protein but did not affect the endoproteolysis of presenilins involved in cell defence.

Active antisense oligonucleotides directed against the insulin-like growth factor type I receptor (IGF-IR/AS ODN) have shown potential as an antitumour agent in animal studies. In April Journal of Clinical Oncology David Andrews and colleagues from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, describe their novel implantation of IGF-IR/AS ODN treated cells in patients with astrocytoma.Andrews et al studied 12 patients treated by surgery for malignant astrocytoma. Glioma cells collected at

contains genes acquired from a variety of organisms that are implicated in the development of antibiotic resistance.

-adrenergic receptor signalling or excitation-contraction coupling can prevent systolic dysfunction, exercise intolerance and cardiac remodelling.

Trefoil peptide TFF2 secretion has a circadian rhythm with highest concentrations detected during the night sleep, suggesting repair of gastric mucosa occurs at this time.

contains 1,752 predicted protein-encoding genes, more than 40 of them identified as putative virulence-associated genes.

The liver is the primary organ involved in heme detoxification under disease conditions, but its self-protective mechanisms against toxic compounds are unknown. In the April Gastroenterology Takanori Kyokane and colleagues from Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, suggest that carbon monoxide (CO), the gaseous product of heme oxygenase (HO), may have a protective role against hepatobiliary dysfunction caused by heme overloading under sepsis and stress conditions.Kyokane et al perfused l

Intravenous infusion of bone-derived marrow stromal cells can enter the brain and reduce neurological functional deficits after stroke.

To evaluate the best tactics for fighting the current foot and mouth crisis in the UK, a team from Imperial College School of Medicine, London applied a mathematical model and calculated the potential for disease transmission, given different scenarios. In their report in 13 April Science online they show that rapid, pre-emptive ring culling of livestock surrounding the sites with infected animals is the best way to slow the epidemic.Ferguson et al fed the current epidemiological data into a mat

A gene defect in the detoxifying enzyme epoxide hydrolase is associated with pre-eclampsia in pregnancy.

Inherited defects in the mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation pathway can lead to lipotoxic cardiomyopathy and sudden death in children and young adults. The exact chain of pathologic events remains unknown, but in the 1 April Journal of Clinical Investigation Hsiu-Chiang Chiu and colleagues from Washington University School of Medicine describe the development of a murine model of metabolic cardiomyopathy. The study also suggests that lipotoxic cardiomyopathy is based on a mismatch between myocar

Eosinophils have been implicated in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal inflammation but the signalling processes involved in the accumulation of eosinophils have not been fully established. In the April Nature Immunology Simon Hogan and colleagues from the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, US and the Australian National University, Canberra describe the pathological consequences of eosinophilic inflammation and the involvement of eotaxin in the accumulation of eosinophils in the