DNA Replication News and Research

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DNA replication, the basis for biological inheritance, is a fundamental process occurring in all living organisms to copy their DNA. This process is "semiconservative" in that each strand of the original double-stranded DNA molecule serves as template for the reproduction of the complementary strand. Hence, following DNA replication, two identical DNA molecules have been produced from a single double-stranded DNA molecule. Cellular proofreading and error-checking mechanisms ensure near perfect fidelity for DNA replication.

Researchers discover how and where chromosome fragile sites occur in human DNA

Using a novel method they developed to map chromosome breaks in a model organism, the budding yeast, Wenyi Feng, Ph.D., of Upstate Medical University and her colleagues have discovered new information as to how and where chromosome fragile sites can occur in human DNA. These sites are frequently observed in cancer cells and are responsible for causing genomic rearrangements.

15 May 2015

CNIO researchers identify new strategy to combat cancer

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have discovered a new strategy to fight cancer, which is very different from those described to date. Their work shows for the first time that telomeres -- the structures protecting the ends of the chromosomes -- may represent an effective anti-cancer target: by blocking the TRF1 gene, which is essential for the telomeres, they have shown dramatic improvements in mice with lung cancer.

14 May 2015

Overexpression of cyclin E protein could lead to breast cancer, leukemia

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute sheds light on the cause of some cancers, including breast cancer and leukemia.

8 May 2015

Max Planck Institute researchers find protein profiles of DNA repair

During each cell division, more than 3.3 billion base pairs of genomic DNA have to be duplicated and segregated accurately to daughter cells. But what happens when the DNA template is damaged in such a way that the replication machinery gets stuck? To answer this question, scientists in the team of Matthias Mann at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, with colleagues in Copenhagen and at Harvard, have analyzed how the protein composition of the DNA replication machinery changes upon encountering damaged DNA.

5 May 2015

Clearer understanding of ORC offers new insight into fundamental DNA replication initiation mechanisms

A clearer understanding of the origin recognition complex (ORC) - a protein complex that directs DNA replication - through its crystal structure offers new insight into fundamental mechanisms of DNA replication initiation. This will also provide insight into how ORC may be compromised in a subset of patients with Meier-Gorlin syndrome, a form of dwarfism in humans.

9 Apr 2015

One round of adenosine triphosphate turnover sufficient for SNARE complex disassembly

In 2013, James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular machineries for vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in cells for maintaining cellular processes. Vesicle traffic acts as a kind of "home-delivery service" in cells.

30 Mar 2015

Scientists use x-ray vision to probe early stages of DNA 'photocopying'

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have created a 3-D model of a complex protein machine, ORC, which helps prepare DNA to be duplicated.

16 Mar 2015

Researchers show importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of innate immune system

For the first time scientists from Umeå University show the importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of our innate immune system and hence the ability to mount the optimal inflammatory response to infections and other biological dangers.

18 Feb 2015

Researchers reveal why many African-American women are diagnosed with deadly forms of breast cancer

Researchers have uncovered new information that may begin to explain why many African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive, often deadly forms of breast cancer, which strengthens the evidence that increased dietary folate intake may prove to be an effective strategy for reducing risk for the disease in African-American women.

31 Jan 2015

New insight on how naturally occurring mutations can be introduced into DNA

Scientists have shed light on how naturally occurring mutations can be introduced into our DNA.

31 Jan 2015

Researchers develop new treatment that extends telomeres

Will extending telomeres lead to longer, healthier lives? Researchers have taken an important step toward answering this question by developing a new treatment used in the laboratory that extends telomeres.

24 Jan 2015

ASCB honors UTSA adjunct professor with E. B. Wilson Medal

William Brinkley, adjunct professor of biology in the UTSA College of Sciences, was recently honored with the E. B. Wilson Medal from the American Society for Cell Biology. The medal, the organization's highest honor for far-reaching contributions to cell biology over a lifetime in science, was presented to Brinkley at the 54th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

22 Jan 2015

Using HIV drugs to treat AMD: an interview with Dr Mark Young

NRTIs are compounds which were originally developed in the 1960s as anti-cancer agents. They are similar in structure to the bases which make up DNA, and it was hoped that they would interfere with DNA replication in fast-growing cancer cells, slowing down or stopping tumour growth.

7 Jan 2015

SLU investigators find promising candidates for new herpes virus treatments

Saint Louis University research findings published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy report a family of molecules known as nucleotidyltransferase superfamily (NTS) enzyme inhibitors are promising candidates for new herpes virus treatments.

19 Dec 2014

Added benefit of daclatasvir drug not proven for chronic hepatitis C infection

The drug daclatasvir (trade name Daklinza) has been available since August 2014 for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.

11 Dec 2014

MIT engineers create new computer model to design complex 3-D DNA shapes

MIT biological engineers have created a new computer model that allows them to design the most complex three-dimensional DNA shapes ever produced, including rings, bowls, and geometric structures such as icosahedrons that resemble viral particles.

3 Dec 2014

Tufts University study explores relationship between transcription, expansions of DNA repeats

Researchers in human genetics have known that long nucleotide repeats in DNA lead to instability of the genome and ultimately to human hereditary diseases such Freidreich's ataxia and Huntington's disease.

26 Nov 2014

Scientists map DNA replication process at the most fundamental level

The proteins that drive DNA replication—the force behind cellular growth and reproduction—are some of the most complex machines on Earth.

17 Oct 2014

SOFIE BIOSCIENCES awarded NCI Phase II SBIR contract to develop [18F]FAC PET

SOFIE BIOSCIENCES, a leader in the field of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, including probes, scanners, and chemistry systems, announced today that the National Cancer Institute has awarded the company a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract for approximately $1.5M over two years.

16 Oct 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