Scientists have found that specific changes in cell membrane voltage and ion flow are key in determining if an organism regenerates a head or a tail. It was known that bioelectric signals can trigger the regeneration process, but no one had shown that these signals determine which part regenerates. This technique uses pharmacology to change voltage and does not rely on gene therapy.
In analyzing the molecular sensor for the plant growth hormone brassinolide, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered that although plants took an evolutionary path different from their animal cousins, they arrived at similar solutions to a common problem: How to reliably receive and process incoming signals.
Breakthrough discovery offers hope for new therapies for range of diseases.
DNA, that marvelous, twisty molecule of life, has an alter ego, research at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine reveals.
University of Michigan researchers have uncovered molecular signals that regulate catch-up growth---the growth spurt that occurs when normal conditions are restored after a fetus, young animal or child has been ill, under stress or deprived of enough food or oxygen to grow properly.
In a new study, scientists at the University of Maryland and the Institut Pasteur show that bacteria evolve new abilities, such as antibiotic resistance, predominantly by acquiring genes from other bacteria. The researchers new insights into the evolution of bacteria partly contradict the widely accepted theory that new biological functions in bacteria and other microbes arise primarily through the process of gene duplication within the same organism.
Study suggests that HIV pushes a specific subset of the CD4+ “helper” T-cell toward more rapid aging by as much as 20 to 30 years over a three-year period. These findings could partially explain why older HIV-positive people progress to AIDS more rapidly than younger ones, and why younger ones develop illnesses more common to older people.
Researchers are finding ways to tell the difference between healthy cells and abnormal cells, such as cancer cells, based on the way the cells look and move.
Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer and the disease that killed Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, resists nearly all treatment efforts, even when attacked simultaneously on several fronts. One explanation can be found in the tumor cells' unexpected flexibility, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
To understand the emerging science of epigenetics—a field that describes how genes may be regulated without altering the underlying DNA itself—scientists are deciphering the many ways in which enzymes act on the proteins surrounding DNA within cells.
Researchers from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have discovered a novel peptide that can act as a potent inducer of cancer cell death, which may have significant implications for therapeutic agents used to treat cancer. Their study indicates that the amphipathic tail-anchoring peptide, or ATAP, may provide more successful outcomes in cancer treatment than the BH3 peptide-based therapy currently used. The study was released online December 28, 2010, as a Paper of the Week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Researchers have for the first time mapped the complex choreography used by the immune system’s T cells to recognize pathogens while avoiding attacks on the body’s own cells.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a molecule that can make brain cells resistant to programmed cell death or apoptosis.
Fruit fly study demonstrates how lipotoxic cardiomyopathy might occur in genetically obese individuals, revealing potential therapeutic targets for fat-related heart disease.
Scientists coax stem cells (created from skin cells of a patient with an inherited heart disease) into cardiac cells. Method holds promise for personalized medicine, and for studying diseased cells that can’t be easily biopsied.
In a technique that could eventually shed light on how gene expression influences human disease, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have for the first time ever successfully visualized single molecules of naturally-occurring messenger RNA (mRNA) transcribed in living mammalian cells. The scientific achievement is detailed in the January 16 online edition of Nature Methods. Gene expression involves transcribing a gene’s DNA into molecules of mRNA. These molecules then migrate from a cell’s nucleus into the cytoplasm, where they serve as blueprints for protein construction.
By studying a plant’s vein network pattern, plant biologists can investigate a plant’s response to changing environments. In order to quickly examine the patterns of many leaves, researchers have developed a user-assisted software tool that extracts macroscopic vein structures directly from leaf images.
A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida and Washington University School of Medicine adds a new twist to the body of evidence suggesting human obesity is due in part to genetic factors. While studying hormone receptors in laboratory mice, neuroscientists identified a new molecular player responsible for the regulation of appetite and metabolism.
Scientists at the University of Kentucky have discovered that plasminogen, a protein used by the body to break up blood clots, speeds up the progress of prion diseases such as mad cow disease.
In making your pro-longevity resolutions, like drinking more red wine and maintaining a vibrant social network, here's one you likely forgot: dialing down your mitochondria. It turns out that slowing the engines of these tiny cellular factories could extend your life-an observation relevant not only to aging research but to our understanding of how cells communicate with each another.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites.
Researchers have developed a microfluidic device that automatically orients hundreds of fruit fly embryos to prepare them for research. The device could facilitate the study of such issues as how organisms develop their complex structures from single cells.
New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers may solve a 17-year-old mystery about how the so-called “starvation hormone” affects multiple biological systems, including preventing insulin sensitivity and promoting cell survival.
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered how AMPK, a metabolic master switch that springs into gear when cells run low on energy, revs up a cellular recycling program to free up essential molecular building blocks in times of need.
Whitehead Institute researchers have determined that heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) can create diverse heritable traits in brewer’s yeast by affecting a large portion of the yeast genome. The researchers conclude that Hsp90 was key in shaping the evolutionary history of the yeast genome, and likely others as well.
The cell signaling pathway known as Wnt, commonly activated in cancers, causes internal membranes within a healthy cell to imprison an enzyme that is vital in degrading proteins, preventing the enzyme from doing its job and affecting the stability of many proteins within the cell, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
Whitehead Institute researchers have linked hyperactivity in the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) cellular pathway to reduced ketone production in the liver, which is a well-defined physiological trait of aging in mice. As animals age, their ability to produce ketones in response to fasting declines.
Two researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that our 98.6° F (37° C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.
In a step toward novel weight-loss therapies, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists identify cells in mice that can be triggered to transform into energy-burning brown fat.
Two Kansas State University researchers focusing on rice genetics are providing a better understanding of how pathogens take over a plant's nutrients. Their research provides insight into ways of reducing crop losses or developing new avenues for medicinal research.
A mathematically driven evolutionary snapshot of woody plants in four similar climates shows that genetic diversity is more sensitive to extinctions and loss of habitat them than long thought.
A new study published this week suggests that there may be roughly a thousand structurally-distinct protein interfaces – and that their structures depend largely on the simple physics of the proteins.
A Drexel University team of engineers, scientists and biologists have developed a carbon nanotube-based device for probing single living cells without damaging them. This technique will allow experts to identify diseases in their early stage and advance drug discovery.
A close collaboration between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Institute for Advanced Study found that the tumor suppressor p53, long thought of as the "Guardian of the Genome," may do more than thwart cancer-causing mutations. It may also prevent established cancer cells from sliding toward a more aggressive, stem-like state by serving as a "Guardian against Genome Reprogramming."
A myriad of inputs can indicate a body’s health bombard pancreatic beta cells continuously, and these cells must consider all signals and “decide” when and how much insulin to release to maintain balance in blood sugar, for example. Reporting in Nature Chemical Biology last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased out how these cells interpret incoming signals and find that three proteins relay signals similar to an electrical circuit.
Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a previously unrecognized step in the activation of infection-fighting white blood cells, the main immunity troops in the body’s war on bacteria, viruses and foreign proteins.
Better known as the light sensor that sets the body's biological clock, melanopsin also plays an important role in vision: Via its messengers-so-called melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells, or mRGCs-it forwards information about the brightness of incoming light directly to conventional visual centers in the brain, reports an international collaboration of scientists in this week's issue of PLoS Biology.
Researchers discovered that a pair of enzymes called HDACs are critical to the proper formation of mammalian skin. The findings not only provide information about the molecular processes underlying skin development, they also suggest a potential anticancer strategy. Inhibition of these HDAC enzymes might be able to shut down the growth of tumors that contain cells resembling those in embryonic skin.
A brand-new bacterial species has been found aboard the RMS Titanic, which is contributing to its deterioration. The discovery by a team led by researchers at Dalhousie University reveals a potential new microbial threat to the exterior of ships and underwater metal structures such as oil rigs.
Media Contacts: Steve Koppes 773-702-8366 [email protected] Stephen McGregor 630-252-5580 [email protected]
An international team has identified a gene that appears to be an important switch in determining whether the biological program for the development of gender will go according to plan, or if, when mutated, will cause a glitch in the program.
Microbiologists Derek Lovley, Zarath Summers and colleagues report in the Dec. 2 issue of Science that they’ve discovered a surprising new cooperative behavior in bacteria known as interspecies electron transfer. It could have important implications for the global carbon cycle and bioenergy.
Groundbreaking discovery moves field closer to therapeutic applications.
Neuropsychologists at Baylor University have found the particular cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the age-dependent effect of alcohol in teens that may cause the reduced motor impairment.
Deletion of key muscle protein inhibits exercise.
Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly lowering levels of both fat mass and blood sugar in mice treated with a chemical compound designed to disrupt production of a hormone known to stimulate weight gain in humans.
A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and their colleagues describe a molecular pathway that is a key determinant of the aging process.
With few exceptions, jumping genes-restless bits of DNA that can move freely about the genome-are forced to stay put. In patients with Rett syndrome, however, a mutation in the MeCP2 gene mobilizes so-called L1 retrotransposons in brain cells, reshuffling their genomes and possibly contributing to the symptoms of the disease when they find their way into active genes, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
New research led by scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of California, Santa Barbara, describes new complexities in the close chemical combat waged among bacteria. The findings may have implications for human health and survival.
Researchers have solved the structure of cystathionine beta-synthase, a protein that is integral to processes responsible for maintaining a healthy heart and nervous system.
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