Health Problems

Protein dynamics in the beating heart

The protein titin is a large structural component of the sarcomere—the machinery that mediates contraction of cardiac muscle cells. Despite its importance to the beating heart, little is known about titin turnover. Adrian Cadar, Ph.D., and colleagues have now used the microscopy technique FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) to study titin dynamics in contracting cardiomyocytes. […]

Health Problems

Hamsters may hold the clue to beating obesity

The global obesity crisis shows no signs of abating, and we urgently need new ways to tackle it. Consuming fewer calories and burning more energy through physical activity is a proven way to lose weight, but it’s clearly easier said than done. The problem with eating less and moving more is that people feel hungry […]

Health Problems

Combination approach shows promise for beating advanced melanoma

A UCLA-led study has found that a treatment that uses a bacteria-like agent in combination with an immunotherapy drug could help some people with advanced melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, live longer. The research showed that using the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and the experimental agent SD-101, a sequence of nucleic acids that mimics […]