MADISON-Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington’s disease, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition.
Forms of the same proteins-known in short form as CREB and HSP-70–exist in all cells, including those of humans.
The study results, published online today by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.
The discovery, made in the laboratory of Ratnesh Lal, research scientist in the Neuroscience Research Institute (NRI) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is published in this week’s online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
A protein called vinculin moves cylinder-like fingers to form a hand to which an arm extended by a protein partner called alpha-actinin can bind, according to St. Jude researchers
As a cell moves forward, physical stress on its skeleton triggers molecular fingers and arms to grasp each other in reinforcing links that stabilize the skeleton, according to images produced by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The images show how a protein called al
Discovery could help in the development of sensors against chemical threats
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which could play an important role in developing sensors against chemical threats, have enhanced interaction with ammonia because of the presence of oxygen groups on the nanotubes, researchers at Temple University have discovered.
Their findings, “Sensitivity of Ammonia Interaction with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Bundles to the Presence of Defect Sites
History classes would have had added flavour had we been told that our great explorers of the past travelled with their pigs. Originally descended from the Eurasian wild boar, present day pig populations in South America and Africa can pride themselves with adventurous ancestors. At the SEB meeting at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Oscar Ramírez from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, will be presenting his work on the formation of European pig breeds and their subsequent dispersion i
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are unraveling the biochemical mechanism by which functional foods combat cancer.
“Compounds like sulforaphane in broccoli and resveratrol in wine have been shown to prevent cancer,” said Andrew Mesecar, associate professor of pharmaceutical biotechnology in the UIC College of Pharmacy. “They do that by signaling our bodies to ramp up the production of proteins capable of preventing damage to our DNA.
“We now have
Ground-breaking research is reshaping understanding of the avian brain and holds promise in teaching learning-disabled children
A Brandeis University researcher has shown that an African grey parrot with a walnut-sized brain understands a numerical concept akin to zero – an abstract notion that humans don’t typically understand until age three or four, and that can significantly challenge learning-disabled children.
Strikingly, Alex, the 28-year-old parrot who lives
Understanding why some parts of the world sustain more species than others is one of the most enigmatic problems in ecology. One particularly common pattern is a “hump-shaped” biodiversity gradient: for example, biodiversity peaks near the equator and declines going either north or south.
Historically, explanations for such gradients invoked coincident geographical variation in environmental factors hypothesized to reduce extinction rates or promote the evolution of new species.
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an inherited structural mechanism that can make drugs for some diseases toxic for some patients. The mechanism decreases a protein and in turn causes certain individuals to metabolize thiopurine drugs differently. Thiopurine therapies are used to treat patients with childhood leukemia, autoimmune diseases and organ transplants. The Mayo researchers say their finding advances the field of pharmacogenomics, which tailors medicine to a patient’s personal gen
Researchers have pinpointed specific gene and protein over-production in metastatic melanoma, pointing the way to a possible new drug target, according to a study published in Nature July 7.
Gene amplification is a process that often happens in cancer cells when the normal DNA replication process is altered, causing many copies of the gene to be produced instead of a single copy of a region of a chromosome.
The researchers found that the MITF (microphthalmia-associated tr
SCIENTISTS at Manchester Metropolitan University have begun ground-breaking research to combat an alarming rise in brain damage in children living in the world’s most polluted countries.
Biomedical researchers in the city are investigating a link between poor diet in young children and neurological damage caused by polluted air and water and poisonous consumer products.
If a link is proven, a simple course of supplements could prevent irreversible brain damage in thousands
A signaling pathway required for plants to grow to their normal size appears to have an unexpected dual purpose of keeping the plant from wallpapering itself with too many densely clustered stomata.
“It’s surprising that size and stomata patterning – both key to plants being able to survive on dry land – are using the same signaling components,” says Jessica McAbee, a University of Washington research associate in biology. She’s one co-author of a report in the July 8 i
Weizmann Institute Scientists discover how an HIV protein fragment shuts down an immune response. Their finding may have implications for autoimmune disease treatment.
The HIV virus hides out in the very immune system cells that are meant to protect the body from viral infection. But how does it prevent these cells from mounting a full-scale attack against the invader? In research published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a team at the Weizmann Institute of Science ha
Novel cues drive animal behavior; ’our thirst for novelty begins in the eye itself,’ scientists say
Researchers at Harvard University have found evidence that the retina actively seeks novel features in the visual environment, dynamically adjusting its processing in order to seek the unusual while ignoring the commonplace. The scientists report in this week’s issue of the journal Nature on their finding that this principle of novelty-detection operates in many visual
As successful fishermen know, if you want to catch fish, you have to use the right bait or lure. This is true even in the deep sea, where scientists recently discovered a new species of jelly that attracts fish by wiggling hundreds of glowing red lures. This is the first time any marine invertebrate has been found to use a bioluminescent lure or to display red bioluminescence. This discovery is described in an article written by Steven Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MB
Patients suffering from oral cancer have increased levels of certain bacteria in their saliva, according to new research published today in the Open Access journal, Journal of Translational Medicine. Six common species of bacteria were found at significantly higher levels in the saliva of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) than in the saliva of healthy individuals. The researchers were able to use three of the six species as a diagnostic tool to predict more than 80% of oral cancer
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