Feature Channels: Cell Biology

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When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

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A recent groundbreaking study from University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers now provides strong evidence that the KSHV virus invades the body through human saliva and silently infects a certain type of B cell found in the tonsils. Their findings, published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) and featured as an “Editor’s Pick,” could help scientists block the spread of the virus within an individual and between people, thus preventing the early onset of cancer.

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Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the molecular mechanisms triggered by starvation in fruit flies that enhance the nervous system’s response to smell, allowing these insects and presumably vertebrates—including humans—to become more efficient and voracious foragers when hungry. Their discovery of the neural changes that control odor-driven food searches in flies, which they detail in a paper in the April 1 issue of the journal Cell, could provide a new way to potentially regulate human appetite.

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The most recently discovered amino acid, pyrrolysine, is produced by a series of just three chemical reactions with a single precursor – the amino acid lysine, according to new research.

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Inactivation of two pathways that regulate cell division profoundly disrupts cell-cycle control and leads to tumor growth, according to researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

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University of Utah scientists used infrared light to make heart cells contract and inner-ear cells signal the brain. The discovery might improve cochlear implants for deafness and lead to devices to restore vision, maintain balance and treat movement disorders.

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New evidence has emerged from studies in mice that short telomeres or “caps” at the ends of chromosomes may predispose people to age-related diabetes, according to Johns Hopkins scientists.

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Avian embryos could join the list of model organisms used to study a specific type of cell migration called epiboly, a developmental process involving mass movement of cells as a sheet that is linked with medical conditions that include wound healing and cancer.

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Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered that members of an enzyme family found in humans and throughout the plant and animal kingdoms play a crucial role in regulating cell motility. Their findings suggest an entirely new strategy for treating conditions ranging from diabetic ulcers to metastatic cancer.

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A dendritic cell vaccine personalized for each individual based on the patient’s own tumor may increase median survival time in those with a deadly form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, an early phase study at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

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Using a light-triggered chemical tool, Johns Hopkins scientists report that they have refined a means of moving individual molecules around inside living cells and sending them to exact locations at precise times.

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Johns Hopkins researchers believe they have uncovered the molecular switch for the secretion of insulin — the hormone that regulates blood sugar — providing for the first time an explanation of this process.

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Michael Frohman, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Pharmacological Sciences at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and colleagues, have discovered a new role for mitochondria during RNA processing.

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In the early stages of human embryogenesis, a transcription factor called Twist1 plays a key regulatory role in how the embryo assumes form and function. Much later in life, however, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, say Twist1 can re-emerge, taking a darker and more deadly turn.

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Researchers from across multiple disciplines at NYU Langone Medical Center created a new protein molecule derived from the growth factor progranulin may provide the basis for new therapies in inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study published in the March 10, 2011 issue of Science.

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Whitehead Institute scientists have created a method that site-specifically modifies proteins to exert control over their properties when administered therapeutically. The technique should be useful to increase potency, slow metabolism, and improve thermal stability of therapeutically useful proteins.

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Pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial node control heart rate, but what controls the ticking of these pacemaker cells? New research by Angelo Torrente and his colleagues of the M.E. Mangoni group’s, reveals, for the first time, a critical functional interaction between Cav1.3 calcium ion (Ca2+) channels and ryanodine-receptor (RyR) mediated Ca2+ signaling.

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Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of Texas at Dallas are reporting today at the 55th Annual Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD how they are using a novel 3D cell imaging method for studying the complex spatial-temporal dynamics of protein transport, providing a solution to this fundamental problem in cell biology.

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A new research study dramatically increases knowledge of how taste cells detect sugars, a key step in developing strategies to limit overconsumption. Scientists from the Monell Center and collaborators have discovered that taste cells have several additional sugar detectors other than the previously known sweet receptor.

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A new study from the Sbarro Health Research Organization Center for Biotechnology reveals new molecular insights into the understanding and treatment of Burkitt`s lymphoma, one of the most aggressive tumors affecting humans.

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New findings from researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto may shed light on the mechanisms that regulate the organization of receptors on the cell surface, a critical aspect of cell signaling not well understood at this time.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a notorious neurodegenerative condition characterized by the progressive deterioration of brain and spinal cord neurons, resulting in the gradual but catastrophic loss of muscle control and ultimately, death. In a paper, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, a team of scientists at the UCSD School of Medicine and colleagues describe the profound and pervasive role of a key protein in ALS pathology called TDP-43.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered that a natural product isolated from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant commonly known as thunder god vine, or lei gong teng, and used for hundreds of years to treat many conditions including rheumatoid arthritis works by blocking gene control machinery in the cell. The report, published as a cover story of the March issue of Nature Chemical Biology, suggests that the natural product could be a starting point for developing new anticancer drugs.

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Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that PARIS — the protein — facilitates the most common form of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which affects about 1 million older Americans. The findings of their study, published March 4 in Cell, could lead to important new targets for treatment.

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Researchers from NIST and Weill Cornell Mecial College have designed artificial 'protocells' that can lure, entrap and inactivate a class of deadly human viruses--think decoys with teeth.

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Work led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists identified how cells flip a switch between cell survival and cell death that involves a protein called FLIP.

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Immunological research at the University of Haifa, Israel, has made a new breakthrough, revealing a critical component in the "decision-making" process of white blood cells that play a role in healing from bacterial inflammation.

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The effectiveness of the cancer therapy known as adoptive T cell transfer is limited by the cells’ finite lifespan. Researchers have now addressed this limitation by accurately predicting cell age & quality. Infusing only young functional cells into a patient should improve the therapeutic outcome.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a signaling pathway in the brain that’s sufficient to induce cellular leptin resistance, a problem that decreases the body’s ability to “hear” that it is full and should stop eating.

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Many people suffer from a devastating condition known as critical limb ischemia (CLI) that can lead to muscle wasting and even amputation. The disease is linked to the blockage of blood flow to the skeletal muscle and current treatment options include rehabilitative exercise and surgical bypass of blood vessels. New preclinical research suggests there may be a way to restore blood supply in skeletal muscle without traditional intervention.

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Compound useful for studying birth defects may also have anti-tumor properties, according to researchers at North Carolina State University.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Jeffrey D. Esko, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, describe the build-up of a novel secondary metabolite in Sanfilippo disease, a discovery that could improve understanding of the pathology of Sanfilippo disease and refine diagnostic techniques.

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Like a bounty hunter returning escapees to custody, a cancer-fighting gene converts organ cells that change into highly mobile stem cells back to their original, stationary state, researchers report online at Nature Cell Biology.

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A new study uncovers mechanisms that control Rb2/p130 gene expression in lung cancer and reveals why the gene is expressed differently in small and non-small lung cancer cells.

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In a promising science-fiction-meets-real-world juxtaposition, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that the mammalian newborn heart can heal itself completely.

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A research team led by Edward Yu of Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is identifying the structure of pumps that allow bacteria to resist toxins. Their discoveries are published in the Feb. 24 issue of the journal Nature.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a signaling mechanism in the bacterial ribosome that detects proteins that activate genes for antibiotic resistance.

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A theoretical technique developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is bringing supercomputer simulations and experimental results closer together by identifying common “fingerprints.”

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For insects, as for humans, mating can involve complicated interactions between males and females, with each partner engaging in rituals or behaviors that influence the other. Those behaviors often end once the mating is complete. But male and female insects continue to influence each other on molecular, cellular and physiological levels – even after the partners go their separate way. (AAAS Presentation, Feb. 21.)

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Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered that the skeleton acts as a regulator of fertility in male mice through a hormone released by bone, known as osteocalcin. Until now, interactions between bone and the reproductive system have focused only on the influence of gonads on the build-up of bone mass.

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Researchers who were investigating how stress affects gastrointestinal function may have found a chemical compound that induces hair growth by blocking a stress-related hormone associated with hair loss — entirely by accident

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Researchers from Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center have genetic evidence suggesting the antioxidant drugs currently used to treat lung disease, malaria and even the common cold can also help prevent and treat cancers because they fight against mitochondrial oxidative stress—a culprit in driving tumor growth.

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Scientists have discovered a molecular assistant called Spy that helps bacteria excel at producing proteins for medical and industrial purposes.

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In a report published Nov. 29 in the Journal of Cell Biology, the researchers described experiments using fruit fly embryos to identify an invasive projection propelled by the rapid elongation of actin filaments as the main player in the cellular power struggle.

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The University at Buffalo is a key partner in a $7.3 million collaboration to explore the origins of all flowers by sequencing the genome of Amborella, a unique species that one researcher has nicknamed the “platypus of flowering plants.”

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found a better way to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells—adult cells reprogrammed with the properties of embryonic stem cells—from a small blood sample. This new method, described last week in Cell Research, avoids creating DNA changes that could lead to tumor formation.

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In cancer and other pathological diseases, researchers are discovering that packaging is important: specifically, how DNA – about two meters long when unwound and stretched – coils up and compacts neatly inside the nucleus of a cell.

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Scratching deep beneath the surface, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and three South Korean institutions have identified two distinct neuronal signaling pathways activated by a topical cream used to treat a variety of skin diseases. One pathway produces the therapeutic benefit; the other induces severe itching as a side effect.

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The discovery that a large cluster of genes appears to have jumped directly from one species of fungus to another significantly strengthens the argument that a different metaphor, such as a mosaic, may be more appropriate to describe the process of evolution than the traditional tree of life.

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A pair of studies published Feb. 3 in Nature, detail a new method developed to determine structures of biomolecules based on diffraction from protein nanocrystals. The international team of nearly 90 researchers included 10 from Arizona State University, whose contributions included a protein beam injector and nanocrystals.