Dozens of new genes identified
By intensely and systematically comparing the human X chromosome to genetic information from chimpanzees, rats and mice, a team of scientists from the United States and India has uncovered dozens of new genes, many of which are located in regions of the chromosome already tied to disease.
Regions of the X chromosome, one of the two sex chromosomes (Y is the other), have been linked to mental retardation and numerous other disorders, but find
The Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Clinical Research Network is launching its first two clinical trials for the study of NASH, a liver disease that resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. NASH occurs most often in adults over the age of 40 who are overweight or have diabetes, insulin resistance (pre-diabetes), or hyperlipidemia (excess concentrations of fatty materials in the blood). NASH can also occur in children, the elderly, normal-weight,
Small daily doses of allicin, the active metabolic in garlic, proved effective in preventing a severe form of pulmonary hypertension in rats, according to a study reported Saturday, April 2 by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting in San Diego. The human form of the disease – primary pulmonary hypertension – often leads to cardiovascular complications such as right heart hypertrophy and failure and is frequently lethal.
Dr. Davi
Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, in the seas are as vital to the survival of life on earth as the oxygen producing plants are on land. But marine bacteria are attacked by viruses, which can seriously affect their life-sustaining abilities but mow a researcher at the University of Warwick has discovered that these viruses don’t work in the dark, according to research presented today (Monday, 04 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology’s 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University
Major tissue, cell protease inhibitor’s role in lung previously unrecognized
Using a combination of genetic linkage, microarray gene expression and genetic association studies, a group of Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School researchers have identified a serine protease inhibitor clade E, member 2, or SERPINE2, “as a novel candidate susceptibility gene for COPD,” according to Sorachai Srisuma, who is presenting the research at the 35th Congress of the Internati
Harbor Branch Biomedical Expedition to include first submersible exploration of remote Cay Sal Bank
On Monday, the Harbor Branch drug discovery group will begin a 2-week expedition to explore the Straits of Florida in search of organisms that produce chemicals with the potential to cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. The work will include the first submersible exploration of the remote Cay Sal Bank, which encompasses a number of small, uninhabited islands 30 mile
CSIRO is working on new methods of detecting a frog fungus which has killed frogs in the United States, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
A workshop on new methods of detecting and controlling the spread of one of the world’s most deadly frog diseases – chytridiomycosis – will be held from 4-7 April at CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Victoria.
CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Dr Alex Hyat
The TIM23 complex, which regulates the transport of protein to the mitochondria in a cell, is much more complicated than was previously believed. This is shown by Uppsala University researcher Maria Lind in an article in the leading journal Cell.
Together with Agnieszka Chacinska from the University of Freiburg in Germany, Maria Lind from Uppsala University is lead author of the article in Cell.
Agnieszka Chacinska’s and her study shows how the TIM23 complex functions, som
Scientists identify novel regulator of telomere homeostasis
Each of our 46 chromosomes is capped by a telomere – a long stretch of repeated DNA (TTAGG). Telomeres play a key protective function in our cells, and now Dr. In Kwon Chung and colleagues at Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the University of Central Florida reveal a novel mechanism to modulate telomere length. Their work will be published in the April 1st issue of Genes & Development.
With each round of c
A natural tumor suppressor that could potentially be turned on in certain cancer cells to prevent the formation of tumors has been discovered by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.
Located on chromosome 18 and called PH domain Leucine-rich repeat Protein Phosphatase (PHLPP, pronounced “flip”), the tumor suppressor is described in the April 1, 2005 issue of the journal Molecular Cell. The scientists demonstrated that PHLPP deletes a p
Researchers at the University of Toronto have mapped the molecular details that show how a viral protein coded in the Epstein-Barr virus immortalizes cells and causes them to continuously grow, thereby predisposing people to certain types of cancer.
“Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most common human viruses in the world and is strongly linked to certain b-cell cancers like Burkitt’s lymphoma as well as the epithelial cell cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma. EBNA1 is
Scientists identify novel anti-cancer target
Blood vessels nourish healthy tissues, but also provide a conduit for tumor growth and metastasis. A collaboration of researchers from the University of Michigan, NIH, and the University of Helsinki (Finland) has identified a novel, potential therapeutic target to prevent tumor vascularization.
In the April 15th cover story of Genes & Development, Dr. Stephen J. Weiss and colleagues demonstrate that “the recently characterized
The repetition of three little “letters” within the gene that codes for the ataxin-3 protein is both the cause of and perhaps a solution to Machado-Joseph disease and an entire family of similar genetic disorders, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Their findings, which appear today in the journal Molecular Cell, present a potential therapeutic role for the ataxin-3 protein for MJD and related disorders such as Huntington’s disease.
Machado-Joseph
Chemists journey to Gobi region for samples, discover novel dye in textiles from Peru
Although searching for 3,000-year-old mummy textiles in tombs under the blazing sun of a western Chinese desert may seem more Indiana Jones than analytical chemist, two Boston University researchers recently did just that. Traveling along the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang Province on their quest, they found the ancient fabrics – and hit upon a research adventure that combined chemistry, archaeology
Weather forecasts could become barometers for predicting the potential threat of West Nile virus to humans and wildlife, according to scientists at two state agencies based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Researchers at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) report a reliable link between weather conditions and an abundance of two mosquito species linked to outbreaks in humans and wildlife, especially birds.
Components in grapes, including some newly identified ones, work together to dramatically inhibit an enzyme crucial to the proliferation of cancer cells, say scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The work — done using advanced molecular tools with grape-cell cultures and the target enzyme for new anti-cancer strategies — helps to identify which flavonoids in grapes and red wine are most responsible for anti-cancer qualities, said Mary Ann Lila, a professo
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