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Low levels of microbe-killing molecules improve survival rate of people with CGD

Investigators at the National Institutes of Health have observed that the survival rate of people with a rare immunodeficiency disease called chronic granulomatous disease is greatly improved when even very low levels of microbe-killing molecules are present.

30 Dec 2010

Interaction of light with circadian systems

In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues have taken an important step in understanding the underlying molecular signals that influence a broad array of biological processes ranging from the sleep-wake cycle to cancer growth and development.

30 Dec 2010

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Florida Hospital, Sanford-Burnham and Takeda enter obesity research collaboration

Florida Hospital, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda)(TSE: 4502), announced today that they have signed a research agreement to form a collaboration to discover and evaluate new therapeutic approaches to obesity, a growing worldwide health problem. The partnership aligns complementary strengths in biomedical research, clinical research and drug development to identify and validate obesity- related biomarkers and new peripheral molecular targets of mutual interest.

29 Dec 2010

BIOMICs oversees SGIker DNA Bank to know genetic heritage of Basque lineage

The BIOMICs Group, based at the Lucio Lascaray building in the álava/Araba campus of the University of the Basque Country, is specially known for overseeing the SGIker DNA Bank, not only undertaking this task, but also feeding data into the gene research bank and making good use of it for their own lines of research.

28 Dec 2010

Met-FISC complex formation critical step in juvenile hormone signaling pathway

Just as raging hormones are part of the process of a child's maturation through the teen years to adulthood, juvenile hormones, a group of insect isoprenoids, play an important role as butterflies, fruit flies and mosquitoes transform their body structures as they molt from larva to pupa and then adults.

28 Dec 2010

Turns mortal heart attacks into non-mortal heart attacks -- NIH study

Three weeks of oral resveratrol or Longevinex- ingestion prior to an induced heart attack returned microRNA activity close to their pre-event levels in excised animal hearts. Among thousands of microRNA's studied, just six were attributed to exerting the majority of the gene-switching effects measured in the animal heart study - four microRNA optimally regulated by Longevinex- and two optimally by plain resveratrol.

28 Dec 2010

Study sheds light on how bacteria developed resistance to antibiotics

Studying how bacteria incorporate foreign DNA from invading viruses into their own regulatory processes, Thomas Wood, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, is uncovering the secrets of one of nature's most primitive immune systems.

27 Dec 2010

Researchers develop microfluidic device to orient hundreds of embryos for research

Researchers have developed a microfluidic device that automatically orients hundreds of fruit fly and other embryos to prepare them for research. The device could facilitate the study of such issues as how organisms develop their complex structures from single cells -- one of the most fascinating aspects of biology.

27 Dec 2010

Near-complete data sets from fruit fly and roundworm genomes

An Ontario researcher has played a key role in the development of a new resource that will help genomics researchers around the world find new ways to prevent and treat cancer.

24 Dec 2010

Quercetin and resveratrol may play an important role in inflammation and insulin resistance

A study was carried out to examine the extent to which quercetin and trans-resveratrol (RSV) prevented inflammation or insulin resistance in primary cultures of human adipocytes treated with tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a)-an inflammatory cytokine elevated in the plasma and adipose tissue of obese, diabetic individuals. Cultures of human adipocytes were pretreated with quercetin and trans-RSV followed by treatment with TNF-a. Subsequently, gene and protein markers of inflammation and insulin resistance were measured.

24 Dec 2010

Molecular-level insights into how physical activity influences the heart

Everyone knows that exercise comes with metabolic and cardiovascular benefits, but scientists understand surprisingly little about how physical activity influences the heart itself. Now, a new study in the December 23rd issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers some of the first molecular-level insights.

24 Dec 2010

Sequestering GSK3 enzyme leads to stabilization of proteins in cells

The cell signaling pathway known as Wnt, commonly activated in cancers, causes internal membranes within a healthy cell to imprison an enzyme that is vital in degrading proteins, preventing the enzyme from doing its job and affecting the stability of many proteins within the cell, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

24 Dec 2010

Silencing of specific genes of germinal cell lines reduces brain tumors

Scientists at IRB Barcelona have discovered that some brain tumours in larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster use the genetic programme of germline cells to grow. The removal of some of these genes leads to healthy brains. This finding demonstrates that these genes are crucial for tumour development. The study, headed by ICREA researcher Cayetano Gonz-lez, is published today in the prestigious journal Science.

24 Dec 2010

Paternal diet affects lipid metabolizing genes in offspring

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin have uncovered evidence that environmental influences experienced by a father can be passed down to the next generation, "reprogramming" how genes function in offspring. A new study published this week in Cell shows that environmental cues-in this case, diet-influence genes in mammals from one generation to the next, evidence that until now has been sparse.

24 Dec 2010

Researchers study relationship between MITF, ATF2 in melanoma development

Melanoma is one of the least common types of skin cancer, but it is also the most deadly. Melanocytes (pigment-producing skin cells) lose the genetic regulatory mechanisms that normally limit their number, allowing them to divide and proliferate out of control. One such regulator, called MITF, controls an array of genes that influence melanocyte development, function and survival.

24 Dec 2010

Catalogs of fruit fly and roundworm's functional genomic elements

Scientists today published catalogs of the fruit fly and roundworm's functional genomic elements: DNA sequences in the genome that carry the instructions and determine which genes are turned on and off at various times in different cells.

23 Dec 2010

Genetic variant of brain receptor molecule may contribute to impulsive behavior

A multinational research team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health has found that a genetic variant of a brain receptor molecule may contribute to violently impulsive behavior when people who carry it are under the influence of alcohol.

23 Dec 2010

People with high RBC folate levels more likely to have two tumor-suppressing genes

People with higher levels of folate in their red blood cells were more likely to have two tumor-suppressing genes shut down by methylation, a chemical off switch for genes, researchers report in the December issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

22 Dec 2010

Researchers identify class of drugs that can promote RBC formation in anemic patients

By determining how corticosteroids act to promote red blood cell progenitor formation, Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a class of drugs that may be beneficial in anemias, including those resulting from trauma, sepsis, malaria, kidney dialysis, and chemotherapy.

22 Dec 2010