Because 60 percent of yeast genes have at least one clearly identifiable human counterpart, the advance, described in the Nov. 5 issue of Molecular Cell, should speed advances in understanding human gene and protein functions, as well as improve the reliability of what scientists think they know about this extremely useful microorganism. Eventually the work with yeast could reveal particular gene interactions that could become targets for therapies to fight cancers or fungal infections, say the
Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to reveal that food cravings activate brain areas related to emotion, memory and reward – areas also activated during drug-craving studies. Study lead author Marcia Levin Pelchat, PhD, a Monell Center sensory psychologist, comments, “This is consistent with the idea that cravings of all kinds, whether for food, drugs, or designer shoes, have com
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center may have made a crucial discovery in the understanding of cellular aging.
In a study published in the Nov. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers report that as cells and tissues age, the expression of two proteins called p16INK4a and ARF dramatically increases. This increase in expression, more than a hundredfold in some tissues, suggests a strong lin
By using a device only six-millionths of a meter long, researchers at Cornell University have been able to detect the presence of as few as a half-dozen viruses — and they believe the device is sensitive enough to notice just one.
The research could lead to simple detectors capable of differentiating between a wide variety of pathogens,i ncluding viruses, bacteria and toxic organic chemicals. The experiment, an extension of earlier work in which similar devices were used to det
Researchers using extremely high resolution imaging have found an atomic switch capable of discriminating color in a bacterial membrane protein.
In a paper posted today on Science Express, the rapid advance publication page of Science, scientists from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and the University of California , Irvine , describe the versatile light-sensing protein at levels of resolution smaller than a nanometer – one billionth of a meter.
“Hig
The anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex, or celecoxib, reduces tumor mass by encouraging cell death and discouraging both cell proliferation and the sprouting of new blood vessels that feed growing tumors, according to a study reported in the November issue of Molecular Cancer Research.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Scottsdale, Ariz., suggests this drug one day might be used to prevent and even treat breast tumors. Celebrex, marketed b
The discovery by a Leeds University scientist of a new blindness gene could help to save the sight of thousands of sufferers of retinal disease which affects premature babies as well as people over 60.
By improving our understanding of vascular development, the breakthrough could also shed light on other diseases including tumour formation and arthritis. Carmel Toomes, member of the Leeds vision research group, said the work could lead to early diagnosis of diseases affecting the
The first test in humans of a bioartificial kidney offers hope of the device’s potential to save the lives of people with acute renal failure, researchers at the University of Michigan Health System report.
While the phase I/II study was designed primarily to look at the safety of using this device on humans, the results also suggest improvement in kidney function. The patients enrolled in the trial faced an average 86 percent likelihood of dying at the hospital. Six of those 10
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified the growth factors essential to allow spermatogonial stem cells — the continually self-renewing cells that produce sperm — to exist in culture indefinitely. Their findings will be presented this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science online Early Edition.
After being kept in culture for three months, the stem cells restored sperm production, and therefore fertil
Cornell University researchers, who are trying to understand how proteins evolve and function by looking at their structural features, have uncovered the crystal structure of a protein involved in making the building blocks of DNA correctly.
The protein is AIRs kinase, and to the researchers’ surprise, its shape is similar to other members of the riboside kinase family, proteins that are important in making DNA and RNA, the molecules that make up genes. As a result, the rese
DNA breaks from radiation, toxic chemicals, or other environmental causes occur routinely in cells and, unless promptly and properly repaired, can lead to cancer-causing mutations. When the breaks cannot be repaired, and the cell is vulnerable to becoming cancerous, critical backup protection governed by the p53 protein kicks in. This protein is the end of the line in a vital signaling cascade that triggers cells with fatally damaged DNA to self-destruct so that they cannot cause cancer.
Findings may lead to genetic tests
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) have discovered a possible genetic mechanism behind congenital heart defects. This finding has implications for understanding how congenital heart defects occur, and may lead to genetic tests for certain defects, such as proteins that determine how genes are expressed. This also opens new insights into how general chromosome properties can relate to specific
Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have identified a protein that serves as a master regulator of skin cancer – a finding that could lead to new ways to prevent skin cancer before it starts.
The protein, called STAT3, had been known to be involved in cancer, but John DiGiovanni Ph.D., and his colleagues showed that activated STAT3 is necessary for skin cancer to begin and that without it, skin cancer can’t develop. The study, which appear
Advance could lead to new infertility treatments, source of adult stem cells
A team of researchers working with cells from mice has overcome a technical barrier and succeeded in growing sperm progenitor cells in laboratory culture. The researchers transplanted the cells into infertile mice, which were then able to produce sperm and father offspring that were genetically related to the donor mice. “This advance opens up an exciting range of possibilities for future research, from d
University of Pittsburgh researchers have identified biomarkers that could result in earlier and more accurate diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a devastating disease that affects as many as 1.5 million Americans, and occurs 10 to 15 times more frequently in women. The results are published in the November 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
“This is the first report of abnormal levels of the protein erythrocyte-C4d in human disease,” said lead author Susan Ma
Cosmetic face cream used by fashionable Roman women has been analysed by scientists at Bristol University, UK, and then reproduced. The results of this unique opportunity to analyse the ingredients of the ’foundation’ cream are reported in Nature this week (4 November).
The cream was found to be composed of refined animal fat, starch and tin. The researchers then created their own version, made to the same recipe. When they rubbed the whitish cream into their skin, it p
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