Early-life seizures prematurely switch on key synapses in the brain that may contribute to further neurodevelopmental delay in children with autism and other intellectual disabilities, suggests a new study from researchers at Penn Medicine.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have discovered that tumor cells reprogram metabolic pathways to gain control over a type of immune cell that allows cancer growth.
Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) give rise to blood and immune cells of the body, and are therefore essential for our survival. They are in a dormant state, but whenever new blood needs to be formed, such as after blood loss or chemotherapy, they are rapidly activated to compensate for the loss. After completing their mission, they need to go back to their dormant state. The group of Manuela Baccarini at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, has now shown how intracellular signalling can safeguard this delicate balance between activation and dormancy. Their results are published in the prominent journal Cell Stem Cell.
How does a cell know when to divide? We know that hundreds of genes contribute to a wave of activity linked to cell division, but to generate that wave new research shows that cells must first grow large enough to produce four key proteins in adequate amounts.
New research in mice reveals how specialized neurons allow the brain to construct sequences of movements. Damage to these neurons disrupts the ability to correctly string together movements into desired actions. The findings may inform the study and eventual treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.
Scientists exploring how to tame random gene fluctuations as the embryos that become our bodies start to form have identified a control switch in the vertebrate segmentation clock of developing zebrafish. The researchers report in Cell Reports their findings could uncover methods for modulating genetic signals to prevent birth defects or cancers rooted at the earliest stages of development.
Although rare, flesh-eating disease is challenging to diagnose promptly and can rapidly become fatal. A study conducted in mice reveals that neurons play key role in the development of flesh-eating disease. The findings show that a bacterium that causes flesh-eating disease hijacks the normal crosstalk between nervous and immune systems to avoid immune destruction, thus ensuring its own survival. Two approaches prevent infections, halt disease progression in mice.
The findings, published today in Cell by scientists at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), University of Georgia (UGA) and Washington State University, detail the structure of MBH, a molecular complex involved in microbial respiration. The near-atomic resolution images are the first ever of MBH and show that its structure is remarkably similar to its counterpart in humans, Complex I.
New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research reveals that a DNA regulatory element within the Hoxb cluster globally mediates signals to the majority of Hoxb genes to control their expression in blood-forming stem cells.
Researchers tissue-engineered human pancreatic islets in a laboratory that develop a circulatory system, secrete hormones like insulin and successfully treat sudden-onset type 1 diabetes in transplanted mice. In a study published by Cell Reports, the scientists use a new bioengineering process they developed called a self-condensation cell culture. The technology helps nudge medical science closer to one day growing human organ tissues from a person’s own cells for regenerative therapy
Using an informatics tool that identifies “hotspots” of post-translational modification (PTM) activity on proteins, researchers have found a previously-unknown mechanism that puts the brakes on an important cell signaling process involving the G proteins found in most living organisms.
UCLA geneticists have created a technique to hunt for hormones that influence how organs and tissues communicate with each other. The method enabled them to find naturally occurring molecules that play major roles in Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Gliomas are the most common type of central nervous system cancer but how these tumors develop is not fully understood. Sheri Holmen, PhD a researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and professor of surgery at the University of Utah just published the results of her research on gliomas in Cell Reports. The work is focused on a mutated gene that is a critical piece of the puzzle for glioma development, according to Holmen’s work.
Researchers mapped critical brain-to-spinal cord nerve connections that drive voluntary movement in forelimbs, a development that scientists say allows them to start looking for specific repair strategies. The study is an important step toward one day rehabilitating motor circuits to help motor function recover after an injury or disease damages the central nervous system, the scientists report in Cell Reports.
The power of exercise to boost metabolism could arise from a fat molecule with an unexpected source. In a new study, a lipid released from fat, or lipokine, produced by brown fat was shown to surge in the bloodstream after exercise.
Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have uncovered a new kind of clue to an individual's variable response to exercise--a hormone whose levels in the bloodstream rise sharply in exercise as well as in cold.Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have uncovered a new kind of clue to an individual's variable response to exercise--a hormone whose levels in the bloodstream rise sharply in exercise as well as in cold.
How can dietary changes shape a person’s gut bacteria, and then how do those bacteria shape health and diseases, like obesity, diabetes, and susceptibility to infection diseases?
Bariatric surgery has long yielded almost immediate health benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes, and new findings from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine may be the key to developing drug alternatives to surgery.
Researchers investigating a key signaling protein in Huntington’s disease describe deleterious effects on heart function, going beyond the disease’s devastating neurological impact. By adjusting protein levels affecting an important biological pathway, the researchers improved heart function in mice, shedding light on the biology of this fatal disease.
UAH Ph.D. student Shristi Shrestha is honing her skills in single-cell gene expression as a graduate research assistant at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. She recently served as first co-author of a paper that was published in the journal "Cell Reports."
Using new technologies to track how vision guides foot placement, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin come one step closer in determining what is going on in the brain while we walk, paving the way for better treatment for mobility impairments — strokes, aging and Parkinson’s — and technology development — prosthetics and robots.
Scientists have re-created brain neurons of obese patients using "disease in a dish" technology, offering a new method to study the brain's role in obesity and possibly help tailor treatments to specific individuals.
After testing more than 200,000 chemical compounds, UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center researchers have identified 170 chemicals that are potential candidates for development into drug therapies for lung cancer.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have identified a protein, called GPR68, that senses blood flow and tells small blood vessels called arterioles when to dilate.
A protein that plays an important role in embryonic development and nervous system wiring in humans appears to have been borrowed from bacteria. In a new study, scientists from the UChicago and Stanford describe the three-dimensional structure of proteins called teneurins for the first time.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive form of the disease accounting for 12 to 18 percent of breast cancers. It is a scary diagnosis, and even though chemotherapy can be effective as standard-of-care, many patients become resistant to treatment. A team at The University of Texas MD Anderson led a study which may explain how resistance evolves over time, and potentially which patients could benefit from chemotherapy.
Studying mice, researchers have found that a drug called nalfurafine hydrochloride (Remitch) can deliver itch relief by targeting particular opioid receptors on neurons in the spinal cord. The new study suggests that the drug may be effective against many types of chronic itching that don’t respond to conventional drugs such as antihistamines.
Cornell University researchers have developed a “lymphoma micro-reactor” device that exposes human lymphomas to fluid flow similar to that in the lymphatics and parts of the lymph node. It is designed to explore how fluid forces may relate to a tumors’ drug resistance.
UT Southwestern researchers identify a hormone that acts on the brain to increase the desire to drink water in response to specific nutrient stresses that can cause dehydration.
A new study—one of a few to concentrate on microbes in the upper gastrointestinal tract—shows how the typical calorie-dense western diet can induce expansion of microbes that promote the digestion and absorption of high-fat foods. Over time, the steady presence of these microbes can lead to over-nutrition and obesity.
Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a genetic screening tool that identified two key factors that allow the influenza virus to infect human lung cells. The technique uses new gene editing tools to create a library of modified cells, each missing a different gene, allowing scientists to see which changes impact their response to flu. This in turn could identify potential targets for antiviral drugs.
Scientists searching for a therapy to stop the deadly and mostly untreatable lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), found a new molecular target that slows or stops the illness in preclinical laboratory tests. Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center report their data in the journal Cell Reports. Studying mice with IPF and donated human cells, they identified a gene called FOXF1 that inhibits the IPF disease.
Matching unique genetic information from cancer patients’ tumors with treatment options – an emerging area of precision medicine efforts – often fails to identify all patients who may respond to certain therapies. Other molecular information from patients may reveal these so-called “hidden responders."
Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) announced today that the work of its scientists is featured in 27 papers focused on the output of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The papers were published across the Cell Press family of journals.
In the April 5, 2018 issue of the journal Cell, researchers push for greater emphasis on the neglected viral-surface influenza protein neuraminidase. For decades, flu vaccines have concentrated on hemagglutinin. The authors maintain that a focus on neuraminidase could lower infection rates and lessen severity.
By combining data on pathology images of 13 types of cancer and correlating that with clinical and genomic data, researchers are able to identify tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), called TIL maps, which will enable specialists to generate tumor-immune information from pathology slides.
Researchers nationwide have reached a major milestone in describing the genetic landscape of cancer. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions have completed the genetic sequencing and analyses of more than 11,000 tumors from patients, spanning 33 types of cancer — all part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, funded by the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute.
Cells acquire distinct fates and functions during development. A study from the IMBA reveals a new mechanism of cell fate specification involving the regulation of cell metabolism.
At the heart of any cancer diagnosis or treatment are cells. If one thinks of the cell components controlling gene activation as a Russian nesting-doll of gene regulatory layers, within those increasingly smaller tiers are short pieces of non-coding DNA called enhancers. A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reveals enhancers as a significant area of research for diagnosing and/or treating many cancers.
Rats who were dosed with nicotine during their adolescence grew up to drink alcohol more often than those who weren’t exposed to nicotine or were only exposed to it during adulthood. Exposure to nicotine at a young age changed the neuronal circuitry in the rat brain’s reward pathways
Mitochondria, known to most people as the “powerhouses of the cell”, have been recognized for decades as the cellular organelle where sugars and fats are oxidized to generate energy. Now, new research by UCLA scientists has found that not all mitochondria fit this definition.
Material left out of common processes for sequencing genetic material in cancer tumors may actually carry important information about why only some people respond to immunotherapy, possibly offering better insight than the type of material that is being sequenced, according to a study by Mount Sinai researchers published on April 3 in Cell Reports.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a new aspect of the flu virus and how it interacts with antibodies in the lungs.
By detailing the mechanisms underlying the development of medulloblastoma tumors, these findings could lead to new treatments, noted Dr. Mukhopadhyay, a W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research.
Scientists have found a genetic trigger that may improve the brain’s ability to heal from a range of debilitating conditions, from strokes to concussions and spinal cord injuries.
Wistar researchers have found rationale for repurposing a class of antitumor compounds called HDAC inhibitors as a new therapeutic option for ovarian cancer with mutations in the ARID1A gene.
Doctors recommend against taking antibiotics for viral infections because they don't work – antibiotics don't kill viruses – and do promote antibiotic resistance. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests another reason to avoid the pills: Taking antibiotics increases susceptibility to subsequent viral infection, at least in mice.
“This study is a good example of a host/pathogen arms race playing out in real-time—this time with the host a likely winner."
A team of biologists has deciphered how neurons used in the perception of motion form in the brain of a fly —a finding that illustrates how complex neuronal circuits are constructed from simple developmental rules.
Different tissues have shockingly variable sensitivities to genes that drive normal and malignant cell proliferation, study shows. Research unmasks hundreds of cancer-driving genes invisible to gene sequencing. Findings could explain why individual cancer drivers appear in some tumors and not others, could inspire tissue-specific strategies for cancer treatment.
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