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New methodology helps investigate unfolding of DNA

NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have developed a powerful new method to investigate the discrete steps necessary to turn on individual genes and examine how the process goes wrong in cancer and other diseases. The finding, based on seven years of research and described in the April 9 issue of Molecular Cell, allows scientists to investigate the unfolding of DNA, a process required for gene activation.

9 Apr 2010

Study promises new combination cancer therapy for drug resistance

Results reported in the April 2nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveal a new source for the drug resistance that crops up all too often and quickly in the tumors of cancer patients undergoing therapy.

2 Apr 2010

Chromatin expands operations to 5,000 square foot facility in University of Illinois' Research Park

The University of Illinois today announces that Chromatin, Inc., a biotechnology company that has occupied space in the University's Research Park since 2005 as part of the EnterpriseWorks incubator, is expanding operations and graduating to a 5,000 square foot facility in the Research Park. The expansion marks the company's continued significant progress in commercializing its proprietary technology, including mini-chromosomes which were originally developed at the University of Chicago by company co-founder and CEO Daphne Preuss.

30 Mar 2010

Working of master regulator protein phosphatase 1

Protein phosphorylation is a process by which proteins are flipped from one activation state to another. It is a crucial function for most living beings, since phosphorylation controls nearly every cellular process, including metabolism, gene transcription, cell-cycle progression, cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell movement.

26 Mar 2010

MLL cancer cells rely on normal protein to proliferate

Researchers have found that one particularly aggressive type of blood cancer, mixed lineage leukemia (MLL), has an unusual way to keep the molecular motors running. The cancer cells rely on the normal version of an associated protein to stay alive.

27 Feb 2010

Mutations in MeCP2 cause autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome

A paper published online today in Molecular Cell proposes that Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) impacts the entire genome in neurons, rather than acting as a regulator of specific genes. Mutations in MeCP2 cause the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome as well as some cases of neuropsychiatric problems including autism, schizophrenia and learning disabilities.

26 Feb 2010

Helicos BioSciences to demonstrate single molecule sequencing using Helicos Genetic Analysis System

Helicos BioSciences and it’s collaborators will deliver presentations featured at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting in Marco Island, Florida, from February 24-27, 2010.

26 Feb 2010

ES cells-functions: Condensins promote mitotic progression and maintain interphase chromatin compaction

Regulatory proteins common to all eukaryotic cells can have additional, unique functions in embryonic stem (ES) cells, according to a study in the February 22 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org). If cancer progenitor cells-which function similarly to stem cells-are shown to rely on these regulatory proteins in the same way, it may be possible to target them therapeutically without harming healthy neighboring cells.

24 Feb 2010

Gene expression in prostate cancer cell more complex than ever imagined

Scientists from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research have published a paper, online today in Nature Cell Biology, describing gene expression in a prostate cancer cell: more sweeping, more targeted and more complex than we could ever have imagined, even five years ago.

24 Feb 2010

CellCentric out-licenses development, commercialisation of novel epigenetic discovery programme to Takeda Pharmaceutical

From its broad portfolio of novel targets in epigenetics, CellCentric has out-licensed exclusively the development and commercialisation of an important programme focused on cancer.

24 Feb 2010

Emerging concepts from gene regulation studies in immune cells

The seventh meeting in the “Emergence and Convergence” series jointly organized by La Fondation IPSEN and Nature brings together today in San Antonio (Texas, USA) leading experts to discuss concepts emerging from gene regulation studies in immune cells that have led to insights into the initiation and maintenance of epigenetic chromatin marks necessary for proper differentiation and function of these cells in the immune system.

19 Feb 2010

Iowa State University researchers awarded 30 ARRA grants worth $16.38M

Iowa State University researchers have so far won 30 grants worth a total $16.38 million from federal agencies awarding money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

17 Feb 2010

Diagenode launches SX-8G IP-Star system for epigenetics

Diagenode, an innovative leader providing products and technologies for epigenetics, genomics and diagnostics, and the only provider of complete epigenetics solutions, announced today the launch of its innovative platform for automated epigenetics assays, the SX-8G IP-Star™ system ("IP-Star™).

16 Feb 2010

Study: Common underlying mechanism causes complex defects in brain development and function

A new study reveals that a common underlying mechanism is shared by a group of previously unrelated disorders which all cause complex defects in brain development and function. Rett syndrome (RTT), Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) and Alpha-Thalassemia mental Retardation, X-linked syndrome (ATR-X) have each been linked with distinct abnormalities in chromatin, the spools of proteins and DNA that make up chromosomes and control how genetic information is read in a cell.

16 Feb 2010

Study sheds new light on cancer metastasis

Some cells are natural rule-breakers. Neural crest cells for example, not only migrate throughout the body during development (most cells are more selective in their wandering), they are also more developmentally flexible than their predecessors (a no-no for nearly all cell types).

4 Feb 2010

Research opens new avenues for understanding genetic basis of type 2 diabetes

Together with colleagues in Barcelona, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have generated a complete map of the areas of the genome that control which genes are "turned on" or "off."

3 Feb 2010

Understanding mechanism of SIRT6 activity may help treat diabetes and cancer

A study investigating how a cellular enzyme affects blood glucose levels in mice provides clues to pathways that may be involved in processes including the regulation of longevity and the proliferation of tumor cells.

22 Jan 2010

Sirnaomics certifies polypeptide nanoparticle technology

Sirnaomics, Inc. (www.sirnaomics.com) announced today that the company has licensed a polypeptide nanoparticle technology invented by Professor A. James Mixson of University of Maryland Medical School.

18 Jan 2010

Mutations in genome regulation machinery identified in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

In a new study, scientists have searched for mutations in the gene regions of more than 100 kidney cancer samples, the largest number of samples from a single tumour type to be sequenced to date.

7 Jan 2010

Genes work together by huddling in clusters inside nucleus, research reveals

Research from the Babraham Institute has revealed for the first time that genes work together by huddling in clusters inside the nucleus - the information centre of a cell. These findings, published in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of how the genome is spatially organised in relation to gene expression.

16 Dec 2009