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Pre-emptive therapy better than valacyclovir prophylaxis in treating CMV in transplant recipients

Waiting to treat the commonest viral infections in transplant recipients until they reach a certain threshold is better than prophylactically treating all recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

24 Aug 2012

ALDH enzyme marks melanoma stem cells

Cancer stem cells are defined by three abilities: differentiation, self-renewal and their ability to seed a tumor. These stem cells resist chemotherapy and many researchers posit their role in relapse. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Stem Cells, shows that melanoma cells with these abilities are marked by the enzyme ALDH, and imagines new therapies to target high-ALDH cells, potentially weeding the body of these most dangerous cancer creators.

24 Aug 2012

Abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote development of neurodegenerative diseases

Goldilocks was on to something when she preferred everything "just right." Harvard Medical School researchers have found that when it comes to the length of mitochondria, the power-producing organelles, applying the fairy tale's mantra is crucial to the health of a cell. More specifically, abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

24 Aug 2012

Cocoa and blood pressure: an interview with Dr Karin Ried

The compounds in cocoa responsible for blood pressure reduction are called flavanols or polyphenols. Flavanols are also found in green tea, dark berries or red wine.

24 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Numerous processes in our body fluctuate in a regular pattern during the day. These circadian (or daily) variations can be driven by local oscillators present within our cells or by systemic signals controlled by the master pacemaker, located in the brain. Ueli Schibler, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, unveils a molecular mechanism by which body temperature rhythms influence the expression of 'clock genes' and synchronize local oscillators.

24 Aug 2012

Parental methylated histones not transferred to daughter DNA

It's widely accepted that molecular mechanisms mediating epigenetics include DNA methylation and histone modifications, but a team from Thomas Jefferson University has evidence to the contrary regarding the role of histone modifications.

24 Aug 2012

Certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins

Ninety-six percent of a chimpanzee's genome is the same as a human's. It's the other 4 percent, and the vast differences, that pique the interest of Georgia Tech's Soojin Yi. For instance, why do humans have a high risk of cancer, even though chimps rarely develop the disease? In research published in September's American Journal of Human Genetics, Yi looked at brain samples of each species. She found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, may contribute to phenotypic changes.

24 Aug 2012

Scientists develop reliable method to convert adult blood cells into iPSCs

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a reliable method to turn the clock back on blood cells, restoring them to a primitive stem cell state from which they can then develop into any other type of cell in the body.

24 Aug 2012

Changes in DNA methylation might be linked to evolution of humans' vulnerability to diseases

Chimpanzees rarely get cancer, or a variety of other diseases that commonly arise in humans, but their genomic DNA sequence is nearly identical to ours. So, what's their secret? Researchers reporting in the September issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, a Cell Press journal, have found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, might play a role.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers deciphered function of claudin-10 gene in the kidney

Sodium chloride, better known as salt, is vital for the organism, and the kidneys play a crucial role in the regulation of sodium balance. However, the underlying mechanisms of sodium balance are not yet completely understood.

24 Aug 2012

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans.

24 Aug 2012

Scripps Research Institute scientist to uncover workings of the immune system

A team led by a scientist at The Scripps Research Institute has received a $22.5 million, five-year project renewal from the National Institutes of Health to uncover the workings of the immune system.

24 Aug 2012

New method can differentiate between breast cancer patients with good and poor prognosis

It is now possible to identify aggressive breast cancers by interpreting the mathematical patterns in the cancer genome. Researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway (UiO) have developed a completely new method for differentiating between breast cancer patients with high and low risks of dying from the illness.

24 Aug 2012

GlcNAc plays a key role in keeping cancerous monsters ‘fed’

Behaving something like ravenous monsters, tumors need plentiful supplies of cellular building blocks such as amino acids and nucleotides in order to keep growing at a rapid pace and survive under harsh conditions. How such tumors meet these burgeoning demands has not been fully understood.

24 Aug 2012

Influenza virus can change microRNA expression to control immune responses in human lung cells

When you are hit with the flu, you know it immediately -- fever, chills, sore throat, aching muscles, fatigue. This is your body mounting an immune response to the invading virus. But less is known about what is happening on the molecular level.

24 Aug 2012

MOZ protein could explain variations in severity of DiGeorge syndrome

The discovery of a 'switch' that modifies a gene known to be essential for normal heart development could explain variations in the severity of birth defects in children with DiGeorge syndrome.

24 Aug 2012

New UCLA study pinpoints unique human patterns of gene activity in the brain

Human and chimp brains look anatomically similar because both evolved from the same ancestor millions of years ago. But where does the chimp brain end and the human brain begin? A new UCLA study pinpoints uniquely human patterns of gene activity in the brain that could shed light on how we evolved differently than our closest relative.

23 Aug 2012

Microtubule stiffening worsens skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

University of Maryland (UM) researchers and collaborators report in the journal Science Signaling that skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is worsened by stiffening of the microtubule cytoskeleton that provides structure inside muscle cells.

23 Aug 2012

Proteonomix enters license agreement for new anti-tumor technology

Proteonomix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics based upon the use of human cells and their derivatives, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement for a novel source of primary human cells that secrete a factor capable of inhibiting tumor cell growth and causing tumor cell death.

23 Aug 2012

Menopause prevents competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law

The menopause evolved, in part, to prevent competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law, according to research published today in the journal Ecology Letters.

23 Aug 2012

Genes News and Research

Pre-emptive therapy better than valacyclovir prophylaxis in treating CMV in transplant recipients

ALDH enzyme marks melanoma stem cells

Abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote development of neurodegenerative diseases

Cocoa and blood pressure: an interview with Dr Karin Ried

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Parental methylated histones not transferred to daughter DNA

Certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins

Scientists develop reliable method to convert adult blood cells into iPSCs

Changes in DNA methylation might be linked to evolution of humans' vulnerability to diseases

Researchers deciphered function of claudin-10 gene in the kidney

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Scripps Research Institute scientist to uncover workings of the immune system

New method can differentiate between breast cancer patients with good and poor prognosis

GlcNAc plays a key role in keeping cancerous monsters ‘fed’

Influenza virus can change microRNA expression to control immune responses in human lung cells

MOZ protein could explain variations in severity of DiGeorge syndrome

New UCLA study pinpoints unique human patterns of gene activity in the brain

Microtubule stiffening worsens skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Proteonomix enters license agreement for new anti-tumor technology

Menopause prevents competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law

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