Cytosine News and Research

RSS

Loyola's Genomics Facility uses next generation sequencing to study genetic make-up of organisms

Loyola University Chicago's Genomics Facility is using an advanced technology called next generation sequencing to assist a broad range of researchers studying the genetic make-up of organisms ranging from viruses to humans.

9 Mar 2015

University of Tokyo researchers reveal how TLR9 binds to pathogen DNA

University of Tokyo researchers have elucidated how Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binds to pathogen DNA, activating the innate immune system. This discovery is vital for the design of new antiviral, antibacterial, allergy and other drugs targeting TLR9.

10 Feb 2015

Henry Ford Hospital recruits patients to participate in brain cancer clinical trial

Henry Ford Hospital today announced that it is actively recruiting patients to participate in a clinical trial taking place at the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center which is showing promising results in patients with brain cancer.

8 Dec 2014

Joslin researcher identifies molecular pathway that causes neural tube defects in diabetic pregnancies

Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., Investigator in the Section on Islet Cell and Regenerative Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has discovered a molecular pathway responsible for neural tube defects in diabetic pregnancies. Her latest research findings in this pathway were published in the October issue of Diabetes.

6 Nov 2014

Salk researchers receive BRAIN Initiative funding

Joseph Ecker, a Salk professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and Margarita Behrens, Salk staff scientist, have been named recipients in the 2014 round of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative for leading-edge work in neuroscience.

1 Oct 2014

Alzheimer's disease report success in harnessing mouse's immune system to attack toxic proteins

Alzheimer's disease experts at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere are reporting success in specifically harnessing a mouse's immune system to attack and remove the buildup of toxic proteins in the brain that are markers of the deadly neurodegenerative disease.

9 Sep 2014

Genetic mutation caused by ultraviolet light is likely driving force behind human skin cancers

A genetic mutation caused by ultraviolet light is likely the driving force behind millions of human skin cancers, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

8 Sep 2014

New approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for treating muscular dystrophy

In a new study that could ultimately lead to many new medicines, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have adapted a chemical approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for molecules that can treat a form of muscular dystrophy.

3 Sep 2014

Researchers reveal how alteration of single nucleotide could initiate fragile X syndrome

Researchers reveal how the alteration of a single nucleotide—the basic building block of DNA—could initiate fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability. The study appears in The Journal of Cell Biology.

2 Sep 2014

Researchers reveal how early changes in DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease

A new study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Rush University Medical Center, reveals how early changes in brain DNA methylation are involved in Alzheimer's disease.

18 Aug 2014

Identifying epigenetic markers in cancer cells could improve patient treatment

Scientists have known for decades that cancer can be caused by genetic mutations, but more recently they have discovered that chemical modifications of a gene can also contribute to cancer.

13 Aug 2014

DNA methylation identified as potential anti-TNF response biomarker for RA

DNA methylation has been identified as a potential biomarker of response to etanercept and adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to preliminary results from one of the largest methylome-wide investigations of treatment response to anti-TNF therapies.

12 Jun 2014

New research shows how misfolded proteins are precisely selected for degradation

It's almost axiomatic that misfolded proteins compromise how cells normally function and cause debilitating human disease, but how these proteins are detected and degraded within the body is not well understood.

30 May 2014

TSRI scientists create bacteria with expanded DNA code

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA “letters,” or bases, not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied.

8 May 2014

Researchers demonstrate accurate identification of amino acids

Some three billion base pairs make up the human genome-the floor plan of life. In 2003, the Human Genome Project announced the successful decryption of this code, a tour de force that continues to supply a stream of insights relevant to human health and disease.

7 Apr 2014

Researchers identify steps by which cell removes RNA from cytoplasm

RNA encodes the proteins that play a key role in cellular reproduction, but the manner in which cells regulate its removal once these proteins are synthesized remains a mystery. One piece of this mystery has been solved as researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who have identified the steps by which a cell removes RNA from the cytoplasm.

21 Mar 2014

Small non-coding RNAs can help predict individuals with breast cancer

Small non-coding RNAs can be used to predict if individuals have breast cancer conclude researchers who contribute to The Cancer Genome Atlas project. The results, which are published in EMBO reports, indicate that differences in the levels of specific types of non-coding RNAs can be used to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. These RNAs can also be used to classify cancer patients into subgroups of individuals that have different survival outcomes.

18 Feb 2014

Researchers study how epigenetic alterations contribute to age-related increases in breast cancer risk

Age is a key risk factor for breast cancer. A recent study by researchers from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, "Age-related DNA methylation in normal breast tissue and its relationship with invasive breast tumor methylation," examines the connection between cancer and the aging process to see if epigenetic DNA alterations might contribute to age-related increases in breast cancer risk.

31 Jan 2014

Johns Hopkins researchers reveal how non-CpG methylation may contribute to Rett Syndrome

In normal development, all cells turn off genes they don’t need, often by attaching a chemical methyl group to the DNA, a process called methylation. Historically, scientists believed methyl groups could only stick to a particular DNA sequence: a cytosine followed by a guanine, called CpG. But in recent years, they have been found on other sequences, and so-called non-CpG methylation has been found in stem cells, and in neurons in the brain.

28 Jan 2014

Researchers develop computational model to accurately simulate complex twists of RNA

A computational model developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the first to accurately simulate the complex twists of a short sequence of RNA as it folds into a critical hairpin structure known as a "tetraloop."

17 Sep 2013