University of Manchester researchers have identified a genetic variant in a region on chromosome 6 that is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common inflammatory arthritis affecting 387,000 people in the UK.

Professor Jane Worthington and her team at the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) Epidemiology Unit at the University investigated 9 genetic regions identified earlier this year as potentially harbouring DNA variants determining susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. Association to one of the variants on chromosome 6 was unequivocally confirmed, reports this week’s Nature Genetics (4 November 2007).

Two common dietary molecules found in legumes and bran could protect DNA from the harmful effects of radiation, researchers from the University of Maryland report.

Inositol and inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) protected both human skin cells and a skin cancer-prone mouse from exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, the damaging radiation found in sunlight, the team reported today at the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine.

According to the researchers, inositol and IP6 could decrease the severity of side effects from radiation therapy, saving healthy cells while simultaneously increasing the potency of the treatment against cancer cells.

Why are African-American patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) less likely to be placed on waiting lists for kidney transplantation? It's not because they live farther away from transplant centers, reports a study being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Francisco.

However, black patients who live in poorer neighborhoods are less likely to be placed on transplant waiting lists than white patients. "This finding warrants further exploration but suggests that racial disparity in the waitlisting process may indeed be a reflection of differential access to healthcare," comments Dr. Sandra Amaral of Emory University, co-author of the study.

For older patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the results of kidney transplants from "expanded criteria non-beating-heart" donors are not good, according to a paper presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Francisco.

Led by Dr. Jagbir Gill of University of California Los Angeles, the researchers analyzed the outcomes of nearly 31,000 patients aged 60 or older who received deceased-donor kidney transplants in the United States between 1995 and 2006. Data for the study came from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS). The researchers compared the results of transplants from different types of donors:

A new study led by Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute senior scientist, Elizabeth Theil, Ph.D., is the first to suggest that a small protein or heptapeptide (seven amino acids wrapped into one unit) could be used to accelerate the removal of iron from ferritin. The results of this study may help scientists develop new medications that dramatically improve the removal of excess iron in patients diagnosed with blood diseases such as B-Thalassemia (Cooley's anemia) or Sickle Cell Disease.

The study appears in this month's issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was conducted by Dr. Theil and her co-authors Xiaofeng S. Liu, postdoctoral fellow at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Marvin J. Miller, Ph.D. and Leslie D.

An international team of scientists today announced the results of a systematic effort to map the genetic changes underlying lung cancer, the world’s leading cause of cancer deaths.

The research provides a comprehensive view of the abnormal genetic landscape in lung cancer cells, revealing more than 50 genomic regions that are frequently gained or lost in human lung tumors. While one-third of these regions contain genes already known to play important roles in lung cancer, the majority harbor new genes yet to be discovered.