When viruses infect the body’s cells, those cells face a difficult problem. How can they destroy viruses without harming themselves? Scientists at University of Utah Health have found an answer by visualizing a tiny cellular machine that chops the viruses’ genetic material into bits.
Researchers reveal in detail how fertilization triggers destruction of a small number of proteins, which releases the “brakes” on an egg’s cell cycle. Simultaneously, vast quantities of proteins are rapidly secreted from the egg to help prevent fertilization by multiple sperm cells.
Fish sense water motion the same way humans sense sound, according to new research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Researchers discovered a gene also found in humans helps zebrafish convert water motion into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain for perception. The shared gene allows zebrafish to sense water flow direction, and it also helps cells inside the human ear sense a range of sounds.
A method developed by HHMI investigators sifts through hundreds of millions of potential targets to find a precise cancer beacon. The results may lead to better immunotherapies, which harness the immune system to attack tumors.
Every day, every inch of skin on your body comes into contact with thousands of molecules — from food, cosmetics, sweat, the microbes that call your skin home. Now researchers can create interactive 3D maps that show where each molecule lingers on your body, thanks to a new method developed by University of California San Diego and European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) researchers.
An original research report by Eun Jeong Cho et al. (University of Texas at Austin) in the January 2018 Issue of SLAS Discovery presents a newly designed biochemical assay that is rapid, sensitive, inexpensive, and high-throughput screening (HTS)-friendly to identify antagonist against aldolase A (ALDOA).
Researchers in Italy have discovered how specific versions of a protein called Numb protect the key tumor suppressor p53 from destruction. The study, which will be published December 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology, suggests that the loss of these particular Numb proteins makes breast cancers more aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy, but points the way toward new therapeutic approaches that could improve patient outcome by preserving p53 levels.
The findings point the way to targeting diseases where this protein is mutated.
A shorter life may be the price an organism pays for coping with the natural assaults of daily living, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their colleagues in Japan. The scientists used fruit flies to examine the relationship between lifespan and signaling proteins that defend the body against environmental stressors, such as bacterial infections and cold temperatures. Since flies and mammals share some of the same molecular pathways, the work may demonstrate how the environment affects longevity in humans.
A single treatment of a genome editing agent partially preserved hearing in mice with genetic deafness. The work could one day help scientists treat certain forms of genetic hearing loss in humans.
Some secrets to repairing our skeletons might be found in the silky webs of spiders, according to recent experiments guided by supercomputers. Scientists involved say their results will help understand the details of osteoregeneration, or how bones repair themselves.
Researchers have identified significant mitochondrial changes that take place in cocaine addiction, and they blocked them.
In a pair of publications, researchers have shown how cells adapt to stressors—like water loss—by reprogramming their internal signaling networks. The studies describe previously unknown mechanisms that cells use to send signals between cellular machinery and avoid cell death. According to the authors, drugs that enhance the adaptation mechanisms could help cells stave off multiple diseases, including type 2 diabetes. The studies were published in Cell Reports and Molecular Cell.
Delivering drugs specifically to cancer cells is one approach researchers are taking to minimize treatment side effects. Stem cells, bacteria and other carriers have been tested as tiny delivery vehicles. Now a new potential drug carrier to treat gynecological conditions has joined the fleet: sperm. Scientistsreport in the journal ACS Nano that they have exploited the swimming power of sperm to ferry a cancer drug directly to a cervical tumor in lab tests.
“While interesting by itself, it more importantly shows scientists the tradeoffs that can exist across body parts,” said Christine Miller, a UF/IFAS associate professor of entomology and co-author of both new studies. “It also provides fundamental knowledge on the ways that animals can compensate after injury.”
A dark exciton can store information in its spin state, analogous to how a regular, classical bit stores information in its off or on state, but dark excitons do not emit light, making it hard to determine their spins and use them for quantum information processing. In new experiments, however, researchers can read the spin states of dark excitons, and do it more efficiently than before. Their demonstration, described in APL Photonics, can help researchers scale up dark exciton systems to build larger devices for quantum computing.
Many cancer cells are relatively sensitive to the deprivation of an essential amino acid known as methionine. Now, a Ludwig Cancer Research study published in the journal Science Signaling and led by Alex Toker, an investigator in the Ludwig Center at Harvard, has elucidated one mechanism behind that dependency.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, also known as oral tongue cancer, is an aggressive form of cancer that generally affects older people. Patients with the disease often find it difficult to eat, swallow food, or speak. Reasons for its generally poor prognosis include late detection, before pain usually starts and only when physical symptoms such as lesions are present, and a propensity for spreading to other sites in the body. But in a potential harbinger of hope for arriving at an earlier diagnosis and treatment, in a new study published in Oncotarget, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center has found that bacterial diversity and richness, and fungal richness, are significantly reduced in tumor tissue compared to their matched non-tumor tissues. This raises the prospect that certain bacteria and fungi, in sufficient amounts and in possibly interactive ways, may play a pa
In a historic move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a gene therapy initially developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for the treatment of a rare, inherited form of retinal blindness. The decision marks the nation’s first gene therapy approved for the treatment of a genetic disease, and the first in which a new, corrective gene is injected directly into a patient.
Researchers at the University of Georgia have identified several new genes that influence how the body regulates blood pressure.
When ionizing radiation passes through living tissue, it interacts with molecules present in the cells, stripping away electrons and producing charged species known as ions. Ionizing radiation used for cancer treatment includes gamma rays, X-rays and energetic particles. The electrons produced by this process, known as secondary electrons, can themselves go on to wreak further havoc, causing even more dramatic changes. This week in The Journal of Chemical Physics, investigators report studies of the impact of secondary electrons on a model of DNA.
Understanding that divergence, University of Notre Dame researchers say, is a starting point to determining whether there are non-biting genes in other species that could be manipulated in order to reduce transmission of vector-borne diseases.
Peter Rotwein, M.D., was recently spotlighted by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) for a study he conducted on insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), a family of proteins that are crucial in early human growth and development. IGF mutations have been tied to dire health problems, like growth failure, intellectual deficiencies, and other developmental abnormalities.
In a study published online in the journal eLife, the researchers identified a molecular signature of approximately 1300 genes differentially expressed in an aggressive subset of migrating neural crest cells termed as “trailblazers” in a vertebrate model system of development. These genes appear to play a critical role in migration and may be part of a broader molecular signature of cell invasion in a number of phenomena.
Researchers have found genetic explanations for why most mosquitoes in one species favor nectar over blood. This work could one day lead to strategies to prevent mosquito-borne illness.
UCLA scientists have developed a new strategy to efficiently isolate, mature and transplant skeletal muscle cells created from human pluripotent stem cells, which can produce all cell types of the body. The findings are a major step towards developing a stem cell replacement therapy for muscle diseases including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
The most lethal form of breast cancer could have a new treatment option, according to new research out of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers showed triple-negative breast cancer cells are highly vulnerable to interferon-β—a potent antimicrobial that also activates the immune system. The new study shows interferon-β impairs breast cancer cells’ ability to migrate and form tumors. The study also suggests interferon-β treatment could improve outcomes for certain breast cancer patients.
Scientists videotape spiders spinning webs in hopes of unlocking secrets of behavior: how is it shaped by genetics, how is it a response to surroundings?
Climate change and predator-prey dynamics with wolves make for smaller moose. Ecologists compared skull measurements spanning four decades gathered at Isle Royale National Park and found a 16 percent decrease in moose skull size.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have now uncovered new insights into the regulatory network behind neuron growth.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and engineers have developed a “brain-on-a-chip” device that could be used to test and predict the effects of biological and chemical agents, disease, or pharmaceutical drugs on the brain over time without the need for human or animal subjects.
Microscopes enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) could help clinical microbiologists diagnose potentially deadly blood infections and improve patients’ odds of survival, according to microbiologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).
Human memory has evolved so people better recall events encountered while they are thinking about raising their offspring, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Nearly 6 million Americans have bipolar disorder, and most have probably wondered why. After more than a decade of studying over 1,100 of them in-depth, a team of scientists has an answer – or rather, seven answers.
A new study led by scientists at the University of Southampton has found that inherited variation in a particular gene may be to blame for the lower survival rate of patients diagnosed with early-onset breast cancer.
Un estudio de Mayo Clinic descubrió que entre los obstáculos para que los pacientes se sometan al trasplante de células madre como parte del tratamiento para el mieloma múltiple están la educación, el seguro de salud y el acceso a atención médica en una institución con gran volumen de pacientes.
Wistar scientists revealed the mechanism implicated in the defective function of tumor-associated dendritic cells (DCs), a specialized type of immune cells that expose the antigens on their surface to activate the T cells
When you catch a nasty cold, curling up in bed to sleep may be the only activity you can manage. Sleeping in response to stress isn’t a uniquely human behavior: many other animals have the same reaction, and it’s not clear why. While the circadian sleep that follows the pattern of the clock has been studied extensively, sleep that’s triggered by stress is far less understood.
Professor Robin Franklin to receive the 2017 Barancik Prize for pioneering work to restore function for people with progressive MS. He will receive the award at ACTRIMS Forum 2018 on February 1 in San Diego, California.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center uncovered a novel gene they named THOR. It's a long non-coding RNA that plays a role in cancer development. Knocking it out can halt the growth of tumors.
Benefits of many cancer drug combinations are not due to drug synergy, but to “bet hedging.” Combinations give each patient multiple chances of responding to at least one drug, increasing survival within patient populations. Findings suggest new ways to improve the design of combination therapies.
A new study led by SBP describes the biology behind why muscle stem cells respond differently to aging or injury. The findings, published in Cell Stem Cell, have important implications for the normal wear and tear of aging.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have used supercomputers to create an atomic scale map that tracks how the signaling chemical glutamate binds to a neuron in the brain. The findings, say the scientists, shed light on the dynamic physics of the chemical’s pathway, as well as the speed of nerve cell communications.
Muscle paralysis rapidly causes inflammation in nearby bone marrow, which may promote the formation of large cells that break down bone, a new study finds.
Two Johns Hopkins prostate cancer researchers found significant disparities when they submitted identical patient samples to two different commercial liquid biopsy providers. Liquid biopsy is a new and noninvasive alternative to tumor tissue sequencing, and it is intended to specifically detect and sequence tumor DNA circulating in patients’ blood. The results are used to help guide doctors to tailor the best treatment for patients at each point of their disease.
For the first time the functions of natural killer cells in the womb have been identified.
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have identified a way to block the ability of parasites that cause malaria to shield themselves against drug treatments in infected mice—a finding that could lead to the development of new approaches to combat this deadly disease in humans.
Through its awards, SOT honors more than two dozen groundbreaking scientists, emerging leaders, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students who are advancing the science of toxicology. The SOT Awards also recognize the contributions of educators and science communicators as they work to encourage students to pursue STEM careers and improve public understanding of the connection between scientific research and public health.
A new (and freely available) original research article published ahead-of-print at SLAS Discovery Online describes a new methodology that enables the investigation of a large number of structurally conserved enzymes belonging to the Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Emory University research offers insight into origins of the T cells that provide enduring immune protection; findings should aid vaccine development and cancer immunotherapies
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