Signaling Pathway News and Research

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Scientists unravel how DNA damage may trigger lupus erythematosus

Summer, sun and the sea - a dream vacation for most - can turn sour for those affected by lupus erythematosus. For them, absorption of the UV-light component in sunlight may cause florid inflammation and redness of the skin. Scientists of the University Hospital Bonn, Germany have now discovered which signaling pathway of the innate immune system promotes autoimmune symptoms following sun-induced DNA damage.

30 Aug 2013

Study points to potential new therapeutic target for preventing birth defects in women with diabetes

A research team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has identified a cell signaling pathway which plays a significant role in causing developmental defects of the fetal spinal cord and brain in babies of women with diabetes.

29 Aug 2013

UAB study points to protein pathway that could lead to new treatments for diabetes

The same protein tells beta cells in the pancreas to stop making insulin and then to self-destruct as diabetes worsens, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published online today in the journal Nature Medicine.

27 Aug 2013

Houston scientists receive $1.3M grant to study how immune system drives multiple sclerosis

A $1.3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke could help Houston Methodist scientists better understand how the body's own immune system drives multiple sclerosis.

26 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

MC1R mutation responsible for red hair phenotype also promotes cancer-causing pathway

A person's skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population's one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red hair color and typical light skin.

23 Aug 2013

Medical investigators discover new aspect of gene-splicing process that produces mRNA

A rare, small RNA turns a gene-splicing machine into a switch that controls the expression of hundreds of human genes. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of Biochemistry Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD, and his team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, discovered an entirely new aspect of the gene-splicing process that produces messenger RNA (mRNA).

22 Aug 2013

TSRI scientists decode important molecular signal that guides development of neocortex

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have decoded an important molecular signal that guides the development of a key region of the brain known as the neocortex. The largest and most recently evolved region of the brain, the neocortex is particularly well developed in humans and is responsible for sensory processing, long-term memory, reasoning, complex muscle actions, consciousness and other functions.

8 Aug 2013

Scientists identify important molecular signal that guides development of brain

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have decoded an important molecular signal that guides the development of a key region of the brain known as the neocortex.

8 Aug 2013

Study shows how bioactive component in soy foods plays a role against colon cancer

University of Illinois scientists have evidence that lifelong exposure to genistein, a bioactive component in soy foods, protects against colon cancer by repressing a signal that leads to accelerated growth of cells, polyps, and eventually malignant tumors.

6 Aug 2013

New findings could enable development of effective drugs for addiction with fewer side effects

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have described findings that could enable the development of more effective drugs for addiction with fewer side effects.

3 Aug 2013

Research opens potential new avenue for cancer treatment

Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson who identified a protein's dual role in cancer promotion have discovered a way to shut it down, opening a potential new avenue for cancer treatment.

2 Aug 2013

Cyp11a1 enzyme is a potential target for treatment of deadly food allergy, say researchers

Researchers at National Jewish Health have identified an enzyme that is essential to the allergic reaction to peanuts. Blocking the enzyme's activity in sensitized mice prevented diarrhea and inflammation, and reduced levels of several proteins associated with allergies.

2 Aug 2013

Supporting cells in the inner ear can help repair damaged sensory hair cells, say researchers

Researchers have found in mice that supporting cells in the inner ear, once thought to serve only a structural role, can actively help repair damaged sensory hair cells, the functional cells that turn vibrations into the electrical signals that the brain recognizes as sound.

26 Jul 2013

Study may lead to personalized treatments for mitochondrial energy disorders

Researchers have identified a master network of signaling molecules that acts like a "fuse box" to regulate the cellular effects of defective energy flow in mitochondrial respiratory chain diseases—a diverse set of difficult-to-treat genetic-based energy disorders.

25 Jul 2013

Researchers find that Notch signaling elevated in tumors relative to normal bone

Many cancers show inappropriate activation of a cell signaling pathway called NOTCH. In the developing body, NOTCH tells brain cells to grow and proliferate. It should be quiet in the adult body, but cancers restart NOTCH to drive their own growth, far and beyond the rate of healthy tissues.

25 Jul 2013

Pair of studies sheds light on cancer cell signaling

A pair of studies by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers led by Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey, professor of biological sciences, sheds light on a biological process which is activated across a vast range of malignancies.

16 Jul 2013

Protein complex may be an effective alternative to opioid pain medications

A drug targeting a protein complex containing two different types of opioid receptors may be an effective alternative to morphine and other opioid pain medications, without any of the side effects or risk of dependence, according to research led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

16 Jul 2013

Nerves play critical role in development and spread of prostate tumors, say researchers

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that nerves play a critical role in both the development and spread of prostate tumors. Their findings, using both a mouse model and human prostate tissue, may lead to new ways to predict the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and to novel therapies for preventing and treating the disease. The study published online today in the July 12 edition of Science.

12 Jul 2013

Seven named recipients of GSA poster awards at 19th International C. elegans Meeting

Six graduate students and one undergraduate were named as recipients of Genetics Society of America poster awards at the 19th International C. elegans Meeting, held June 26 on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.