News & Updates

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have cured mice with Chuvash polycythemia, a life-threatening disorder that involves the overproduction of red blood cells, with the experimental drug, Tempol.The findings offer hope that Tempol or a similar drug may treat polycythemias that affect humans, such as mountain sickness—a serious blood complication experienced in low-oxygen, high-altitude settings.

The first 3D structure of DHHC proteins—enzymes involved in many cellular processes, including cancer—explains how they function and may offer a blueprint for designing therapeutic drugs, according to an NICHD study.

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

The deadliest malaria parasite needs two proteins to infect red blood cells and exit the cells after it multiplies, a finding that may provide researchers with potential new targets for drug development.

Infant cries activate specific brain regions related to movement and speech, according to an NICHD-led study of mothers in 11 countries.

An experimental drug appears to slow the progression of Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC1), a fatal neurological disease, according to results of a clinical study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study appears in The Lancet.

Scientists have demonstrated how an investigational drug works against a rare, fatal genetic disease, Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1).

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a key step in the process that HIV uses to inject its genetic material into cells.

Brain proteins known as neuregulins are important for establishing normal brain activity, according to recent studies led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

A small study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health suggests that mutations in the gene CABLES1 may lead to Cushing syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body overproduces the stress hormone cortisol. The study appears online in Endocrine-Related Cancer.

A molecule may work with the hormone melatonin to regulate 24-hour changes in metabolism, including sleep and wake cycles, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

A device that calibrates MRI scanners to improve image and data quality has received U.S. patent approval. The inventors are researchers at NICHD and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

NICHD researchers show that proteins known for silencing viral genes left over from ancient infections can also play an essential role in fetal and placental development.

HIV appears to enlist the aid of nano-sized structures released by infected cells to infect new cells, according to a study by researchers at NICHD.

National Institutes of Health researchers studying zebrafish have determined that a population of cells that protect the brain against diseases and harmful substances are not immune cells, as had previously been thought, but instead likely arise from the lining of the circulatory system.

Energy production in mitochondria—structures within cells that produce energy from oxygen and nutrients—relies on a group of proteins previously not linked to this process, according to a study by NICHD researchers.

Uneven distribution of lysosomes, the structures that break down unneeded or worn-out cell parts, can impair the shape and function of neurons, according to a study led by NICHD researchers.

The misdelivery of proteins to lysosomes, the structures within cells that break down unneeded or worn-out proteins, fats, carbohydrates and cell parts, appears to underlie a family of rare neurodegenerative diseases.

Immune system proteins called Themis are essential for helping two major types of infection-fighting immune cells mature, according to two studies led by researchers at NICHD.

Infants whose mothers smoked cigarettes throughout pregnancy had higher levels of an inflammation marker called interleukin-8 at birth, according to an NICHD study.