Category: Disease Discoveries
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Auditory Pain Pathway May Protect Against Hearing Loss
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a novel pain pathway in the inner ear that warns of dangerously loud noise and may act as a “bodyguard” for the ears, protecting against hearing loss.
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New Human Enzyme Provides Genetic Link to Gestational Diabetes
A new study from Northwestern Medicine and Duke University has identified an enzyme that may be a genetic predictor for whether an expectant mother develops hyperglycemia.
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Fat Tissue May Be Key to Scleroderma’s Progression
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that scar-forming cells in scleroderma come from fat tissue within layers of the skin, a new cellular origin that could be a key to developing treatments for the incurable disease.
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SuperAger Brains Yield New Clues To Their Remarkable Memories
Brains of elderly patients with very sharp memories – patients known as cognitive SuperAgers – look distinctly different than their elderly peers, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
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Legionnaires’ Disease Provides New Insights on Bacterial Systems
Northwestern Medicine scientists demonstrated the ability of a protein, Cas2, in Legionella pneumophila to cleave nucleic acids resulting in increased infectivity in amoebae, its host organism and transmission vehicle for human infection of Legionnaires’ disease.
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Exploring Upper Motor Neuron Degeneration in ALS
Northwestern Medicine scientists have revealed a mechanism underlying the cellular degeneration of the upper motor neurons that die in ALS, and developed a model system that will allow further research on the degeneration.
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Lysosome Dysfunction Linked to Infant Failure to Thrive
Neonatal intestinal disorders that prevent infants from getting the nutrients they need may be caused by defects in the lysosomal system, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
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Investigating Mechanisms of Fibrogenesis in Fetal Liver Disease
Peter Whitington, MD, professor in Pediatrics-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, found signaling pathways and tubule cell formation that drive fibrosis in gestational alloimmune liver disease.
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Mucus Proteins May Control Asthma
Sugars on a specific mucus protein can induce the death of a white blood cell called an eosinophil, which causes asthma, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
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A New Target for Improving Movement Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Excessive brain plasticity in the subthalamic nucleus may be pivotal to abnormal brain activity and impaired movement in Parkinson’s disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
