1. Detecting Risk of Heart Attacks – Celera Announces Issuance of United States Patent Relating to LPA Gene Variant Associated with Increased Risk for myocardial Infarction. Celera Corporation (ticker: CRA) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued United States Patent 7,781,168 relating to methods of determining heart attack risk by detecting the Ile4399Met genetic polymorphism in the protease-like domain of LPA. Studies have shown this variant of the LPA gene is associated with a two-fold higher risk of major cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke and cardiovascular death). The increased risk of cardiovascular events observed in LPA carriers was independent of other well known risk factors associated with cardiovascular events (hypertension, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, and age) which further supports the conclusion that a LPA gene variant as an independent predictor of risk for myocardial infarction. LPA encodes apolipoprotein (a) which is a protein component of Lp(a) plasma lipoprotein particles and the gene variant results in an amino acid substitution (methionine for isoleucine) in the protease-like domain of apolipoprotein(a). Carriers of the LPA gene variant also had higher plasma Lp(a) levels.
Source: TechnologyReview

2. Scientists Find a Link in Humans Between Nerve Cell Production, Memory – Production of new nerve cells in the human brain is linked to learning and memory, according to a new study from the University of Florida (UF). The research is the first to show such a link in humans. The findings, published online and in an upcoming print issue of the journal Brain, provide clues about processes involved in age- and health-related memory loss and reveal potential cellular targets for drug therapy. The researchers studied how stem cells in the hippocampus (a memory-related region of the brain) proliferate and change into different types of nerve cells. “The findings suggest that if we can increase the regeneration of nerve cells in the hippocampus we can alleviate or prevent memory loss in humans,” said Florian Siebzehnrubl, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience in the UF College of Medicine, and co-first author of the study. “This process gives us what pharmacologists call a ‘druggable target.’”
Source: EurerkAlert