Results of studies with laboratory model of PRODH deficiency demonstrate the role of COMT in compensating for overactive dopamine signaling, according to St. Jude
Disruption of the normal interaction between the genes PRODH and COMT contributes directly to major symptoms of schizophrenia by upsetting the balance of the brain chemicals glutamate and dopamine, according to a group of investigators that includes a scientist now at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The
Samir Mitragotri, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says the myriad shortcomings of injections have led to active research and development of needle-free methods of immunization. While most people prefer to avoid injections, the stakes are enormously higher than just helping people avoid a disagreeable prick of a needle. In third world countries, improper and unsafe use of the needles used in injections causes millions of cases of hepatitis B and h
Researchers have developed a new line of prostate cancer cells that they hope will provide a better model to study the disease.
This new cancer-cell line has already provided some help. One new study in mice identified a promising possible therapy to reduce skeletal pain that accompanies prostate cancer. Scientists found that a substance called anti-nerve growth factor appeared to be more effective in controlling pain in mice than even morphine.
But the work would not hav
One of the most important stages in the drug discovery process is the ability to determine binding sites on proteins for potential ligands.
When attempting to find the correct pose of a protein-ligand complex, there are an infinite number of possible solutions. The position, geometry and conformation of a ligand are all continuous variables – this leads to the “Docking Problem”. To explore all possible docking modes, an enormous amount of calculation must be done – the complexity,
A paper published in the December 1st issue of Genes & Development reveals a novel role for the p53 tumor suppressor pathway in organogenesis during embryonic development. Dr. Jinrong Peng and colleagues show that the zebrafish Def protein is an organ-specific factor that represses expression of a newly identified p53 isoform to coordinate digestive organ growth. def-mutant zebrafish display hypomorphic digestive organs that result from defects in organ expansion and maturation.
Fu
Dr. Michael Snyder (Yale University), Dr. Elizabeth Grayhack (University of Rochester Medical Center) and colleagues have constructed an unprecedented yeast genomic library, which will serve as an important research tool for the entire scientific community. The authors cloned over 5000 yeast open reading frames (ORFs) into a movable C-terminally tagged expression vector – creating what the authors call a “moveable ORF” or “MORF” collection.
To illustrate the utility of their MORF co
A collaboration of researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia, led by Dr. Anindya Dutta, has created an artificial mammalian origin of replication that will facilitate the future study of mammalian DNA replication.
Dr. Dutta and colleagues recruited known mammalian replication initiation factors (either ORC or CDC6) to a defined GAL4 DNA-binding site on a plasmid, demonstrating that replication initiation factor recruitment is sufficient to specify a DNA replic
Technique identifies candidate amino acid sites that control protein functions
With more and more protein sequence data available, scientists are increasingly looking for ways to extract the small subset of information that determines a protein’s function. In addition to sorting out what makes related proteins differ, such information can also help scientists engineer proteins to do new jobs.
Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Labor
North Carolina Sea Grant researchers have isolated a new peptide antibiotic from the American oyster that may have implications for managing many diseases in oysters.
The new antimicrobial peptide “American oyster defensin” (AOD) may protect against bacteria in Crassostrea virginica, a species that is native to North Carolina and important economically to Atlantic and Gulf Coast fisheries.
“This peptide may be helpful in selecting disease-resistant oysters for aquaculture and fi
Researchers identify key gene sequences that promote growth of new arteries when existing arteries are blocked
Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have uncovered part of the genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries. A team led by SFVAMC vascular surgeon Rajabrata Sarkar, MD, PhD, has demonstrated in mice that the MMP2 gene is essential for the growth of new arteries when the femoral (leg) artery is blocked.
Th
Changes in bird song could be used as an early warning system to detect man-made ecological disturbances, new research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology has found. Although much previous research has focused on bird song and vocal mimicry, this is the first study to analyse the role played by habitat loss and fragmentation on song-matching.
Ecologists recorded and analysed the songs of more than 200 Dupont’s larks, Chersophilus duponti, in Spain and
Research published by University of Leicester researchers in the top journal “Circulation” identifies a gene that affects blood pressure levels in the general population. The results have come to light in the GRAPHIC study, funded by the British Heart Foundation. Over 450 families in Leicestershire took part in the study.
High blood pressure affects around three in ten adults in the UK and is one of the main causes of strokes and heart attacks. Risk factors for high blood pressure inc
Researchers are using a new cell transplantation technique to restore the cells that produce insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes. The method is minimally invasive, with few complications. The study was presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“We used ultrasound guidance to inject donor cells into the portal vein of diabetic patients, which is accessed through the skin,” said co-author Saravanan Krishnamoorthy, M.D., radiolo
May provide target for treatment, study shows
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have identified a molecule that stimulates the aggressive growth of prostate cancer. The molecule, Ack1, a member of the growth-promoting tyrosine kinase gene family, stimulates tumor formation in part by signaling prostate cells to rid themselves of a tumor-suppressor protein. Normally, this suppressor protein would inhibit rapid cell growth by signaling the cell to destroy itse
Requests agency to issue proposed regulation to assure quality of genetic tests
The Genetics and Public Policy Center this week called on Mark McClellan, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to end years of delay in assuring the safety and accuracy of genetic testing by issuing a proposed rule to create a genetic testing specialty under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988. The delay has meant that scientific and technolog
Forsyth Study Also Provides Insight to Possible Complications from Serotonin Blocking Drugs
Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have discovered that the transport mechanisms for serotonin — the chemical substance involved in transmitting signals between neurons, and which has a role in anxiety and mood disorders — play a key role in determining where organs are positioned in the body during embryonic development. Transporters bring serotonin into cells. The research team, led by
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