A new treatment for the age-old scourge of cholera and perhaps a whole new type of antibiotic medicine may emerge from chemicals discovered in an Australian seaweed, new research results suggest.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have found that compounds known as furanones – isolated from the seaweed Delisea pulchra – can prevent the bacteria that cause cholera from switching on their disease-causing mechanisms. It seems likely that furanones can have the same e
Scientists determine how ’trump card’ protein blocks DNA replication
New research at Rice University is allowing biochemists to understand a key hierarchy of protein interactions that occurs in DNA replication, showing for the first time how a key protein “trumps” its rivals and shuts down cell division while DNA repairs take place.
The work, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, appears in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Structure. It could aid drug makers in d
First observation of extended chains of molecules that exhibit a strong interaction without forming chemical bonds
A new chemical state, designated a “protopolymer,” has been observed by Penn State researchers in chains of phenylene molecules on a crystalline copper surface at low temperature. Protopolymers form when monomers, small molecules that link together chemically to form long chains, align and interact without forming chemical bonds. The novel structures were discovered
Transplanted bone marrow cells can reduce carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice and significantly improve their survival rates, according to a new study published in the December 2004 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/hepatology.
Previous reports have shown
New research on rat heart cells suggests that a well-known antioxidant found in red wine, called resveratrol, may benefit heart tissue by limiting the effects of a condition called cardiac fibrosis.
Diseases such as hypertension and heart failure can cause fibrosis, a hardening or stiffening of the heart tissue. This condition arises when heart cells called cardiac fibroblasts are activated. These cells secrete collagen, a protein that provides structural support for the heart.
University of Rochester scientists studying a vital protein called Serum Response Factor (SRF) in mice have learned new and unexpected facts about SRF’s role in early cardiovascular development, and how a defect in this gene may be an underlying cause in human miscarriages.
The research is reported in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. At this point it is unclear whether subtle defects in SRF might also be linked to adult cardiovascular diseas
Research shows existing diabetes drugs may kill multiple myeloma
In laboratory tests on multiple myeloma cells, University of Rochester researchers found that this type of cancer expresses a protein that makes it an easy target for an existing class of diabetes drugs. After more investigation, they hope the discovery will lead to a new, targeted therapy for myeloma patients. “To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has shown that multiple myeloma cells are sensitive to th
The world’s first molecular map for wild strawberry (Fragaria) constructed using transferable DNA markers has been produced by scientists at East Malling Research (EMR) in association with collaborators at the University of Reading.
This work is a breakthrough in strawberry genetic research and has already been adopted as the reference map by strawberry research groups in Spain, France and the USA. It offers the potential for further international collaboration, leading towards t
As members of an international research consortium, a group of GSF scientists led Randolph B Caldwell and Jean-Marie Buerstedde contributed to the annotation of the complete chicken genome. This first genome sequence of a bird is not only of great importance for research projects with chickens, but it will also lead to a better understanding of the previously decoded human genome.
Originally, the GSF research project aimed at identifying active genes in a particularly interestin
Some of us, when awake in the middle of the night, feel an urge to visit the kitchen. This could explain results of previous studies that have shown a link between short sleep duration and high body mass index (BMI). But a study by Emmanuel Mignot and colleagues suggests that it’s not just the additional snacking opportunities that make short sleepers more likely to be overweight.
Intrigued by the connection between sleep and BMI, and by recent studies showing that sleep depriva
The human parathyroid gland, which regulates the level of calcium in the blood, probably evolved from the gills of fish, according to researchers from King’s College London.
Writing in the latest edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Professor Anthony Graham and Dr Masataka Okabe suggest that the gills of ancestral marine creatures, which were used to regulate calcium levels, were internalised rather than lost when land-living, four-limbed animals – the tet
Results represent significant development toward therapeutic cloning of stem cells
Using newer cloning techniques, including the “gentle squeeze” method described by South Korean researchers who earlier this year reported creating the first cloned human embryonic stem cell line, University of Pittsburgh scientists have taken a significant step toward successful therapeutic cloning of nonhuman primate embryos.
It is the first time researchers have applied methods developed
Understanding how muscle cells form is crucial to developing new treatments for diseases such as muscular dystrophy and to treating muscle injuries. However, while scientists have focused on muscle cells in culture, they know little about how muscle cells form in a developing embryo.
In this month’s issue of the journal Developmental Cell, Clarissa Henry, assistant professor in the University of Maine Dept. of Biological Sciences, reports findings from a study of muscle cell d
Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed, and preserved, in pottery jars from the Neolithic village of Jiahu, in Henan province, Northern China, have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit was being produced as early as 9,000 years ago, approximately the same time that barley beer and grape wine were beginning to be made in the Middle East.
In addition, liquids more than 3,000 years old, remarkably preserved inside tightly lidded bronze vessels,
Sea urchin eggs, a common model for human fertility research, create a protein shield just minutes after fertilization. In Developmental Cell, Brown University biologists reveal their discovery of an enzyme that generates hydrogen peroxide, a free radical critical to this protective process. The finding illuminates a survival mechanism shared across species.
Brown University researchers have discovered an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide in the fertilized eggs of sea urchins
UC Riverside Research Showing How Smoke Complicates Healing Process Selected by Cell Biology Society as Press-Worthy from More Than 1,200 Submissions
Cigarette smoke, whether first- or second-hand, complicates the careful cellular choreography of wound healing, according to a paper by University of California, Riverside researchers that was included in the 2004 Press Book of the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society For Cell Biology (ASCB).
Cigarette smoke dela
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