He pointed out that over the past decade, many male service members already have been fighting alongside women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women who serve in supply troops, as clerks and with military police have ended up on the unmarked front lines of modern warfare, blurring the distinction between combat and noncombat jobs. More than 150 women have been killed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in support roles.

Many of the newly opened positions are in Army and Marine infantry units and in potentially elite commando jobs. It will be up to the military service chiefs to recommend and defend whether women should be excluded from any of those more demanding and deadly positions, such as Navy commandos or the Army's Delta Force.

The infantry units are smaller and spend more grueling time in battle.

"I think from the infantry side of the house, you know they're more skeptical," Amos said. "It's been an all-male organization throughout the history of the U.S. Marine Corps so I don't think that should be any surprise."

The Marine Corps is the most male of all the military branches. About 7 percent of Marines are female compared to about 14 percent overall for the armed forces.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-marines-issue-survey-womens-role-172039403.html

amelia earhart Sally Ride Ichiro minka kelly James Holmes court Rupert Sanders bachelorette

Social whodunnit competition launches in India

An experiment by Microsoft Research aims to see how people will interact to solve a puzzle that relies on teamwork and cellphones

ONLINE social networks have helped spur protest movements and put politicians in office. But the power of these networks is built on easy access to platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Now researchers at Microsoft are about to test the power of social technologies in a tougher setting: India, where just a tenth of the population has internet access.

Competitors in the Whodunit? Challenge will leverage the power of mobile phones and old-fashioned, face-to-face contact to solve a puzzle posed by a team based at Microsoft Research India in Bangalore. At stake is a prize of 100,000 rupees, or almost US$2,000, about twice the country's average annual income. The challenge will show us how people in developing countries use technology to collaborate across long distances and in time-critical situations.

The competition, beginning on 1 February, revolves around a fictional event and a set of five clues - the who, what, where, when and why - that describe the event. To obtain a clue, competitors have to call a number provided by Microsoft and hang up after a single ring. This practice, which tells the recipient they have missed a call, is commonly used in India as a means of prompting someone to ring back.

People in India try not to waste money on calls, says Rajan Vaish, a computer scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who is working on the experiment. "That's why the culture of the missed call is so important."

A missed call to the Microsoft number triggers a text message to the caller's mobile phone that contains one of the five clues. But the system will only send one message to each phone number. To collect the five clues needed to win, competitors will have to band together and share messages. The key to the competition is that some of the five clues will be sent out very rarely, so each team will need access to many phones to make enough calls to receive all the clues. Vaish estimates that a team will need to make about 500 calls to get the full set. The answers must be sent by text to Microsoft.

The researchers are leaving it up to competitors to decide how to collaborate. When a similar experiment was run in 2009 in the US, the winning team organised their efforts around a website and email. Neither service is widely available in India, so competitors may rely on social networks that revolve around work or places of study, says Vaish. He points out that people who interact with many individuals, such as rickshaw drivers, could do well.

The challenge is also an attempt to see what motivates people to organise themselves. In the US-based experiment, the winning team offered to share the reward to encourage strangers to contribute. Vaish says it will be interesting to see whether a similar method prevails in India, or if entrants band together using existing social ties.

Language is another factor. India has several hundred languages, including about 20 that are spoken by at least a million people. Each text will be sent in English and in the major language served by the local mobile phone provider, and the Microsoft team will pay close attention to the impact that linguistic barriers have on team formation. Some of the techniques the competitors use could be deployed by city governments that want to involve many people in a search, perhaps for a fugitive or a missing person. "This will demonstrate the power of crowd," says Vaish.

This article appeared in print under the headline "A social whodunnit"

Who needs the internet?

India's love of text messaging has spawned a huge social network that few outside the country have heard of. Users of GupShup, launched in 2007, can join groups dedicated to specific interests and exchange messages. A smartphone or computer is not required - any phone that can send a text will do. Requests to join a group, or post a message, are sent to a GupShup number, and the company's computers do the rest. CEO Beerud Sheth says GupShup has 60 million users, putting it on a par with Facebook in India, and handles up to 2 billion messages a month. The service can be accessed by smartphone app, but the firm's revenues rest mainly on the humble text message.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Have your say

Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.

Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article

Subscribe now to comment.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2814eae1/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg217290A250B50A0A0Esocial0Ewhodunnit0Ecompetition0Elaunches0Ein0Eindia0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

bobbi kristina brown new edition austerity rihanna and chris brown back together pebble beach clive davis cause of whitney houston death

Gabe Newell: Apple biggest threat in the living room

?

Steam founder fears Apple-curated living room gaming environment

Steam founder and game developer Gabe Newell gave a speech at the University of Texas, where the luminary claimed that Apple, not Microsoft or Sony, were the biggest threat to the company's upcoming "Steam Box" PC-based hardware. Newell believes that if Apple makes a move on the living room before the PC industry gets a foothold, then the Cupertino manufacturer can "shut out the open-source creativity" possible with the Steam platform.

The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform. I think that there?s a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging," Newell said.

In regards to Microsoft and Sony, Newell claimed that "Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room??

The Apple TV and its OS are derivatives of the iPhone and iPad operating system, but limited in what it can execute. Hardware on the Apple TV is more limited that existing mobile offerings, and is a single-core A5 processor. A future update to the Apple TV could contain more similar hardware to the iPad or iPhone, possibly making it a viable option for the living room, when coupled with some kind of wireless controller.

Extant hacks for the device add the potential for savvy users to install additional apps on the Apple TV. Media front-end replacements are most common, but apps that can be installed include emulators for popular consoles from the nineties, as well as a arcade hardware emulator.

By Electronista Staff

Source: http://electronista.feedsportal.com/c/34342/f/625515/s/28137b25/l/0L0Smacnn0N0Carticles0C130C0A10C30A0Csteam0Bfounder0Bfears0Bapple0Bcurated0Bliving0Broom0Bgaming0Benvironment0C/story01.htm

Shark Week London 2012 closing ceremony Shark Week 2012 evelyn lozada UFC 150 Caster Semenya Medal Count 2012 Olympics

We want your UFC 156 picks

This Saturday, Frankie Edgar, the one-time UFC lightweight champion, will try to win the belt at featherweight from champion Jose Aldo at UFC 156. We want to know who you think will win this and the other main card bouts.

Here's the drill: Pick a fight from the main card.

Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar - for featherweight title
Rashad Evans vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva
Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia
Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian McCall

Then go to Cagewriter's Facebook page, like it and tell who you think will win and why. Selected picks will run here on Friday morning. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/want-ufc-156-picks-233140742--mma.html

madonna halftime show linsanity the alamo anencephaly tesla model x lou gehrig toby mac

2 Comments - Yeshiva World News

An estimated 300 new items are expected to be introduced for Passover, according to an early survey by KosherToday. Sources in the kosher food industry say that new product introductions have driven profits in the past 5-7 years and this year will be no exception. Kosher Today will publish its annual review of new products for Passover in its next issue of February 4th.

But some of the new products are not without controversy. Some rabbis are concerned that newly developed products for Passover look too much like year-round products and may potentially confuse customers as well as store personnel. Rabbis in Israel have required factories like Osem to use bags or different canisters for their Passover croutons. Other rabbis in the US have told congregants to avoid eating foods that ?look, smell and sometimes taste? like chametz.

Brooklyn-based US Chocolate is the largest manufacturer and supplier of Passover baking ingredients. They produce a Passover Dough Base which can be made into fresh pizza. Their free flowing base can produce delicious Passover pizza, rolls, knishes, and many more items that closely mimic the year-round baked with just adding water, oil, and an egg (all a shehakol, non gebrokt and non kitniyos). It is but one example of foods that are being made to taste like the year-round foods but yet are made with ingredients that make them fit for Passover.

In years past such foods include bread crumbs and cereals, not to speak of bagels and pizza. While an increasing number of products are made to look and taste like the year-round versions, some rabbis remain concerned about the possible confusion.

(Source: Kosher Today)

Add your comment
Subscribe to RSS Feed For This Article

Source: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=154941

gisele bundchen tom brady randy travis arrested dickens greg kelly cujo karen handel hangout