Gene mutations are closely targeted — enhancing the immune response while avoiding cancer
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have begun unraveling the mystery of how B lymphocytes — key infection-fighting cells in the body — are able to create many different kinds of specialized antibodies through selective gene mutations, while being protected from random mutations that could give rise to cancers.
The findings, reported in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal Natu
An article published today in Journal of Biology shows that the phosphatidylserine receptor, previously thought to be critical for the recognition and engulfment of dying cells, is not in fact necessary for these processes at all. Instead, the researchers found that the receptor is involved in the differentiation of a wide range of tissues during embryogenesis. When cells undergo programmed cell death, they spill their normally hidden contents and their neighbours can thus recognise them as s
Diabetes is one of the major causes of vision loss and blindness in the UK. Now optometry researchers at Aston University’s new £10 million Academy of Life Sciences are to carry out a ground-breaking new study which will lead to a greater understanding of visual problems experienced by diabetics.
Their research, which is the first of its kind in the world, will measure the effects of the daily cycle of blood sugar levels on the vision of diabetic patients via detailed eye examination
New research on the wolves of Isle Royale may shed light on a mystery that has long puzzled biologists: Why do some predators band together to hunt?
“Most species of predators live solitary lives,” says John Vucetich, a research assistant professor of wildlife ecology at Michigan Technological University. “Biologists have always wanted to know why the few exceptions live in groups.”
In his observations of wolves and ravens, Vucetich may have found the answer: Predators th
In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Lazar and colleagues report an unexpected finding about pheromone transport in the Asian elephant, an endangered species of which only a few thousand individuals remain.
Female elephants communicate their readiness to mate by excreting a sex pheromone in their urine. Male elephants exhibit a range of responses to this pheromone, beginning with sniffing and “check and place” responses, where the male touches his trunk tip to the pheromone-loaded
Thanks to new screening tools, and some luck, researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered three unrelated compounds that inhibit the two toxins – edema factor and lethal factor — that have made anthrax one of the most feared of potential bioterror agents.
In the August 2004 issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, the researchers report that they used a novel screening technique, developed at the University, to find a small molecule that prevents edema factor from
High-resolution snapshots of a virus attacking its host – which have culminated in a movie of the process – could reveal secrets of viral infection and improve gene therapy techniques, according to a Purdue University research group.
Structural biologists including Michael G. Rossmann have obtained clearer pictures of how the T4 virus, long known to infect E. coli bacteria, alters its shape as it prepares to pierce its host’s cell membrane. The complicated infection process
First-ever side-by-side comparison of PCB-laden sediments taken from separate, contaminated rivers
One of Mother Nature’s most promising weapons to break down persistent, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is bacteria. Now, a study by Carnegie Mellon University scientists provides convincing evidence that how quickly a PCB gets eaten and what it becomes depends on where it settles. Using DNA fingerprinting, the Carnegie Mellon team discovered distinct bacterial populations in th
University of Toronto researchers have identified individual cells in the adult mouse pancreas capable of generating insulin-producing beta cells.
Their research, published Aug. 22 in the online edition of Nature Biotechnology, offers hope for the millions of diabetics worldwide who take insulin injections to compensate for defective pancreatic islets. Healthy islets, made up largely of beta cells, release insulin to help regulate the body’s blood sugar levels.
“P
Thanks to a productive collaboration between clinical and basic scientists, researchers from the University of Chicago have identified the first genetic cause of one of the most common birth defects of the brain, Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM). Infants with this disorder, about one in 10,000 births, have a small, displaced cerebellum and other brain abnormalities that can reduce coordination, impair mental function and cause hydrocephalus.
In the September, 2004, issue of Nature G
Scientists have been trying for some time to develop molecules that mimic natural regulators of gene expression. These natural regulators, called transcription…
The dendritic cells act as the body’s sentries, standing guard around the clock. As soon as they detect a potential enemy, they alert the T cells, whose role is to defend the body.
At the Institut Curie, CNRS researchers in an Inserm laboratory have filmed the encounter of dendritic cells and T cells. They have shown that this “rendez-vous”, which is indispensable for the activation of the immune system, cannot take place in the absence of the proteins Rac 1 and 2. Published in the
A new study has identified mutations in genes pertinent to the autonomic nervous system among babies who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) that might explain why they died. The study appears in the September issue of Pediatric Research.
Dr. Debra E. Weese-Mayer, professor of pediatrics and director of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, and colleagues at Rush and at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a case-control study in which they compa
Scientists at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, have discovered the mechanism by which acidity helps prevent muscle fatigue.
The discovery runs in the face of the previously held belief among physiologists and athletes that acidity, through a build up of lactic acid, is a major cause of muscle fatigue.
Professors George Stephenson and Graham Lamb of La Trobe’s Muscle Research Laboratory and Mr Thomas Pedersen and
New technique, reported in Science, unites organic fragments by piggybacking on DNA strands
By piggybacking small organic molecules onto short strands of DNA, chemists at Harvard University have developed an innovative new method of using DNA as a blueprint not for proteins but for collections of complex synthetic molecules. The researchers will report on the prolific technique, dubbed “DNA-templated library synthesis,” this week on the web site of the journal Science.
“T
Cyclin D proteins not required for development of tissues, as previously believed
In an experiment that appears to refute current theory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have found that removing three key proteins believed essential to cell division and growth had little impact on normal tissue development of a mouse embryo. These same proteins, when overly active, have been linked to cancer cell proliferation.
With one significant exception, the absence of protein
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