A role for ovarian hormones has been suspected in airway inflammation but the cellular target for such action is not known. In a study published in March Thorax, Zhaoa and colleagues from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and the University of Medical Sciences, Changchun, China, provide evidence that mast cells can be a target for sex hormones in the airways.Using immunohistochemistry, Zhaoa et al examined inflammatory nasal polyp tissues from 47 subjects and found that only mast cells

CD8+ T cells can detect CMV-infected cells, even though CMV interferes with MHC class I antigen presentation.

In cerebral stroke an interruption of blood flow to the brain causes neuronal death. Several molecules have emerged in recent years as potentially protective for hypoxic neurons and may be of use in the treatment of stroke. In March Nature Medicine two groups report the identification of different proteins having these protective properties.Takao Sakai and colleagues from Lund University in Sweden studied plasma fibronectin-deficient adult mice using Cre-loxP conditional gene-knockout technology

There is preliminary evidence that women with malignant breast tumours that contain high levels of the protein BAG-1 have a longer survival time.

B, can explain the hyper-IgM syndrome associated with ectodermal dysplasia.

Endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 is consistently present on the trabecular meshwork cells in the outflow pathways of eyes with glaucomas of diverse etiology.

Anaphylactic shock is normally triggered by foreign antigens but a self-antigen can trigger it in a mouse model, presumably because the antigen is not expressed in the thymus.

A significant decrease in erythroid differentiation-related factor (EDRF) RNA can be detected in the blood of animals infected with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.

peptide, which makes up the characteristic brain plaques of Alzheimer's disease, is not secreted by neurons from mice that lack the BACE1 secretase.

express different groups of genes, suggesting that a heritable mutation influences the gene-expression profile of the cancer.

Separate systems in the brain underlie the cognitive processing of different types of joke, whereas the pleasurable effect associated with 'getting' a joke involves shared circuitry known to process rewards.

The transcription factor neurogenin induces neurogenesis and inhibits the differentiation of neural stem cells into astrocytes using distinct mechanisms.