Cytoplasm News and Research

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New model important step toward understanding the molecular basis of cell membrane mechanics

A human red blood cell is a dimpled ballerina, ceaselessly spinning, tumbling, bending, and squeezing through openings narrower than its width to dispense life-giving oxygen to every corner of the body.

24 Oct 2005

Discovery of a new kind of messenger RNA molecule

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a new kind of messenger RNA molecule that is converted from non-protein coding status to protein coding status in response to cellular stress such as viral infection.

20 Oct 2005

Spliceosome crucial for processing non-coding RNA

The discovery in 1977 that the coding regions of a gene could appear in separate segments along the DNA won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp. The active segments of a gene were termed exons, separated from each other within the gene by inactive introns.

20 Oct 2005

Drug that blocks acid buildup inside cells revs up the immune response to vaccines

Reporting in the current issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vincenzo Barnaba and his team at the University of Rome show that people receiving booster shots against hepatitis B virus developed more robust immune responses if given a widely used anti-malaria drug called chloroquine.

21 Sep 2005

PUMA protein offers critical insights for developing new anti-cancer drugs

The discovery of how the activities of the protein p53 initiate signals that trigger cell suicide offers critical insights for developing new anti-cancer drugs, according to investigators from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

20 Sep 2005

Key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells

In many patients with type 2 diabetes, the liver acts like a sugar factory on overtime, churning out glucose throughout the day, even when blood sugar levels are high. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells.

12 Sep 2005

Scientists demonstrate power of new generalized screen to find function of noncoding RNAs

A team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have discovered a way to screen hundreds and potentially thousands of "noncoding" RNA molecules to discover their functions within cells.

1 Sep 2005

Pre-mRNA that codes for inflammatory protein identified

In a discovery that upends a longstanding tenet of human biology, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a key process in gene regulation can occur in human platelets, unique cells that are unusual because they don't have a nucleus (anucleate).

11 Aug 2005

Molecular link between a viral infection and development of a common and fatal form of liver cancer

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have uncovered a crucial molecular link between a viral infection and development of a common and fatal form of liver cancer. In the process, they have identified a possible way to treat this disease as well as a number of other cancers.

26 Jul 2005

Crucial molecular link between a hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

21 Jul 2005

Study challenges understanding of how messenger RNAs are translated into proteins

Our understanding of how messenger RNAs are translated into proteins is challenged by a new study published in the Open Access journal Journal of Biology.

27 Jun 2005

Researchers demonstrate direct transfer of terminally differentiated cell nuclei

With the advent of nuclear-transfer cloning, it is now possible to produce mice from the nuclei of differentiated cells, such as peripheral blood lymphocytes and olfactory sensory neurons.

20 Jun 2005

Claudin-1 regulates cellular transformation and metastatic behavior in colon cancer

Disruption of proteins expressed at the junctures between cells (known as tight junctions) is a hallmark of cancer cell invasion and spread (metastasis).

16 Jun 2005

Scientists produce for the first time an infectious form of the hepatitis C virus in laboratory cultures of human cells

The finding, reported in the June 9 issue of Science Express, will allow scientists to study every stage of the HCV life cycle and develop drugs to treat this life-threatening disease that affects more than 170 million people around the world.

9 Jun 2005

Scientists have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells. Understanding the network's physical layout is an important step toward learning its precise function, and in finding ways to correct flaws in the system that could lead to cancer.

2 Jun 2005

Scientists extend the lifespan of mice

Scientists at the University of Washington and their colleagues at other research centers have found a way to significantly extend the lifespan of mice while reducing the impact of the aging process. Their study, which will be published online by the journal Science on May 5, lends more credence to the free-radical theory of aging.

5 May 2005

Nephrogenic Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis - a new genetic disease

Two infant boys whose bodies were overloaded with excess fluid have led UCSF pediatricians to the discovery of a new genetic disease. In the process, they have discovered a rare type of mutation where different substitutions in a single amino acid cause two different, opposite genetic disorders.

4 May 2005

Researchers show protein's role in stopping bacterial-induced inflammation

In findings that could have implications for autoimmune disorders and drug-resistant bacterial infections, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have identified a key protein involved in the appropriate shut-down of inflammation following an immune response to invading pathogens.

28 Apr 2005

Inherited variations in mitochondrial DNA linked to renal and prostate cancer

More than 20 million men in the United States with a particular signature set of inherited characteristics and mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are at significantly increased risk for developing renal and prostate cancers, according to research at Emory University.

20 Apr 2005

Yeast discovery provides new insights into familial dysautonomia

A discovery in yeast that has important implications for finding a cure for a devastating disease of nerve cell failures -- called familial dysautonomia (FD) -- has been made by Cornell University researchers.

6 Apr 2005