UNC scientists’ findings have implications for prostate cancer

For the second time in less than a year, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have purified a novel protein and have shown it can alter gene activity by reversing a molecular modification previously thought permanent.

The findings, published today (May 5) in the journal Cell, also show that the new protein plays a role in gene activation mediated by androgen receptor, a protein that re

For anyone tethered to a lawnmower, the Holy Grail of horticultural accomplishment would be grass that never grows but is always green.

Now, that vision of suburban bliss—and more—seems plausible as scientists have mapped a critical hormone signaling pathway that regulates the stature of plants. In addition to lawns that rarely require mowing, the finding could also enable the development of sturdier, more fruitful crop plants such as rice, wheat, soybeans, and corn.

Researchers here have discovered a new mechanism used by cells – and manipulated by retroviruses – to control the making of certain essential proteins, including some involved in cancer.

The mechanism uses an enzyme called RNA helicase A (RHA), which is made by the cell.

The study by researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and the OSU College of Veterinary Medi

In a painstaking set of experiments in overweight mice, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a gene that appears to play an important role in the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The finding is important because it provides evidence that the same gene in humans could provide clinicians with a powerful tool to determine the likelihood that some individuals will acquire the condition. Moreover, the finding that the gene works through a pathway not generally

The research team, directed by Joseph Gleeson, M.D., Director of the Neurogenetics Laboratory at the UCSD School of Medicine and associate professor in the Department of Neurosciences, have identified a new gene that, when mutated, leads to JSRD. Their findings will be published on-line May 7 in advance of publication in the journal Nature Genetics.

JSRD is a group of neurodevelopmental syndromes marked by absence of the middle part of the cerebellum called the vermis, along with features

White blood cells from a strain of cancer-resistant mice cured advanced cancers in ordinary laboratory mice, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported today.

“Even highly aggressive forms of malignancy with extremely large tumors were eradicated,” Zheng Cui, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues reported in this week’s on-line edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The transplanted white blood cells not only killed existing can

Researchers have a new understanding of the process cells use to ensure that sperm and eggs begin life with exactly one copy of each chromosome – a process that must be exquisitely regulated to prevent problems such as miscarriages and mental retardation. The new work reveals how gluelike protein complexes release pairs of chromosomes at precisely the moment of meiosis – the specialized cell division process that produces sperm and eggs – enabling them to separate properly.

The researchers

Novel lab technique expands researchers’ toolbox

A technical advance in laboratory techniques may provide biology researchers broader access to RNA interference, a process of blocking the activity of targeted genes. RNA interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease.

Writing in the Journal of Immunological Methods, published online on March 24, a research team from The Children’

The morale of British midwives is at an all time low and 10,000 extra staff are needed, according to a leading healthcare expert.

Linda Ball, a midwife and senior lecturer in health and social care research at Sheffield Hallam University, says that the midwifery profession is crippled by unhappy staff and overstretched wards.

The revelations come after National Midwifery Week (1-7 May, 2006) and compound the Government’s NHS misery, after it announced more job cuts

Could reduce HIV transmission: Study

HIV plagues more than 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization, and efforts to develop a vaccine against the virus have achieved limited success.

But what if a vaccine against another sexually transmitted infection found widely in that region of Africa – chancroid – was relatively easy to develop and could reduce transmission of HIV as much as 10-fold?

That may be the case, accordin

A radiologist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has developed a new procedure to treat fractured vertebrae caused by spinal tumors, a procedure that may decrease the risk of complications, which are experienced by 5 to 10% of patients with malignant tumors of the spine.

Wade Wong, D.O.F.A.C.R, UCSD professor of radiology, and San Diego clinician Bassem Georgy, M.D., partially removed spinal tumors from 28 patients before repairing the spine

For men under the age 55 with localized prostate cancer, external beam radiation may be an effective alternative to both conservative and more invasive treatments, according to a new study. Published in the June 15, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study reveals that external beam radiation therapy is as effective in younger prostate cancer patients as it is in older patients with same stage, localized disease. The study is the first to investigate

New approaches to genetic disease, based on cells’ own ability to correct themselves, will be outlined today (Monday 8 May 2006) at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Instead of replacing a faulty gene (commonly referred to as gene therapy) these new ‘smart’ approaches make use of the therapeutic potential that already exists in human biology.

Professor Brunhilde Wirth, from the Institute of Human Genetics, University of Cologne

Scientists have seen for the first time a key step in the complex molecular processes whereby pancreas cells release insulin into the bloodstream.

The breakthrough, which builds on earlier Nobel-Prize winning research, could have implications for the treatment of diabetes which is caused when not enough insulin is released by the pancreas to meet the body’s demands.

The team of scientists from the University of Manchester, Charite University in Berlin, and the University

By studying microscopic hairs called cilia on algae, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that an internal structure that helps build cilia is also responsible for a cell’s response to external signals.

Cilia perform many functions on human cells; they propel egg and sperm cells to make fertilization possible, line the nose to pick up odors, and purify the blood, among other tasks.

With such a range of abilities, cilia serve as both motors and “cel

Scientists have determined that decay-accelerating factor (DAF), a protein found in epithelial cells in the stomach, acts as a receptor for the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Blocking this interaction could lead to new drugs that reduce the risk of peptic ulcer disease or gastric cancer. The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the May 12 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.

Helicobacter pylori are sp