A new study suggests that the hormone estrogen works in partnership with other proteins to activate or suppress gene activity in breast cancer cells.
Surprisingly, one of the partner proteins is known as c-MYC, a gene activator that has long been associated with cancer development but was not known to interact with estrogen during tumor progression.
The study, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and R
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln’s grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum– the part of the brain that controls movement. A report on this discovery will appear in the February print issue of Nature Genetics.
The joint finding of the SCA5 mutation comes over a decade after initial
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech, Colorado State University, and Duke University Medical Center have developed a new method to determine gene function on a genome-wide scale in the fungal pathogen Alternaria brassicicola. This destructive fungus causes black spot disease, leading to considerable leaf loss in such economically important crops as canola, cabbage, and broccoli.
Genomic methods that allow the disruption of several thousand gene
Researchers have unraveled the potential of stem cells in the repair and treatment of damaged tendon tissue. Royal Veterinary College (RVC) spin-out company VetCell Bioscience Ltd, set to star on the BBC 1 fly on the wall series ’SuperVets’ on Thursday 3rd of February, is helping revolutionise veterinary, and now also human, medicine through stem cell technology.
The London Bioscience Innovation Centre based spin-out set up in 2002 by business consultant Greg McGarrell, C
Research carried out by veterinary scientists at the Royal Veterinary College reveals that deer antler regeneration may use stem cells and involves similar mechanisms to those used in limb development. The research could take us towards a ‘holy grail’ in human medicine: the ability to restore organs damaged through trauma, disease, cancer or excision.
Many lower animals such as newts can renew damaged parts of their bodies but antler growth is the only example of mammals being a
Bacterial infections can strike anyone, and they can sometimes be fatal. Because more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to the pre-eminent remedy – antibiotics – the search for new remedies against bacterial infections is in high gear. Research by scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to Ghent University shows that certain mice, by nature, can withstand particular bacterial infections. Elucidation of the biological process that underlies
Two are one too many – this is the motto used by cells of a female organism: These contain two X chromosomes, one of which always becomes inactivated. How does the cell recognize that it contains two of these sex chromosomes and how does it choose which one to turn off? Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), working together with French colleagues, have now been able to elucidate an early step in this complex process.
Forty-five years
Study offers first molecular insight into eosinophilic esophagitis
Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered the first gene associated with eosinophilic esophagitis, one of a number of eosinophil-related diseases in which the body produces abnormally large amounts of white blood cells that can lead to allergy related illnesses. In eosinophilic esophagitis, the esophagus is overwhelmed with white blood cells and as a result patients of all ag
Insight into the workings of previously inscrutable viruses has been made possible by a team of biologists whose improvements to computer software may one day contribute to the fight against viral disease.
With a few deft lines of computer code, Purdue University’s Wen Jiang and his research group have created a powerful new tool for lab research that should allow scientists to obtain high-resolution images of some of the world’s smallest biological entities — the viruses. To
Climate forecasting systems help predict malaria risk in Africa
The Earth Institute at Columbia University—Malaria is one of the world’s biggest killers, taking the lives of more than 1 million people every year, as well as infecting a staggering 500 million worldwide. Although endemic in several regions of the world, malaria is most acute in Africa, home to an estimated 90 percent of all cases. Early warning systems can assist health programs and services in preventing and con
Rett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder occurring primarily in girls. While some existing therapies might ease particular symptoms of the condition, there is no current way to address the syndrome at a molecular level. Now, researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, in collaboration with scientists at Brandeis University, have dramatically reduced certain manifestations of Rett Syndrome in mice, marking a clear path in which to explore possible therapies for peop
UF scientists find weakness in cancer’s armor
Much as the famed starship Enterprise would deploy a deflector shield to evade enemy attack, tumor cells are capable of switching on a molecular force field of their own to fend off treatments aimed at killing them. Now University of Florida researchers have found a chink in their armor.
The cells churn out an enzyme that bonds with a protein, creating a protective barrier that deflects damage from radiation or chemothe
It’s a case of evolutionary detective work. Biology researchers at Lewis & Clark College and the University of Arizona have found evidence for an ancient transfer of a toxin between ancestors of two very dissimilar organisms–spiders and a bacterium. But the mystery remains as how the toxin passed between the two organisms. Their research is published this month in the journal Bioinformatics, 22(3): 264-268, in an article titled “Lateral gene transfer of a dermonecrotic toxin between spide
Cells may vary in numbers per embryo, be uneven-sized or partially fragmented. Dr Lieberman et al. at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA have measured the quality of human embryos by counting and assessing the properties of their individual cells. In their paper Rate of cell division and weight of neonates following in-vitro fertilization, they compared the weights of 447 singleton births agai
A team of Russian scientists, led by Dr. Vladimir Gvozdev (Russian Academy of Sciences) reports on a novel link between RNAi and telomere maintenance in the Drosophila germline. Unlike most eukaryotes, which use the enzyme telomerase to lengthen their chromosome ends, Drosophila telomeres are maintained by specialized telomeric retrotransposons (Het-A, TART and TAHRE) that are attached, or transposed, onto chromosome ends.
Dr. Gvozdev and colleagues have discovered that two known compon
Two independent research papers in the February 1 issue of G&D reveal that the Drosophila UNR protein is a novel regulator of X-chromosome dosage compensation in flies. Dosage compensation is the equalization of X-linked gene expression between males (which have one X chromosome in flies) and females (which have two X chromosomes in flies). Fruit flies accomplish this by increasing transcription of the single male X chromosome two-fold. Transcriptional upregulation of the Dros. male X chromosome is
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