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Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which a hormone can protect the blood vessels in the kidneys from the damage caused by diabetes. In doing so, the team has identified a potential early treatment strategy to prevent or slow progression of kidney disease in people with diabetes. Kidney damage from diabetes usually happens slowly over many years. One of the ways damage can be caused is by disruption of the glycocalyx—a thin gel-like layer lining the surface of the blood vessels forming part of the tiny filters of the kidney ('glomeruli')—due to high blood sugar levels over a long period...

A protein called T-cadherin docks the fat hormone adiponectin to the heart, where it guards against stress-induced damageLA JOLLA, Calif., November 1, 2010 – One of the many advantages of maintaining a normal body weight is having healthy fat, which in turn supports a healthy heart. Fat tissue is increasingly seen as more than just a storage depot – it's also an active secretory organ that normally produces high levels of a cardioprotective hormone called adiponectin. How adiponectin protects the hearts of healthy people has long been a mystery, and now a team led by Barbara Ranscht, Ph.D. and Pilar...

They are the building blocks of flab, the wages of cheesecake, the bloated little sacks of grease that make more of us - more than we can fit into our pants. Scorned and despised, they are sucked out surgically by the billions from bulging backsides, bellies and thighs. But they are not without admirers. "Fat cells are beautiful cells to look at," said Dr. Philipp E. Scherer, an associate professor of cell biology and medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "I've been working with them for 10 years and I still enjoy looking at them." On...