Knockout News and Research

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MMP-3 disrupts brain/spinal cord barrier, promotes hemorrhage

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition with few treatment options. Studies show that damage to the barrier separating blood from the spinal cord can contribute to the neurologic deficits that arise secondary to the initial trauma. Through a series of sophisticated experiments, researchers reporting in The American Journal of Pathology suggest that matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) plays a pivotal role in disruption of the brain/spinal cord barrier (BSCB), cell death, and functional deficits after SCI.

20 Oct 2014

TSRI study points way to potential therapies for hereditary spastic paraplegia

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that a gene mutation linked to hereditary spastic paraplegia, a disabling neurological disorder, interferes with the normal breakdown of triglyceride fat molecules in the brain. The TSRI researchers found large droplets of triglycerides within the neurons of mice modeling the disease.

30 Sep 2014

Studies explore role of STXBP5 gene in development of cardiovascular disease

Two independent groups of researchers led by Sidney (Wally) Whiteheart, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, and Charles Lowenstein, MD, of the University of Rochester, have published important studies exploring the role that a gene called STXBP5 plays in the development of cardiovascular disease.

18 Sep 2014

New potential therapeutic targets for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Two new potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a deadly disease marked by high blood pressure in the lungs, have been identified by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

9 Sep 2014

New evidence puts into doubt the long-held depression belief

New evidence puts into doubt the long-standing belief that a deficiency in serotonin - a chemical messenger in the brain - plays a central role in depression. In the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, scientists report that mice lacking the ability to make serotonin in their brains (and thus should have been "depressed" by conventional wisdom) did not show depression-like symptoms.

28 Aug 2014

Researchers take major step forward in developing real ALS treatments

A series of studies begun by Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists eight years ago has lead to a report published today that may be a major step forward in the quest to develop real treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

7 Aug 2014

Mice lacking specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses

While developing a new cancer drug, researchers at The Wistar Institute discovered that mice lacking a specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses.

31 Jul 2014

Loss of p62 protein in cells and tissue surrounding a tumor can influence tumor growth

A team of scientists from Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute has found that the loss of a protein called p62 in the cells and tissue surrounding a tumor can enhance the growth and progression of tumors.

4 Jul 2014

genOway to provide EUCOMM conditional knockout mouse models to study human diseases

genOway, the biotechnology company dedicated to the development of genetically modified animal models, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) and Helmholtz Zentrum München (Germany), members of the EUCOMM Program (European Conditional Mouse Mutagenesis Program) and its successor program EUCOMMTOOLS (EUCOMM: Tools for functional annotation of the mouse genome) announce today the signing of a license enabling genOway to provide industry scientists with conditional knockout (KO) models developed by EUCOMM.

3 Jul 2014

N.Y. governor unveils plan to fight HIV

The goal, the governor says, is to reduce new HIV infections to 750 per year by 2020 through aggressive treatment and testing.

1 Jul 2014

First Edition: June 30, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including an announcement coming today for a new VA secretary and expectations for a Supreme Court decision on the challenge to the health law's contraceptive mandate by two for-profit companies.

30 Jun 2014

Blocking enzyme Cdk5 could reduce brain damage after stroke

A drug that blocks the action of the enzyme Cdk5 could substantially reduce brain damage if administered shortly after a stroke, UT Southwestern Medical Center research suggests.

27 Jun 2014

New research reveals gene's role in type 1 diabetes

New research describes details of how a diabetes-related gene functions on a biological pathway that affects the release of insulin. The study authors say that finding drugs that act on that pathway may eventually lead to a new treatment for type 1 diabetes.

20 Jun 2014

Penn researchers awarded $10 million grant to study adverse health effects, remediation of asbestos

Researchers at the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have been awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences over the next four years to study asbestos exposure pathways that lead to mesothelioma, the bioremediation of this hazardous material, and mechanisms that lead to asbestos-related diseases.

10 Jun 2014

Genetically modified swine skin grafts may provide new treatment for burn injuries

A specially-bred strain of miniature swine lacking the molecule responsible for the rapid rejection of pig-to-primate organ transplants may provide a new source of skin grafts to treat seriously burned patients.

28 May 2014

SGK1 enzyme, asthma and cancer therapies: an interview with Dr. Jonathan D. Powell, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

SGK1 stands for serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1. SGK1 is a member of the AGC kinase family, which is a huge family of kinases.

13 May 2014

Adhesion molecule offers promising therapeutic target for preventing colitis

May Provide Therapeutic Target for Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Preventing Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer, According to New Research Published in The American Journal of Pathology

29 Apr 2014

Study shows pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α can speed recovery in mouse with pulmonary fibrosis

Inflammation has long been considered an integral part of the biological process that leads to deadly scarring in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. New research at National Jewish Health, however, suggests that a little inflammation may also be crucial to the healing and repair processes in the lungs.

26 Apr 2014

Studies identify 2 genes highly associated with IBD

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestine that result in painful and debilitating complications, affects over 1.4 million people in the U.S., and while there are treatments to reduce inflammation for patients, there is no cure.

23 Apr 2014

Tumor-suppressing protein acts as dimmer switch to dial down gene expression

A tumor-suppressing protein acts as a dimmer switch to dial down gene expression. It does this by reading a chemical message attached to another protein that's tightly intertwined with DNA, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014.

11 Apr 2014