A new cellular pathway leads to destruction of a protein that promotes growth of breast, prostate and similar cancers and could provide a new avenue through which to pursue treatment of such diseases, said a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine.
“It is another intervention point where one can now attack tumors. It’s especially important for endocrine tumors such as those of the breast, prostate, ovary and pituitary gland,” said Dr. Bert O’Malley, chair of the BCM
Fingerprints are usually used to identify people but, this time, they gave Penn State chemical engineers the crucial clue needed to discover an easy, versatile new method for making nanofibers that have potential uses in advanced filtration as well as wound care, drug delivery, bioassays and other medical applications.
The new technique is based on the way forensic scientists develop fingerprints from a crime scene and is easier and more versatile than either of the current met
Could help explain why women who have mutations in their BRCA1 gene are susceptible to ’hormone-dependent’ cancers including breast, endometrial and cervical cancers
It’s been known that the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 regulates use of estrogen in breast and other cells, but now researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered that it also controls activity of a second sex steroid hormone, progesterone.
The findings, conduct
Scientists use genomics to reveal secrets of ocean microbes
Scientists have sequenced and compared the genomes of planktonic microbes living throughout the water column in the Pacific Ocean. The pioneering study yielded insight into the specialization of microbial communities at each depth–ranging from 40 to more than 13,000 feet.
“By reading the information stored in the genomes of entire microbial communities, we can begin to measure the pulse of this marine ecosys
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has identified a protein that may control blood clotting by keeping blood platelets from sticking together.
Uncontrolled interactions between blood platelets such as those that occur during heart attacks and strokes contribute to these leading causes of death nationwide.
The study, which appears in the Jan. 17 edition of the Journal of Cell Biology, indicates that CIB1 binds to and keeps t
Implications for treating Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy
In a surprising discovery with implications for treating muscular dystrophy, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and other institutions have identified a major source of origin for two groups of adult cells that regulate muscle repair.
The researchers found that these muscle repair cells, satellite and side population (SP) cells, arise from somites–transient blocks of tissue in the embryo that give ri
Identity Swap: Finding the variants that human history has favoured
Sequence differences in less than 0.2% of the 3-billion-base human genome play a vital role in a bewildering variety of human disease. Today, researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Cambridge University’s Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, together with international colleagues report in PLoS Genetics their detailed maps of differences implicated in disease as well as genes that are u
UF researchers restore vitality to cells in lab experiments
University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like molecular maintenance men – traveling throughout the body to repair damaged blood vessels – become too rigid to move in patients with diabetes, fueling the disease’s vascular complications. But they have found a way to restore the cells’ flexibility, at least in the laboratory, according to findings published in the January issue of the journal D
International team led by scientists at Einstein and Beth Israel
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and its Manhattan hospital affiliate, Beth Israel Medical Center, have found that a specific mutation in a single gene is a major cause of Parkinson’s disease among Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews. The report will appear in the January 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
“Like the discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2
Like any other organism, an influenza virus’s success in life is measured by its genetic track record, its ability to pass on genes from one generation to the next.
But while much is known about the genes and inner workings of flu viruses, how the microbe organizes its genetic contents to seed future generations of viruses has remained an enduring mystery of biology.
Now, with the help of a long-studied flu virus, an electron microscope and a novel idea of how
In experiments with mice, researchers have found that eliminating what appears to be a master genetic switch for the development of pain-sensing neurons knocks out the animals’ response to “neuropathic pain.” Such pain is abnormal pain that outlasts the injury and is associated with nerve and/or central nervous system changes. The animals rendered deficient in the gene, called Runx1, also showed lack of response to discomfort caused by heat and cold and inflammation. The researchers said t
A breakthrough by scientists at the University of Leicester in understanding mechanisms within the brain which cause injury could lead to better treatments in the future for conditions such as as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
Drs Robert Fern and Mike Salter of the Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmocology at the University of Leicester had their findings published in the science journal Nature.
Their study is particularly important as it identifies the cause of damage
When activated, a specific protein in the brain enhances long-term storage of fearful memories and strengthens previously established fearful memories, Yale School of Medicine researchers report this week in Nature Neuroscience.
“This report is the first to demonstrate evidence of enhancements in memory reconsolidation in the brain,” said the senior author, Jane Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry. “Understanding these molecular mechanisms may provide cr
The human body has a unique immune system response to foreign DNA, suggesting that DNA viruses and RNA viruses are detected by different mechanisms, Yale School of Medicine researchers report this week in Immunity.
The researchers also found that DNA recognition might be used to detect invasive bacteria in addition to viruses, according to Daniel Stetson, a post doctoral fellow in the Section of Immunobiology and lead author of the study.
Although there are countless
Results from a new study indicate that hybrid laboratory antibodies derived from chimpanzees and humans may provide a potentially safe and effective way to treat the serious complications that can occur following smallpox vaccination–and possibly may even protect against the deadly disease itself. The study, led by researchers with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appears online this week in the Proceedings of th
Flowers are innately beautiful to the human eye, but how does a sunflower achieve its stunning disc of intersecting spirals or a daisy its delicate symmetry?
That was the question tackled by University of Calgary computer scientists, who have answered one of biology’s enduring questions with an animated model that provides the most detailed simulation of how plants grow into recognizable shapes.
In the article “A plausible model of phyllotaxis” published in this we
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