A mechanism that lets herpes simplex virus infect most cells — and 45 million Americans — is discovered
It’s one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disor
There is a lot of indirect evidence that microbial infections can initiate and/or worsen autoimmune disease. Autoantibody production during infection results from activation of low-affinity autoreactive B cells. But how this could lead to autoimmune disease is not clear.
In a study appearing online on July 21 in advance of print publication of the August 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Thierry Martin and colleagues from INSERM show in vivo that an experimental infectious
Breakages in chromosomes in mammalian evolution have occurred at preferred rather than random sites as long thought, and many of the sites are involved in human cancers, an international team of 25 scientists has discovered.
The researchers, reporting in the July 22 issue of the journal Science, also found that chromosomal evolution has accelerated, based on the rate of breakages and reorganization, since the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
In a study l
NHGRI researchers contribute dog data to groundbreaking study
An international team that includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has discovered that mammalian chromosomes have evolved by breaking at specific sites rather than randomly as long thought – and that many of the breakage hotspots are also involved in human cancer.
In a study published in the July 22 issue of the journal Scien
Research published in Nature (21 July) will outline for the first time the stem cell origin of the structure of the neck and shoulders in vertebrates. The scientists believe that instead of groups of stem cells creating the skeletal and muscle structure separately they actually appear to make them together as a sort of ‘composite’. This could have significant implications for clinical medicine and our understanding of vertebrate evolution.
Scientists at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedic
On any given day, tens of thousands of biologists around the globe run DNA sequences of unknown function through a lightning-fast online algorithm called BLAST – typically submitting 200 to 400 base pairs, or “letters” of genetic code, to be matched against the billions of letters for known genes. Searching for similarities that can shed light on functional or evolutionary relationships, scientists routinely use BLAST to churn through and produce vast amounts of data. Everyday applications inclu
Researchers working with rats have zeroed in on the brain circuitry mechanism whose disruption contributes to the impulsive behavior seen in users of cocaine as well as other psychostimulant drugs. The same circuitry has been implicated in such disorders as schizophrenia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, wrote the researchers.
Yukiori Goto and Anthony A. Grace of the University of Pittsburgh described their findings in the July 21, 2005, issue of Neuron. In their studies
One puzzle in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research is why mice engineered to have the abnormal protein underlying the disease in humans show little pathology of the disease. Specifically, such mice are genetically altered to overproduce mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP). It is this protein that, when clipped by enzymes, produces the amyloid beta (Ab) peptide that clusters into the amyloid plaque that clogs the brain and kills brain cells.
The clipping of APP produces t
Rounding up wayward cells and particles on a microscope slide can be as difficult as corralling wild horses on the range, particularly if there’s a need to separate a single individual from the group.
But now, a new device developed by University of California, Berkeley, engineers, and dubbed an “optoelectronic tweezer,” will enable researchers to easily manipulate large numbers of single cells and particles using optical images projected onto a glass slide coated with
Study holds hope for next generation hemophilia treatment
Researchers have doubled the potency of a protein that drives blood to clot, according to research to be published in the July 26 edition of Biochemistry. The study results may have profound implications for the treatment of hemophilia, the inherited blood disorder that causes easy or excessive bleeding in 30,000 Americans.
In most cases, hemophilia is caused by a lack of factor VIII, one of several proteins that
New research suggests that accumulation of amyloid-â peptides in cerebral blood vessels, as opposed to the brain itself, may be a more important pathological mediator of Alzheimer’s disease. Two independent yet related articles describe such findings in the August issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Both articles are highlighted on the Journal’s cover.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of progressive dementia, affects an estimated 4.5 million Ame
If you’ve ever used a loofah in the shower, you’ve stirred up some stem cells. As the outer layer skin of sloughs off, stem cells in the dermis rush to repair and replace those buffed away.
Now imagine a tiny loofah that works in much the same way inside the corridors of the human heart. As it scrubs, it alerts heart stem cells to rush to the site of dying cells to begin renewal and repair of cardiomyocytes – cells that pump blood through the heart.
While a heart
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have announced an important biological breakthrough that could offer new hope in the fight against liver cancer.
Professor John Mayer and Dr Simon Dawson, in collaboration with colleagues at Japan’s Kyoto University, have discovered the function of a new liver oncoprotein — or cancer causing protein — which could be the first step to finding effective new treatments for the deadly illness.
The research, published today in the
Insulin, a hormone long recognized as a generator of fat, also keeps fat in the liver under control, according to a new study in the July issue of Cell Metabolism. The newly discovered role for insulin may explain how an organ frequently flooded with the fat-building hormone normally stays trim and also suggests new dietary strategies and treatments to avoid fatty liver, a growing healthcare epidemic, said the researchers.
Insulin produced by the pancreas allows cells to take up glucose
Researchers have determined that a gene present in mouse cells limits the number of times that a cell can divide. The gene is involved in a process, called senescence, which is thought to ensure that aging cells do not pass on harmful mutations.
The researchers said the gene, known as SIRT1, suppresses longevity, and may play a role in regulating the aging process. But they caution against interpreting the results too broadly, because dividing mouse cells in culture are an imper
UF Genetics Institute researcher finds way to explore role of microRNAs in specific tissue
University of Florida researchers have learned how to selectively shut down a flyweight-sized genetic molecule that packs a heavyweight punch, a discovery that may help doctors better understand cancer, birth defects and other health problems. The finding, which will be reported this week in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, deals with tiny strands of genetic mate
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