St. Jude studies showing that Mrp4 limits penetration of topotecan suggest that blocking this protein might increase access of anti-cancer drugs to tumor sites and improve treatment of brain cancer
A protein called Mrp4 blocks the access of the anti-cancer drug topotecan into the brain by transporting this agent back into the bloodstream, thus reducing the ability of this agent to reach tumors. Results from a series of studies by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research H
Dutch researcher Marco Kruijt has discovered two resistance genes that were probably present in an ancestral tomato species, prior to the evolution of modern tomato species. The phytopathologist found these same two genes, which provide resistance against a certain fungus, in several wild tomato species.
Tomatoes resistant to the fungus Cladosporium fulvum possess the so-called Cf resistance genes. Kruijt investigated the evolution of these genes in wild tomato species. The rese
Can signal neighbor cells to repair
A study published in the October 8 issue of Science describes a previously unsuspected capacity of embryonic stem cells to influence neighboring defective cells and restore their capacity to function normally. Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center report that 15 embryonic stem cells injected into early embryos of mice whose hearts were genetically predisposed to develop a lethal defect, rescued the heart from developing the disorder
Biotech breakthroughs promise to save millions of lives per year; Experts call for global body to better use knowledge worldwide
New medical tools that quickly and accurately diagnose diseases like AIDS and malaria top a list of 10 biotech breakthroughs deemed most important for improving health in developing countries within the decade, science that will dramatically move the world towards its Millennium Development Goals for 2015, according to scientists and ethicists in a major
A deadly bacterium’s defense against a mortal molecular enemy illuminates the origins and structure of a vital protein involved in human cell signaling, University of Texas Medical School scientists report today in Science Express, the rapid online publication forum for the journal Science.
The paper also details how evolution transformed one of nature’s simplest molecules, nitric oxide (NO), from a toxin to anaerobic bacteria – the planet’s oldest life form – into a
Research at Yale reported in the journal Science identifies a new riboswitch (RNA regulatory sequence) class in bacteria that operates as a rare “ON” switch for genetic regulation of the three proteins in a glycine processing system.
“This seems like something only a biochemist can appreciate, but what it really means is that modern RNA has what it takes to run the complex metabolism of life. It is like what would have been needed in an “RNA World” – or a period in evolution
When memories are made and learning occurs, the connections between brain cells change. Scientists know that an influx of calcium is critical to this process. A theoretical model developed by a Brown University research team shows that cells’ ability to fine-tune this calcium flow not only sparks changes in synapses but also allows cells to maintain a working state of equilibrium.
A research team based at Brown University has created a theoretical model that may shed light on a brai
Northwestern University researchers have discovered a mechanism that may help to explain how angiogenesis inhibitors work on normal, blood vessel-forming endothelial cells, but not on insidious, aggressive melanoma cells that masquerade as endothelial-like cells by forming their own vascular networks, called “vasculogenic mimicry.”
Mary J. C. Hendrix, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and president and scientific director of the Children
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are reporting a possible answer to a longstanding question in research on the origins of life on Earth–how did the first amino acids form the first peptides?
Peptides and proteins are strings of amino acid building blocks, and they are one of the most important classes of biological molecules found in living things today. Fifty years of chemical research on the origins of life has shown that amino ac
Research at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology has identified Dectin-1 as the beta-glucan receptor on immune cells. This finding may be of use in the prophylactic prevention of a variety of infections, especially in surgical patients, and in the treatment of cancer. The identification of Dectin-1 as the beta-glucan receptor may also provide a novel strategy for combating fungal infections.
b-Glucans are glucose polymers which possess immunomodulatory activities, although
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a “central memory” form of “helper” T cells that can offer immunity to leishmaniasis, a disease that causes considerable death and disfigurement across the globe and has been found in U.S. military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.
In the October issue of Nature Medicine, the Penn researchers describe how the discovery can offer immunity to leishmaniasis, even without the persistent presence of the pa
Scientists from the University of California, Riverside have identified one of the key enzymes that trigger programmed cell death, an important process plants undergo in fighting off bacterial, fungal or viral infections. The development holds out hope of improving crop yields, which are dependent on plants being able to fend off multiple types of pathogens.
The findings, outlined in a paper titled “VPEg Exhibits a Caspase-like Activity that Contributes to Defense Against Pathogen
Feather pecking is a common and serious behavioural disorder in laying hens around the world. The chickens peck and pull the feathers of their victims, and this may lead to cannibalism. Now a group of researchers under the lead of Per Jensen, Professor of ethology at Linköping University have shown that the risk of becoming a victim is largely determined by one single gene, which controls the expression of black pigment in the carrier. A mutation which gives white feathers protects against the att
A new investigation into extinctions caused by climate change has revealed that the giant deer, previously thought to have been wiped out by a cold spell 10,500 years ago, instead survived well into the modern era.
University College London (UCL) scientists scoured the continent to collect dozens of ancient bones and teeth which, when radiocarbon dated, revealed that the Eurasian giant deer survived to 7,000 years ago, much later than previously thought.
Giant deer first
Understanding how microbes in the gut interact with the body could lead scientists and doctors to new a understanding and novel treatments for diseases say scientists from Imperial College London and Astra Zeneca.
In a review published today in Nature Biotechnology, researchers describe how microbes in the gut form the second largest metabolic ‘organ’ in the body and play a key role in disease processes alongside genetic and environmental factors. Microbes in the gut can weigh up to
Social cooperation is one of the most difficult adaptations for evolutionary biologists to explain because competition for resources inside the collective should lead to evolved traits that allow individuals to “cheat” the collective, win more resources and reproduce faster than their more cooperative neighbors — thus undermining the social collective. In new research, evolutionary biologists and geneticists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have isolated a genetic mechanism
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