A series of studies published in the September Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) shows that molecular imaging plays a critical role in the evaluation and treatment planning for a broad spectrum of cancers, including thyroid cancer and lymphoma.

A long-held assumption about asymmetrical division of stem cells has cracked. Researchers at the University of Oregon report that the mitotic spindle does not act alone -- that cortical proteins help to position a cleavage furrow in the right location.

smaller components and then transported through the gut wall and onwards to muscles and organs. The lining of the gut is coated in epithelial cells, a specialised layer that produces mucous and hormones while keeping dangerous bacteria and toxins at bay. Close contact with pathogenic microbes and toxins means that the epithelial cells may mutate to form cancer. The small intestine therefore secretes the entire epithelial layer in the course of two to five days, while the large intestine takes three weeks to perform the same process.

University of British Columbia researchers have led the development of a new "toolbox of MiniPromoters" for research and future therapies on brain, spinal cord and eye function.

A specific type of fat present in cell membranes also serves as a cellular pH sensor, a team of University of British Columbia researchers has discovered.

Acidity (pH) in cells of baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, regulate the synthesis of cell membranes by controlling the production of enzymes that synthesize membranes. These are the findings of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, in close collaboration with systems biologists at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The results of this research have just been published in the journal Science. The elucidated mechanism is so simple and universal that it is highly likely that it determines many processes in the cell in all forms of life.

Certain pathogens make themselves at home in the human body by invading cells and living off the plentiful amenities on offer there. However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, together with colleagues at Harvard University, have discovered a contrary strategy to ensure infection success: some pathogens can actually delay their entry into cells to ensure their survival. Upon contact with a cell, these bacteria engage signalling molecules in the cell and trigger a local strengthening of the cellular skeleton that resists pathogen entry. This strategy, unknown until now, is used by the sexually transmitted bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, as well as by an important intestinal pathogen.

Scientists today reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

Mutations in a single gene can cause several types of developmental brain abnormalities that experts have traditionally considered different disorders. With support from the National Institutes of Health, researchers found those mutations through whole exome sequencing – a new gene scanning technology that cuts the cost and time of searching for rare mutations.